Reading web.config from JavaScript

Question

IS there any way that I can read config values in web.config with javascript ? Why would I want to do that ?

I have a timer in my website which would pop up a modal dialog with a count down timer (count down for 2 minutes) if the user is inactive for 20 minutes. If the user does not respond, it logs him out. If he does, it pings to the server (to maintain the session) and keeps the session alive

This 15 minutes is hardcoded in the js file. I would rather want to pick it up from a config file/some other file than having it hard coded into the JS

here is the code snippet

$.fn.idleTimeout = function(options) {
     var defaults = {
                    //I would like to pick these values from some config file
      inactivity: 900000, //15 minutes 
      noconfirm: 120000, //2 minutes
      sessionAlive: 900000, //15 minutes
      click_reset: true,
      logout_url: '/Views/Pages/Timeout.aspx' 
     }

Any suggestions?

Edit: This is in a separate js file. Doing <%=%> would give error "illegal XML character [Break on this error] inactivity: <%=ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["Inactivity"] %>;"

Answer 1

You can generate your JavaScript from ASP.NET.

Then simply write the settings at the server-side to your var defaults like this:

var defaults = {
    inactivity: <%=ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["Inactivity"] %>
}

EDIT:

If you want to keep your JavaScript in static js files, you can still initialize your var defaults from a small <script> rendered by your ASP.NET application. Your settings would be global, just like the AppSettings in web.config.

Answer 2

Make your JS file dynamic and have it timeout written out by a server-side script which can read your web.config

Answer 3

Pass them in as variables from the view.

<script type="text/javascript">
   // needs to reside in your *.aspx file.
   $(function() {
       initPage(<%= Settings.Default.Inactivity %>, <%= Settings.Default.NoConfirm %>, <%= Settings.Default.LogoutUrl %>)
    });
    // Can reside in your *.aspx or in a *.js file.
    function initPage(inactivity, noconfirm, logoutUrl) {
        $.fn.idleTimeout = function(options) {
            inactivity: inactivity,
            noconfirm: noconfirm,
            logout_url: logoutUrl
        };
    };
</script>

Repeat for as many vars as you've got.

Answer 4

Usually you don't want web.config to directly accessible to clients, since it may contain some important information about your configuration (for example, the credentials for the database you are using).

It's better to make your JS file dynamic and add the appropriate parameters from your configuration. For example:

$.fn.idleTimeout = function(options) {
    var defaults = {
                //I would like to pick these values from some config file
            inactivity: <%=ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["Inactivity"].ToString() %>, 
            noconfirm: <%=ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["NoConfirm"].ToString() %>, //2 minutes
            sessionAlive: <%=ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["SessionAlive"].ToString() %>, //15 minutes
            click_reset: true,
            logout_url: '/Views/Pages/Timeout.aspx' 
    }