Deleting files when user logouts or session end

Question

I'm trying to delete files created by current user when he/she clicks logout button

Protected Sub OnLoggingOut(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs) Handles LoginStatus1.LoggingOut
        Try
            Dim folder As String = Server.MapPath("~/uploads/")
            Dim files As String() = Directory.GetFiles(folder)

            For Each f In files
                Dim filename As String = Path.GetFileName(f)
                If filename.Contains(HttpContext.Current.User.Identity.Name) Then
                    File.Delete(filename)
                End If
            Next
        Catch ex As Exception
            LogFile(ex.Message(), DateTime.Now)
        End Try
    End Sub

This event gets executed/called and even file.delete but files don't get deleted. Is there something wrong with this code or server doesn't execute any server methods on logging out?

How can i delete files when session ends ? It gives me error saying server methods cannot be executed

Answer 1

You say that you have traced execution and the right methods and files get called, but not actually deleted?

You should be getting more detailed error messages. What's in your LogFile?

Right off the bat, it sounds like your ASP.NET processes on the server may not have the proper permissions to do this (they require more permissions than the default installation, if I remember correctly).

I've seen a very odd problem elsewhere that if the file is "old", for us, this was ~12< hours, the process would be unable to delete the file, but for newly created files, it deleted them just fine. If this is the case, I'm not sure what to tell you, perhaps you can find a work-around.

Lastly, as @Aristos suggested, you should check to make sure that the username is not null. It's not uncommon for users to time out, press back button, etc, and cause ASP.NET to "forget" things like Session or Application variables.

Answer 2

seems like a complicated way of doing things..

do they files have to be deleted right at end of user session?

why don't you write a small program that watches that directory, and deletes any files that are longer than n period. (session length, or 24hrs or whatever).

number of utilities exist, and .net great support for it as well.. than you don't have to worry about orphaned files because application restarted and user session events didn't fire correctly.. also would be more secure as your asp.net application wouldnt need IIS directory write access. just small standalone windows service would handle it.