Session is null in IRouteHandler.GetHttpHandler with Asp.net routing

Question

Hi,

I'm trying to get Session enabled in the GettHttpHandler method of my IRouteHandler classes but session is always null. Could someone tell me what I'm doing wrong?

In global.asax I have

RouteTable.Routes.Add("All", new Route("{*page}", new MyRouteHandler()));

The MyRouteHandler class where Session is null looks like this:

public class MyRouteHandler : IRouteHandler, IRequiresSessionState
{
    public System.Web.IHttpHandler GetHttpHandler(RequestContext requestContext)
    {
        string test = HttpContext.Current.Session["test"].ToString();
        return BuildManager.CreateInstanceFromVirtualPath("~/Page.aspx", typeof(Page)) as Page;
    }
}

I made a small test app that shows the problem.

Could someone tell me what I'm doing wrong?

Regards, Mathias

Answer 1

I am not sure that you can do this (although I may be wrong). My recollection is that IRequiresSessionState indicates that an HttpHandler needs session state, rather than the route handler (which is responsible for giving you a handler appropriate to the route).

Do you really need the session in the route handler itself and not the handler it gives out?

Answer 2

Yes, I really need session data in the route handler. There are many reasons but one easily explainable is when the user can switch to browse the site in preview mode.

The site consists of a hierarchy of dynamic pages (/page1/page2...) in the database that can be published normally or to preview. A content producer browsing the site can choose to view just normal pages or also those published to preview. The browsing mode is stored in the user's session so therefor the route handler needs to know the browsing mode to be able to solve the requested page.

So I really need the session already at that stage. Isn't there any way?

-Mathias