Alternative to ViewState

Question

I'd like to store a few variables which will be referenced throughout lifecycle, starting with a db access in PreInit event. ViewState isn't an option, since it won't persist if saved so early during the page lifecycle. Given that data should not be altered by a user, what would be the best alternative?

Answer 1

You could use the Session to store your data. I am not sure on the number of users of your system, but assuming the data you want to store is small this won't be a problem.'

Also, unless you are using a SessionPageStatePersister (or another server side persister) or encrypting your ViewState it is still possible for the user to change the ViewState. It may be harder, but it is still possible. By default ViewState uses HiddenFieldPageStatePersister and it stores the ViewState in a hidden field on each page (as an encoded string). Just something worth considering.

Answer 2

Depending on the scope: Session or Application

Session
If you want the data stored per user

Application
If you want the data stored available for all users

Answer 3

You could store data in hidden fields, and if you want to obscure it, you could use some kind of encription. Of course these values would also only load in a later stage of the page lifecycle. The session object would be the obvious choice, although it's not everybody's favourite method.

Answer 4

Session probably wouldn't be available at PreInit, but you could store them in variables until a later page lifecycle task, and then store them in session at that time. I could be wrong about the session feature. Additionally, cache is an option but caching is not user-specific; you can make it user specific by appending their user ID or session ID.