system.web inside of app.config file

Question

I just upgraded my Windows Forms project from .NET 3.0 to .NET 3.5 and the upgrade added the following to my app.config file:

  <system.web>
<membership defaultProvider="ClientAuthenticationMembershipProvider">
  <providers>
    <add name="ClientAuthenticationMembershipProvider" type="System.Web.ClientServices.Providers.ClientFormsAuthenticationMembershipProvider, System.Web.Extensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35" serviceUri=""/>
  </providers>
</membership>
<roleManager defaultProvider="ClientRoleProvider" enabled="true">
  <providers>
    <add name="ClientRoleProvider" type="System.Web.ClientServices.Providers.ClientRoleProvider, System.Web.Extensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35" serviceUri="" cacheTimeout="86400"/>
  </providers>
</roleManager></system.web>

I thought that system.web was only for Web projects. Does this seem wrong?

Answer 1

If you are not using the ASP.NET Membership features for authentication / authorization, these entries can be removed. The XML entry is just a reference to the assembly where the membership classes are found, as is not specific to windows / web applications. ASP.NET membership can be used for both types of applications.