How to hide a query string parameter in the url - asp.net

Question

I've a panel bar with some items in it. When I right click on the items and if I select "open in new tab", I need to open the link in a new tab.
For eg. if my page is "http:localhost/MyPage"
My grid is:
Name
abc
bcd
cde
When I click on the second item, the navigateUrl would be "http:localhost/MyPage/?Name=bcd"
This works fine.
But I want to hide the name in the url. Is there any other way, I can pass the name to next page without exposing it in the url. I could use sessions, but unfortunately, I cannot write it as a code for the default context menu.

Answer 1

You can use LinkButton objects. They will postback and then you can redirect requests to desired pages.
ASPX:
<asp:linkbutton id="lnkabcd" runat="server" text="abcd" onclick="lnkabcd_clicked"/>
C#:
public void linkabcd_clicked(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Response.Redirect("URL OF TARGET PAGE");
}
Ofcourse it will be very cumbersome if you have lot of links. You can use grid (hope you are using it as you write in your question) and catch row event with command name and command argument properties.
To hide the url in addressbar of the browser, you need to do URL rewriting. For more on URL rewriting please visit these pages on codeproject and msdn.

Answer 2

You could set a cookie - that way the next time the user returns you could even return them to the same page (if you wanted to).
You may find this article helpful when deciding if this is a good option for you.
If you need to set the cookie on the client-side, then this article should help you out.

Answer 3

As #TheVillageIdiot said, url rewriting is a better approach. But you can use cross-page posting ability as well. Check it out:
Markup
<asp:HiddenField ID="HiddenField1" runat="server" ClientIDMode="Static" />
<asp:Repeater ID="Repeater1" runat="server">
<ItemTemplate>
<asp:LinkButton ID="LinkButton1" runat="server" PostBackUrl="~/Second.aspx" Text='<%# Bind("Text") %>' OnClientClick='<%# "LinkButton1_Click(\"" + Eval("Value") + "\")" %>' />
</ItemTemplate>
</asp:Repeater>
<script type="text/javascript">
function LinkButton1_Click(v) {
document.getElementById('HiddenField1').value = v;
}
</script>
As you can see in the preceding code snippet, you have to add a hidden field to store the selected item by a simple javascript. Also I defined a property, called SelectedValue to get the value of the hidden field on the otherside.
Code Behind
protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Repeater1.DataSource = new[] {
new { Text = "Item 1", Value = "Item 1" },
new { Text = "Item 2", Value = "Item 2" },
new { Text = "Item 3", Value = "Item 3" }
};
Repeater1.DataBind();
}
public string SelectedValue
{
get { return HiddenField1.Value; }
}
Second Page
Add following directive to the destination page.
<%# PreviousPageType VirtualPath="~/Default.aspx" %>
Finally, you have access to the previous page via PreviousPage property of Page class.
string value = ((_Default)this.PreviousPage).SelectedValue;