I have some pages that have content that is relevant to both logged in users and non logged in users. For example, pages with contact information, privacy policies, etc. All the pages have your typical navigation menu but the thing is logged in users normally see a different navigation menu bar than non logged in users.
What is the best way to do this in ASP.net?
So far, possible solutions include the following:
Displaying the content using a pop up window. The page will contain no menu and is just some basic page doesn't need to check what type of user is seeing it.
Programmatically changing the master page depending on whether the user is authenticated or not. However, there are some variables on one of the master pages that need to be accessed but isn't touched at all by non logged in users.
Putting the content in a user control and sticking this user control on two separate pages to be displayed to the appropriate user.
I'm not really a fan of #1 because users visiting the site for the first time may have some type of popup blocker or have javascript disabled.
I know #2 is possible by having the page use some type of base class that has inherited from MasterPage. However, I've read that this might not be the best design since now one of the pages has access to variables that isn't really necessary.
The third method sounds reasonable but then there'd be two separate ASPX files.
Is there a proper way of doing this? Or another method I haven't thought of yet?
edit
To clarify, logged in users need to set certain variables in their master pages where non logged in users do not. The reason for this is that there is a user control that displays a special navigation menu that will highlight certain items depending on these variables.
For example, the user control requires a string to determine which item to highlight. A page with profile information will provide "profile" as a parameter that will highlight the "Profile" item on the menu.
The menu in the user control is generated dynamically based on data from the database. The menu items are grouped by category and are displayed with an appropriate heading that is also pulled from the DB.
Programmably changing the master page is easy; just supply the correct URL on pre init, set
protected override void OnPreInit(..)
{
if (this.User != null) {
if (this.User.Identity.IsAuthenticated)
this.MasterPageFile = "~/loggedin.master";
else
this.MasterPageFile = "~/notloggedin.master";
}
}
No base class needed for this.
User control approach would work too, but changing master page file is really easy to do.
EDIT: If you have properties to set or get from the master, you could have the code-behind file implement the interface, and check if the this.Master reference is of that interface type.
HTH.
Related
I am using master pages for authorization. I have three different user types: Readers, Authors and Admins.
I have a Main.Master which has the fundamental things of my pages. Then I have,
Reader.Master
Author.Master
Admin.Master
These inherited from the Main.Master. I am checking if the user really logged in (Session is not null) and if the UserType is true in Reader.Master, Author.Master, Admin.Masters Page_Init() functions.
First question: Is that a good practice? Please consider that I have zero experience of using other ASP.NET built-in stuff for user management, authorization etc..
Second question: There are some pages like ForgotPassword.aspx which all UserTypes should access the same page. In my structure, I need to create three different pages inherited from three different Master's. How to solve this issue?
To your first question: I use it similar. I'm not sure if it is a good solution but it works for me.
Second question: You can define ContentPlaceHolder in your master pages.
<asp:ContentPlaceHolder ID="MyId" runat="server" />
In your aspx site you define for each ContentPlaceHolder one Content container.
<asp:Content ContentPlaceHolderID="PageContent" runat="server">
<!-- content for this area -->
</asp:Content>
If you define in your three user type master pages ContentPlaceHolder with the same ID you can use in a page like Forgot.aspx the same content for each master page.
Second question: There are some pages like ForgotPassword.aspx which all UserTypes should access the same page. In my structure, I need to create three different pages inherited from three different Master's. How to solve this issue?
Create User.Master and Guest.Master with same way and you will have masters for all kind of users.
User.Master will check only if user is logged in.
well, authentication in master pages is acceptable, if not the best practice. I have seen many books that start with these kind of tutorial. however you may face some issues when your website scales, also handling authentication related data in other than pages like in haldlers or global.asax can be a pain.
However this kind of authentication will be OK when the scope of website is limited and you doesn't require advanced function.
regarding you 2nd question then yes what you are getting is the side effect of the method being used. what you can do is create only one page using any of three masterpages. in that master page where you are checking for authentication, there you get the name of the page, and if the page name is same as forgot.aspx or what ever just ignore get out of the normal process.
eg
if (System.IO.Path.GetFileName(Request.PhysicalPath).ToLower() == "forgot.aspx")
{
}
else
{
doauthentication();
}
just make it as a normal webform page without master page, users can't log in if they forgot password, you only need to show them a normal page like the login page
I have an asp.net webpage that has user login enabled. Inside of my loginview controller I have my anonymous and loggedin code. Is it possible to have the same code in both, but for example just add a button in the loggedin view. All I want to do is when the user logs in display the same information except if logged in show a button, that is not shown when user is anonymous. Any help would be appreciated thank you. I already tried putting the same code into both anonymous and logged in but I get an error saying that a box already contains a definition for that name.
You can try reusing templates in code, as you can create your own template instance, but it really isn't worth the effort. It would be best to just copy the markup and change the ID's. I know it's a pain...
You get the naming conflict because it defines the template instance as a single instance, and each instance gets implemented in the control tree (even though it may not be rendered).
I have several pages in asp.net each with lots of controls. I Also have some roles in my application that each has some setting options. Now I want to prepare my page based on these settings. Maybe it’s not too clear, so please take a look at my example.
Example: There are some buttons, some textboxes, some datetime picker, and a chart in a page, now what I want is when a user sees this page, the controls appear and disappear based on the users role. An important thing is that I don’t want to have only visible and invisible controls, in some scenarios I need to show controls with some customizations. For example change chart data source, limit selecting date time and so on.
The first solution that I can think of, is saving the settings in database and after visiting the page by user, the settings fetch from database and based on those, I can customize the controls with conditional phrases (if and else). But I suppose it is not a good approach and my page will get very messy.
Please help me with any better solutions and if you know good references about it, please let me know.
Please see this link...use of ControlAdapters may help you...
Role-based enabling/disabling of controls in asp.net
You must use Thread.CurrentPrincipal.
A. When user login to your application, you attach his identity to thread, for example
string[] rolesArray = .....; //Get roles from dataBase by identity.
Thread.CurrentPrincipal = new YourCustomPrincipal(new YourCustomIdentity("YouName", "..."), rolesArray);
B. And when you navige about your application you test Thread.CurrentPrincipal
IPrincipal threadPrincipal = Thread.CurrentPrincipal;
if(threadPrincipal.Roles.Contains("roleTest"))
{
//Adjust your control
}
I have an ASP.Net(VB.Net) project which has various modules/functionality. I want to give users the freedom to set their own default startup page.
I don't know how to get a head-start implementing this feature.
Also, I am NOT using MVC
On the master page place some control to choose current page as default (i.e. button or checkbox). After user has select current page as default you can store the page address to user's profile or any storage you like.
Set the site start page like Default.aspx and in the Page_Load method of this page read user's saved default page if exists and redirect to it.
You'd want to set up a way for the User to store their preferred home page in your database (or your preferred method). Once that's done you should be able to do this in a simple fashion:
ASP.NET WebForms:
On the Master Page / Default page, check to see if they're logged in in your Page_Load event.
If they are, check to see if they have a start up page saved, if they do then use Response.Redirect and send them to their preferred location.
If they don't, or aren't logged in, then show them the default page.
ASP.NET MVC:
On the HomeController's Index method check to see if they're logged in.
If they are, check to see if they have a start up page saved, if they do then use RedirectToAction and send them to their preferred location.
If they don't, or aren't logged in, then show them the default view.
There are probably plenty of other ways to accomplish this as well, but this should be a straight forward way to get your started.
Is their a case for using input buttons as page links, when your linking to the next of a series of pages of a form where your filling out information?
UPDATE - Ive inherited a site. One section is a series of pages of forms that users fill in. The 'next' link to the next page is currently an input button, not a normal link.
Is this bad from a standards / semantics point of view?
I am not sure what you exactly want. But what about, you can use the button to navigate through the pages. Just put the url address of the next page.
<form action="page_number_2.htm">
But you will need to store formulat data from every page. I mean, if the user fill the formular on one page and go to the next formular, you don't want to lose the data from the filled formular. You can stored them with php until the user will reach the final formular step, where he will klick submit-button.
Actually the link is used for navigation through the pages. But in this case, if I understand right, you need to send data from formular, if the user go to the next formular. So in this case, better to use button. Still you can make this button look like link.
It is possible to make links appear as buttons. However, in the situation you describe, it would be a bad idea. The form data will only be submitted to your server if you use a form. Allowing the user to click a link to go to the next page will cause you to lose all of the data they entered (Unless you are collecting that data via AJAX).
It is usually best to allow page element to perform the functions they were designed for to avoid confusing your users. Users expects links to work like links, and buttons to work like buttons.