Session_End, where is my Request?

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This is one of the most common misunderstandings about ASP.NET -- so common that I even blundered it myself in a newsgroup post, even though I know better. A typical question might go like this:

"I have code in my session_start to create a temp directory for the session. On session_end it is supposed to delete the directory but doesn't seem to be firing. I've enclosed the code below. Can anybody give me any suggestions as to why Session_End seems to not be being fired?"

<sample code from the OP>

Session_End only fires for InProc Session mode, and it fires on the server. It is completely independent of any "Request" -- in fact that's the reason it fires - because there *IS* no Request and there hasn't been one for some time!

So -- the concept of getting anything out of a Request when Session_End fires is a moot issue.

Peter has been active on the C# and other MS newsgroups, has had samples at gotdotnet.com (now codegallery.com) that have been downloaded over 56,000 times, and has written numerous articles for eggheadcafe.com, for which he is a co-founder, and MSDNAA sites. He has also been a technical reviewer on books from Prentice Hall, Manning and other publishers. Peter was a Microsoft MVP for 10 years. Peter was born and raised in New York City, and after a stint as a jazz musician playing contrabass with the Robert Hunt Trio, migrated to sunny Florida, where he was hired as a rookie Financial Consultant at Merrill Lynch in Orlando, specializing in Corporate Services. It was at Merrill that Peter realized computers and technology were his forte. He spent his last few years at Merrill developing real – time computerized trading and and stock charting program using advanced technical analysis indicators, some of which are his own inventions. In 1997, he moved on to architect and serve as lead developer on a number of innovative web-based and middleware solutions for the healthcare and financial services industry.

Comments

  1. Anonymous11:16 AM

    At least you can access session variables in Session_End!

    ReplyDelete
  2. peterbromberg1:11 PM

    That's right, you do have access to the session that is currently expiring in the Session_End handler. But, if you have some cleanup or other business logic to do, you would first have had to store the SessionID associated with that particular user somewhere, such as in a database. Then, you could look up that user's table row by "CurrentSessionID" and update their data.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous4:21 AM

    I have an AJAX based application which is periodically posting on an ASPX page & still after some random interval my session_end hits. Any ideas what the issue could be?

    ReplyDelete

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