XSession

Makes using Session Variables Easy For AspNetCore

This is a simple project that illustrates how to use the generic XSession class to handle session variables in aspnetcore web applications. This sample provides a generic class so any type of object can be stored as a session variable. To use the class, do the following

1. Define any class that corresponds to the data model you want to save in a session. Make sure the class is serializable and has a default constructor.

[Serializable]
public class UserSessionVariables
{
  public bool IsAuthenticated {get; set;} = false;
  public string UserID {get; set; } = "";
  
  public UserSessionVariables() {}

}

2. Add the following namespaces to all your controllers.

using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Http;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Filters;

3. In all controllers, define a controller level variable to store the session.

PFSXSession<UserSessionVariables> session;

4. In each controller, define an OnActionExecuting function.

public override void OnActionExecuting(ActionExecutingContext context)

{
 // get the action<br>
 string action = this.ControllerContext.ActionDescriptor.ActionName.ToUpper();

 // define a new user session
 session = new PFSXSession<PFSUserSessionVariables>(context.HttpContext);

 // now load the user session
 session.Load(AutoInitialize:true);
 
 bool bypass = false;

  // this is just simple login, login submit, and logout logic.  It determines whether 
  // we want to check the session authentication, etc.
 if (string.Compare(action, "LOGIN") == 0 || string.Compare(action, "LOGINSUBMIT") == 0 || 
     string.Compare(action, "LOGOUT") == 0)
 {
      bypass = true;
 }

 if (!bypass)
 {
     // if user is not authenticated
     if (!session.SessionVariables.IsAuthenticated || session.IsExpired || session.IsCorrupt)
     {
         context.Result = new RedirectResult("/Home/Login");
     }
  }

  // execute the base.
  base.OnActionExecuting(context);

}

5. In the ConfigureServices function in startup.cs, add the following to configure asp.net core to use session management and to store in server side memory.

 
public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
{
          // add server memory cache
        services.AddDistributedMemoryCache();

        // add session
        services.AddSession();

}

6. In the Configure function in startup.cs, add the UseSession(); and make sure it is before the UseMvc().

  
public void Configure(IApplicationBuilder app, IHostingEnvironment env)
{
     app.UseStaticFiles();

     // use the session
     app.UseSession();

     app.UseMvc(routes =>
     {
     routes.MapRoute(
            name: "default",
            template: "{controller=Home}/{action=Index}/{id?}");
     });
}

7. To change session values, simply do the following anywhere in your controller methods

session.SessionVariables.IsAuthenticated = true;
session.SessionVariables.UserID = "admin";
session.Save();

And remember, the session variable class can have as many properties as you so desire. Things like browser, remote ip address, remote port, access level, etc.

8. Have Fun

*** The class file is located in the Models folder of the project. The file name is PFSXSession.cs Rename it and change the namespace, etc.

Best Regards,
Paul Sirpenski.