Question

Based on a configuration setting I’d like to direct users to a “This site is currently offline” page. The master page seems like the common place to do that. I originally used this code:

MyConfig config = new MyConfig();

protected void Page_PreInit(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    if (config.RefuseRequests)
        Response.Redirect("Offline.aspx");
}

A break point here is never hit.

After some digging I came across http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dct97kc3.aspx which seems to say a master Page_PreInit is never called. Am I reading that right?

The above code doesn’t show an error in visual studio and it seems like a useful step in the load flow. Are there any conditions where a master page Page_PreInit would be executed?

Answer 1

While the information out there isn’t as clearly stated as I’d like the practical answer does appear to be “no, a master Page_PreInit() will never be hit.”