Question

I have configured an asp.NET web application to use forms authentication and store the session in a custom table. So far so good, when I log in the authentication persists across browser sessions. I am trying to get to grip with the possibilities of storing the session like so but I come up against a problem early on.

If I add variable/value pairs to the session object, and output the session variables to the page, the variable/value pairs are displayed as expected, but when I close and reopen the browser the correct session reloads as expected (which I confirm by outputting the sessionid) but the variable/value pairs are gone.

Is there something very simple I am missing here as from what I understand the session variables should also be available across browser sessions(strings are serializable right?).

List<SessionVar> sessionVars = new List<SessionVar>();
protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    Session[Session.SessionID] = Session.SessionID;
    LoadSessionData();
}

protected void btnSessionVariable_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    Session[txtVariableName.Text.Trim()] = txtVariableValue.Text.Trim();
    txtVariableName.Text = string.Empty;
    txtVariableValue.Text = string.Empty;
    LoadSessionData();
}

private void LoadSessionData()
{
    sessionVars.Clear();
    foreach (string key in Session.Keys)
    {
        sessionVars.Add(new SessionVar(key, (string)Session[key]));
    }
    gridView.DataSource = sessionVars;
    gridView.DataBind();
}

Answer 1

Session state is NOT maintained when a browser (or browser tab) closes and is restarted.
The session cookie is no longer available for the new browser window so a new session will start. That ASP.NET assigns the same id again is just a coincedence.