Question

What cool functionality and methods do you add to your ASP.net BasePage : System.Web.UI.Page classes?

Examples

Here’s something I use for authentication, and I’d like to hear your opinions on this:

protected override void OnPreInit(EventArgs e)
{
    base.OnPreInit(e);

    // Authentication code omitted... Essentially same as below.

    if (_RequiresAuthentication && !(IsAuthorized))
    {
        RespondForbidden("You do not have permissions to view this page.", UnauthorizedRedirect);
        return;
    }
}

// This function is overridden in each page subclass and fitted to each page's
// own authorization requirements.
// This also allows cascading authorization checks,
// e.g: User has permission to view page? No - base.IsAuthorized - Is user an admin?
protected virtual bool IsAuthorized
{
    get { return true; }
}

My BasePage class contains an instance of this class:

public class StatusCodeResponse {

    public StatusCodeResponse(HttpContext context) {
        this._context = context;
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Responds with a specified status code, and if specified - transfers to a page.
    /// </summary>
    private void RespondStatusCode(HttpContext context, System.Net.HttpStatusCode status, string message, string transfer)
    {
        if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(transfer))
        {
            throw new HttpException((int)status, message);
        }

        context.Response.StatusCode = (int)status;
        context.Response.StatusDescription = message;
        context.Server.Transfer(transfer);
    }

    public void RespondForbidden(string message, string transfer)
    {
        RespondStatusCode(this._context, System.Net.HttpStatusCode.Forbidden, message, transfer);
    }

    // And a few more like these...

}

As a side note, this could be accomplished using extension methods for the HttpResponse object.

And another method I find quite handy for parsing querystring int arguments:

public bool ParseId(string field, out int result)
{
    return (int.TryParse(Request.QueryString[field], out result) && result > 0);
}

Answer 1

• Session related stuff, some complex object in the BasePage that maps to a session, and expose it as a property.
• Doing stuff like filling a crumble pad object.

But most important: do not make your basepage into some helper class. Don’t add stuff like ParseId(), that’s just ridiculous.

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Also, based on the first post: make stuff like IsAuthorized abstract. This way you don’t create giant security holes if someone forgets that there is some virtual method.