Require the user to log in to view a document using ASP.NET

Question

I am working on a site that needs to restrict access to pages and documents (.pdf, .doc, etc.) to registered users. We are using the ASP.NET Membership classes to do this.

But, I'm having trouble getting it to work how I would like if someone clicks a link to a document before they are logged into the site. Currently, they will be taken to the login page and upon successful login, the document will be served in a new window, but they will still be sitting at the login screen when they close the document. What can be done to send the user to a default page and also load the document?

score 1 · Answer 1 · edited Feb 08 '15 at 14:33

1

Could you do something that if the ReturnURL contains a link to the actual document, you set the OnClientclick property of your "login button" to call a JavaScript function to open the file in a new window, and then have a Response.Redirect() to take the person from the login screen?

edited Feb 08 '15 at 14:33

Peter Mortensen

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answered Oct 15 '09 at 20:12

Jack Marchetti

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This did not work for me as the JavaScript was firing before login was completed. – Ross Fuhrman Oct 19 '09 at 18:31

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 15 '09 at 20:39

First make your own log in page; this is fairly straightforward as ASP.NET Membership provides methods to do all of the important operations. Then, right before you call the RedirectFromLoginPage method, look at the ReturnUrl query parameter value, and if it is a document, send the user to your default page instead, passing the URL for the document either as a query string parameter or in session state. Finally, in your default page, detect if a document URL was passed, and if so, do a client-side redirect (using either JavaScript or META refresh) to the document when the page is loaded.

I ended up implementing this solution. – Ross Fuhrman Oct 19 '09 at 18:32 — Ross Fuhrman, Oct 19 '09 at 18:32

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 15 '09 at 20:22

0

Added formsAuthentication. FormsAuthentication.RedirectFromLoginPage(txtUserid.Text.Trim(), false)

answered Oct 15 '09 at 20:22

Henry Gao

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Correct me if I'm wrong, but that will bring up the document(.pdf, .doc, etc), but when the document window is closed, the user will still be on the login page. – Ross Fuhrman Oct 15 '09 at 20:25

score 0 · Answer 4 · edited Feb 08 '15 at 14:34

0

As HenryGao said, but remember to put the tag into your web config and put deny users="?" to only allow authenticated users.

<configuration>
   <system.web>
      <authorization>
         <deny users="?"/>
      </authorization>
   </system.web>
</configuration>

edited Feb 08 '15 at 14:34

Peter Mortensen

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answered Oct 15 '09 at 20:26

Antony Koch

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Require the user to log in to view a document using ASP.NET

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