ASP.NET: What does this HttpModule do? System.ServiceModel.Activation.HttpModule

Question

Can anyone tell me the purpose of this HttpModule? It\'s showing up on my HttpModuleCollection list, but I don\'t know what\'s it\'s for.

System.ServiceMode         


        

Answer 1

A http module is a .net assembly that is called every time your web application gets a request. This is the standard one that asp.net provides that connects your .net web application code to the IIS web infrastructure.

See here for an explanation.

HTTP Modules

An HTTP module is an assembly that is called on every request that is made to your application. HTTP modules are called as part of the request pipeline and have access to life-cycle events throughout the request. HTTP modules therefore let you examine incoming requests and take action based on the request. They also let you examine the outgoing response and modify it.

In IIS 6.0, the ASP.NET request pipeline is separate from the Web server request pipeline. In IIS 7.0, the ASP.NET request pipeline and the Web server request pipeline can be integrated into a common request pipeline. In IIS 7.0, this is referred to as Integrated mode. The unified pipeline has several benefits for ASP.NET developers. For example, it lets managed-code modules receive pipeline notifications for all requests, even if the requests are not for ASP.NET resources. However, if you want, you can run IIS 7.0 in Classic mode, which emulates ASP.NET running in IIS 6.0. For more information, see ASP.NET Application Life Cycle Overview for IIS 7.0.

ASP.NET HTTP modules are like ISAPI filters because they are invoked for all requests. However, they are written in managed code and are fully integrated with the life cycle of an ASP.NET application. You can put custom module source code in the App_Code folder of your application, or you can put compiled custom modules as assemblies in the Bin folder of an application.

ASP.NET uses modules to implement various application features, which includes forms authentication, caching, session state, and client script services. In each case, when those services are enabled, the module is called as part of a request and performs tasks that are outside the scope of any single page request. Modules can consume application events and can raise events that can be handled in the Global.asax file. For more information about application events, see ASP.NET Application Life Cycle Overview for IIS 5.0 and 6.0 and ASP.NET Application Life Cycle Overview for IIS 7.0.