Authentication by URL parameter?

[Mike Taylor]

My ASP.NET application is a league-management system (for soccer
etc.). The league which is being viewed is determined in a URL
parameter, eg.:

http://www.mydomain.com/default.aspx?leagueid=3

(although I'm using URL rewriting to make this nicer, eg
http://www.mydomain.com/myleague/default.aspx, but all the leagues are
driven by the same set of pages - dynamically includes different CSS
to change look and feel for each league).

My problem is this:

For each league, I want users to be able to register, and log in to
see sensitive information (contact details etc).

But the user list has to be different for each league - eg users who
have registered for league A don't automatically get access to league
B's sensitive information, unless they register for league B as well.

If both leagues are driven by the same set of pages, and the only
difference is a URL parameter, how can I check whether they're logged
in or not?

I don't think I can use Forms Authentication, as it can't determine
authorization by URL parameter (as far as I can tell). Also, I'm
already using Forms authentication for a central admin system for the
whole application which is different again... (yipe)

Was thinking of just writing classic ASP-style authentication for the
front end, using Session variables or something...

eg if(Session["league"+thisleagueid+"LoggedIn"]...etc

Would this be evil?

Mike Taylor

[Alex B]

There are a bunch of ways you can pull this off...

One way ... If in the userID table let's say you make a field "league".
When they log on, you can still use asp.net and forms authentication. Then
store their userID to a session variable. Then for each view or page from
there on, have the userID as a parameter - and in any sql select or sp, you
can filter based on the league for the specific userID. Does that make
sense or am I already incoherent? :)
"Mike Taylor" <mi**@mjt.org.uk> wrote in message
news:98**************************@posting.google.c om...

My ASP.NET application is a league-management system (for soccer
etc.). The league which is being viewed is determined in a URL
parameter, eg.:

http://www.mydomain.com/default.aspx?leagueid=3

(although I'm using URL rewriting to make this nicer, eg
http://www.mydomain.com/myleague/default.aspx, but all the leagues are
driven by the same set of pages - dynamically includes different CSS
to change look and feel for each league).

My problem is this:

For each league, I want users to be able to register, and log in to
see sensitive information (contact details etc).

But the user list has to be different for each league - eg users who
have registered for league A don't automatically get access to league
B's sensitive information, unless they register for league B as well.

If both leagues are driven by the same set of pages, and the only
difference is a URL parameter, how can I check whether they're logged
in or not?

I don't think I can use Forms Authentication, as it can't determine
authorization by URL parameter (as far as I can tell). Also, I'm
already using Forms authentication for a central admin system for the
whole application which is different again... (yipe)

Was thinking of just writing classic ASP-style authentication for the
front end, using Session variables or something...

eg if(Session["league"+thisleagueid+"LoggedIn"]...etc

Would this be evil?

Mike Taylor

[ASP.Confused]

That would be the way I would suggest (which is how I do it.)
"Mike Taylor" <mi**@mjt.org.uk> wrote in message
news:98**************************@posting.google.c om...

My ASP.NET application is a league-management system (for soccer
etc.). The league which is being viewed is determined in a URL
parameter, eg.:

http://www.mydomain.com/default.aspx?leagueid=3

(although I'm using URL rewriting to make this nicer, eg
http://www.mydomain.com/myleague/default.aspx, but all the leagues are
driven by the same set of pages - dynamically includes different CSS
to change look and feel for each league).

My problem is this:

For each league, I want users to be able to register, and log in to
see sensitive information (contact details etc).

But the user list has to be different for each league - eg users who
have registered for league A don't automatically get access to league
B's sensitive information, unless they register for league B as well.

If both leagues are driven by the same set of pages, and the only
difference is a URL parameter, how can I check whether they're logged
in or not?

I don't think I can use Forms Authentication, as it can't determine
authorization by URL parameter (as far as I can tell). Also, I'm
already using Forms authentication for a central admin system for the
whole application which is different again... (yipe)

Was thinking of just writing classic ASP-style authentication for the
front end, using Session variables or something...

eg if(Session["league"+thisleagueid+"LoggedIn"]...etc

Would this be evil?

Mike Taylor