Page Identifier in ViewState (problem with custom Http Handler)

[Jeff]

I have been using a view state decoder utility to understand the contents of
ViewState.

In looking at the decoded contents of many aspx pages (from my own projects
and from asp.net sites out on the Internet), it appears that the first value
stored in the viewstate (first 52 characters in the rendered page's
ViewState value) decodes to a String value that contains an integer (e.g.,
954082991 or -1409176043 or 2073980712, etc). This initial
[integer-stored-as-string] value does not change regardless of postbacks to
the page, nor querystring values used when requesting the page. So it's easy
to conclude that this integer is some sort of page identifier.

My Questions:
1. Is the above correct? That the initial value is a page identifier?

2. Why would a custom HTTP handler I created always render "0" for this
identifier (rather than a non zero identifier)?

3. How can I make a custom HTTP handler, that extends Page, render a non
zero "real" value for this identifier?

I have a custom HTTP handler that extends Page, and whenever requested, the
resulting page's Viewstate contains
"/wEPDwUBMGRkb1Mao7fk1F6yNF7xvowvvS8r6wo=" for that initial ViewState value
(which decodes to a string value of "0").

Thanks!