What is viewstate in ASP.NET?
The postback question is the heart of any interview on ASP NET. When a postback happens (i.e. when a form is submitted to a server), the variable values that are set in the code-behind page are erased from the memory of the client system. This concept would be different from what happens in Windows-based applications, where the variable variables persist in memory until they are freed from the memory either by the garbage collector, or by specific codes like dispose or finalize.
In web applications, variable values simply get erased. But it is very simple to persist these values. They may be persisted using the Viewstate object. Before the postback is invoked, the variable's value is saved in a viewstate object. In the recieving page, the viewstate's value may be retrieved back. See example code below...
//Save the value in ViewState object before the PostBack
ViewState("SomeVar") = txtFirstName.text;
//Retrieve the value from ViewState object after the PostBack
String strFirstName = ViewState("SomeVar").ToString();
asp.net interview questions: state management
- What is the lifespan for items stored in ViewState?
Item stored in ViewState exist for the life of the current page. This includes postbacks (to the same page). - What is ViewState?
ViewState allows the state of objects (serializable) to be stored in a hidden field on the page. ViewState is transported to the client and back to the server, and is not stored on the server or any other external source. ViewState is used the retain the state of server-side objects between postabacks. - What are the different types of Session state management options available with ASP.NET?
ASP.NET provides In-Process and Out-of-Process state management. In-Process stores the session in memory on the web server. This requires the a "sticky-server" (or no load-balancing) so that the user is always reconnected to the same web server. Out-of-Process Session state management stores data in an external data source. The external data source may be either a SQL Server or a State Server service. Out-of-Process state management requires that all objects stored in session are serializable. - What does the "EnableViewState" property do? Why would I want it on or off?
It allows the page to save the users input on a form across postbacks. It saves the server-side values for a given control into ViewState, which is stored as a hidden value on the page before sending the page to the clients browser. When the page is posted back to the server the server control is recreated with the state stored in viewstate.
