How to use custom httpcontext user when using custom Membership/Role Provider - asp.net-mvc

Question

Hi guys so I'm using a custom membership provider and custom role provider. And it is logging in using these correctly. I also implemented my own Membership user object so that I can gain access to other user information, and I don't need to load all the data everytime I change page, but I currently cannot get this to work properly. Below is my user object:
public class User : MembershipUser
{
[Required(ErrorMessage = "Username cannot be blank")]
[Display(Name = "User name")]
public string UserName { get; set; }
[Required(ErrorMessage = "Password cannot be blank")]
[DataType(DataType.Password)]
[Display(Name = "Password")]
public string Password { get; set; }
[Display(Name = "User ID")]
public long UserID { get; set; }
[Display(Name = "Family Name")]
[StringLength(50, ErrorMessage = "Family name cannot be longer than 50 characters")]
public string FamilyName { get; set; }
[Display(Name = "Given Name")]
[StringLength(50, ErrorMessage = "Given name cannot be longer than 50 characters")]
public string GivenName { get; set; }
public Company Company { get; set; }
public virtual IIdentity Identity { get; set; }
}
And when the user logs in I call the following login method:
[AllowAnonymous]
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Login(User model, string returnUrl)
{
FormsAuthentication.SignOut();
if(Membership.ValidateUser(model.UserName, model.Password))
{
FormsAuthentication.SetAuthCookie(model.UserName, true);
return RedirectToAction("Index", "");
}
ViewBag.Message = "Failed to login";
return View();
}
But when I call HttpContext.User in index it just contains name/ID, not the rest of my user object. Do I need to create a custom FormAuthentication object? Or is it standard process to store all this user information inside the HttpContext.Session object? Or get my user to extend the System.Security.Principle.IPrinciple? Or even in the Controller.TempData? Or somewhere else I'm not familiar with. I dont want to have to hit the database everytime to load the user data.
Sorry if these are obvious questions I'm fairly new to web development and not sure what the generic way of doing these things are. Trying to use the in build Authorize attributes.

Answer 1

I did it by implementing my own identity. That way it's easy to add as many properties as I need. Below is a code example with custom property friendlyName
public class Identity : IIdentity
{
public Identity(int id, string name, string friendlyName, string roles)
{
this.ID = id;
this.Name = name;
this.FriendlyName = friendlyName;
this.Roles = roles;
}
public Identity(string name, string data)
{
if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(data))
throw new ArgumentException();
string[] values = data.Split('|');
if (values.Length != 3)
throw new ArgumentException();
this.Name = name;
this.ID = Convert.ToInt32(values[0]);
this.FriendlyName = values[1];
Roles = values[2];
}
public string AuthenticationType
{
get { return "Custom"; }
}
public bool IsAuthenticated
{
get { return true; }
}
public override string ToString()
{
return FriendlyName;
}
public string GetUserData()
{
return string.Format("{0}|{1}|{2}", ID, FriendlyName, Roles);
}
public int ID { get; private set; }
public string Name { get; private set; }
public string FriendlyName { get; private set; }
public string Roles { get; private set; }
}
//in controller on login action:
Identity id = new Identity(user.ID, user.Username, "some friendly name", user.Roles);
DateTime expire = DateTime.Now.AddMinutes(FormsAuthentication.Timeout.TotalMinutes);
FormsAuthenticationTicket ticket = new FormsAuthenticationTicket(id.ID, user.Username, DateTime.Now, expire, false, id.GetUserData());
string hashTicket = FormsAuthentication.Encrypt(ticket);
HttpCookie cookie = new HttpCookie(FormsAuthentication.FormsCookieName, hashTicket);
HttpContext.Response.Cookies.Add(cookie);
In global.asax you have:
public override void Init()
{
base.Init();
PostAuthenticateRequest += new EventHandler(MvcApplication_PostAuthenticateRequest);
}
void MvcApplication_PostAuthenticateRequest(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
HttpCookie authCookie = Request.Cookies[FormsAuthentication.FormsCookieName];
if (authCookie != null)
{
FormsAuthenticationTicket authTicket = FormsAuthentication.Decrypt(authCookie.Value);
if (authTicket == null || authTicket.Expired)
return;
Identity id = new Identity(authTicket.Name, authTicket.UserData);
Principal user = new Principal(id);
Context.User = user;
Thread.CurrentPrincipal = user;
}
}