Configuring the Custom Cache Provider
To configure the custom cache provider, specify the details in your application's Web.config file. Here's how you can specify the configuration:
<configuration>
<system.web>
<compilation debug="true" targetFramework="4.0"/>
<caching>
<outputCache defaultProvider="CustomOutputCache">
<providers>
<add name="CacheProviderName"
type="CacheProviderCategory"/>
</providers>
</outputCache>
</caching>
</system.web>
</configuration>
So, if you have implemented a custom cache provider called FileCacheProvider, for example, you can specify this in the application's configuration file:
<configuration>
<system.web>
<caching>
<outputCache defaultProvider="AspNetInternalProvider">
<providers>
<add name="FileCache"
type="CustomCacheProvider"/>
</providers>
</outputCache>
</caching>
</system.web>
</configuration>
Selecting the Custom Output Cache Provider Dynamically
Next, override the virtual method called GetOutputCacheProviderName() of the HttpApplication class in the global.asax file to ensure that the correct cache provider is selected at the application level.
public class Global : System.Web.HttpApplication
{
public override string GetOutputCacheProviderName(HttpContext context)
{
return base.GetOutputCacheProviderName(context);
}
}
It is also possible to select the output cache provider to be dynamically on a per-request basis by overriding the GetOutputCacheProviderName() method as shown in the code snippet below:
public class Global : System.Web.HttpApplication
{
public override string GetOutputCacheProviderName(HttpContext context)
{
if(context.Request.Path.EndsWith("Default.aspx"))
return "AspNetInternalProvider";
return base.GetOutputCacheProviderName(context);
}
}
Now, your Global.ascx.cs file should look similar to this:
using System;
using System.Web;
namespace DDJ
{
public class Global : System.Web.HttpApplication
{
void Application_Start(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
}
void Application_End(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
}
void Application_Error(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
}
void Session_Start(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
}
void Session_End(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
}
public override string GetOutputCacheProviderName(HttpContext context)
{
if (context.Request.Path.EndsWith("Default.aspx"))
return "AspNetInternalProvider";
return base.GetOutputCacheProviderName(context);
}
}
}
Note that the Application_Start(), Application_End(), Application_Error(), Session_Start(), and Session_End() are the default event handlers of the System.Web.Global class. You can also make use of the RawUrl property of the Request object to get the right custom cache provider dynamically as shown here:
{
if (context.Request.RawUrl.ToUpper().Contains("File"))
{
return "CustomFileOutputCacheProvider";
}
return base.GetOutputCacheProviderName(context);
}
And, you are done! You can now use your custom cache provider in your application.
Conclusion
Caching can significantly reduce network latency and boost an application's performance. If you have a large number of concurrent requests to the same resource, caching can come in handy by allowing you to avoid redundant calls to the data stores. In this article, I explored the new features in the Cache API in .NET Framework 4, the ASP.NET Cache extensibility feature, and how these can be leveraged to implement your own custom cache provider.
References
These links provide additional information that you'll find helpful:
Extending ASP.NET Output Caching
Building and Using Custom OutputCache Providers in ASP.NET
— Joydip Kanjilal is a frequent author on Microsoft technologies. He has won the Microsoft MVP Award for the last five years.
