How to assign Profile values?

Question

I don\'t know what I am missing, but I added Profile properties in the Web.config file but cannot access Profile.Item in the code or create a new profile.

Answer 1

When you create a new Web site project in Visual Studio then the object that is returned from Profile will be (automatically) generated for you. When you create a Web application project or an MVC project, you will have to roll your own.

This probably sounds more difficult than it is. You need to do the following:

• Create a database using aspnet_regsql.exe This tool is installed along with the .NET framework.
• Write a class that derives from ProfileGroupBase or install the Web Profile Builder (WPB) that can generate the class for you from the definition in Web.Config. I have been using WPB for a while and up until now it has done what is expected of it. If you have a lot of properties, using WPB can save quite a bit of time.
• Make sure the connection to the database is properly configured in Web.Config.
• Now you are set to create an instance of your profile class (in the controller)
• You will probably need the profile property values in your views. I like to pass the profile object itself along to the view (not individual properties).

Answer 2

The Web Profile Builder worked great for me. The class it generated has a lot more in it than as described by Joel's post. Whether or not its actually needed or useful I dont know.

Anyway for those looking for an easy way to generate the class, but not wanting to have an external build tool dependency you can always

• use the web profile builder
• delete all trace of it!
• keep using the generated Profile class

OR (untested but may just work)

• create a web site project
• create your element
• snap the generated class and copy it over to your web project project

if this second approach does work can someone let me know for future reference

Answer 3

If you are using a web application project, you cannot access the Profile object at design-time out-of-the-box. Here is a utility that supposedly does it for you: http://weblogs.asp.net/joewrobel/archive/2008/02/03/web-profile-builder-for-web-application-projects.aspx. Personally, that utility caused an error in my project so I ended up rolling my own profile class to inherit from ProfileBase. It was not hard to do at all.

Answer 4

I was also running through the same issue. But instead of creating a class which inherits from ProfileBase, I used the HttpContext.

Specify properties in web.config file as follows : -

Now, write the following code : -

Compile and run the code. You will get following output: -