model view controller - How do I call Initialize on a custom MembershipProvider?

Question

I have read through all the related questions, but I still unable to get the right solution for some reason, something is not right on my side, but not sure what's causing it.

I have created a Custom Membership Provider, also changed my web.config to :

   <membership defaultProvider="MyMemberShipProvider">
      <providers>
        <clear />
        <add name="MyMemberShipProvider" 
                  type="MyNameSpace.MyMemberShipProvider" 
                  connectionStringName="ApplicationServices" 
                  enablePasswordRetrieval="false" 
                  enablePasswordReset="true" 
                  requiresQuestionAndAnswer="false" 
                  requiresUniqueEmail="false" 
                  passwordFormat="Hashed" 
                  maxInvalidPasswordAttempts="5" 
                  minRequiredPasswordLength="6" 
                  minRequiredNonalphanumericCharacters="0" 
                  passwordAttemptWindow="10" 
                  passwordStrengthRegularExpression="" 
                  applicationName="MyApplication" />
      </providers>
    </membership>

Here is the code for my Initialize method:

public override void Initialize(string name, NameValueCollection config)
{
    if (config == null)
    { throw new ArgumentNullException("config"); }

    if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(name))
    { name = "MyMemberShipProvider"; }

    if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(config["description"]))
    {
        config.Remove("description");
        config.Add("description", "My Membership Provider");
    }

    base.Initialize(name, config);

    _applicationName = GetConfigValue(config["applicationName"], System.Web.Hosting.HostingEnvironment.ApplicationVirtualPath);
    _maxInvalidPasswordAttempts = Convert.ToInt32(GetConfigValue(config["maxInvalidPasswordAttempts"], "5"));
    _passwordAttemptWindow = Convert.ToInt32(GetConfigValue(config["passwordAttemptWindow"], "10"));
    _minRequiredNonAlphaNumericCharacters = Convert.ToInt32(GetConfigValue(config["minRequiredAlphaNumericCharacters"], "1"));
    _minRequiredPasswordLength = Convert.ToInt32(GetConfigValue(config["minRequiredPasswordLength"], "7"));
    _passwordStregthRegularExpression = Convert.ToString(GetConfigValue(config["passwordStrengthRegularExpression"], String.Empty));
    _enablePasswordReset = Convert.ToBoolean(GetConfigValue(config["enablePasswordReset"], "true"));
    _enablePasswordRetrieval = Convert.ToBoolean(GetConfigValue(config["enablePasswordRetrieval"], "true"));
    _requiredQuestionAndAnswer = Convert.ToBoolean(GetConfigValue(config["requiresQuestionAndAnswer"], "false"));
    _requiredUniqueEmail = Convert.ToBoolean(GetConfigValue(config["requiresUniqueEmail"], "true"));

    string temp_format = config["passwordFormat"];
    if (temp_format == null)
    {
        temp_format = "Hashed";
    }

    switch (temp_format)
    {
        case "Hashed":
            _passwordFormat = MembershipPasswordFormat.Hashed;
            break;
        case "Encrypted":
            _passwordFormat = MembershipPasswordFormat.Encrypted;
            break;
        case "Clear":
            _passwordFormat = MembershipPasswordFormat.Clear;
            break;
        default:
            throw new ProviderException("Password format not supported.");
    }

    ConnectionStringSettings _connectionStringSettings = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings[config["connectionStringName"]];

    if (_connectionStringSettings == null || _connectionStringSettings.ConnectionString.Length == 0)
    {
        throw new ProviderException("Connection String Cannot Be Blank.");
    }

    _connectionString = _connectionStringSettings.ConnectionString;

    //Get Encryption and Decryption Key Information From the Information.

    System.Configuration.Configuration cfg = WebConfigurationManager.OpenWebConfiguration(System.Web.Hosting.HostingEnvironment.ApplicationVirtualPath);
    _machinekey = cfg.GetSection("system.web/machineKey") as MachineKeySection;

    if (_machinekey.ValidationKey.Contains("AutoGenerate"))
    {
        if (PasswordFormat != MembershipPasswordFormat.Clear)
        {
            throw new ProviderException("Hashed or Encrypted passwords are not supported with auto-generated keys.");
        }
    }

}

And I have noticed that the Initialize method was not called, I read through the questions here and the people were saying I do not have to call that manually, if I have wired up my web.config correctly, I don't have to do anything, but I do tried to call that manually, but it gave me an InvalidCastException when I was trying to cast NameValueCollection.

Can anyone help me? Thanks

Answer 1

For Initialize() to be called, you will need to instantiate your custom membership provider a certain way. Like so:

MyCustomMembershipProvider myProvider = (MyCustomMembershipProvider)Membership.Providers["NameOfMembershipProviderInConfig"];

Now when you use myProvider, Initialize() from your custom provider will be called.