Professional Visual Studio® 2008

Chapter 30. Client Application Services

A generation of applications built around services and the separation of user experience from backend data stores has seen requirements for occasionally connect applications emerge. Introduced in Chapter 26 on Microsoft Synchronization Services, occasionally connected applications are those that will continue to operate regardless of network availability. Chapter 26 discusses how data can be synchronized to a local store to allow the user to continue to work when the application is offline. However, this scenario leads to discussions (often heated) about security. As security (that is, user authentication and role authorization) is often managed centrally, it is difficult to extend so that it incorporates occasionally connected applications.

In this chapter you will become familiar with the client application services that extend ASP.NET Application Services for use in client applications. ASP.NET Application Services is a provider-based model for performing user authentication, role authorization, and profile management that has in the past been limited to web services and web sites. In Visual Studio 2008, you can configure your application to make use of these services throughout your application to validate users, limit functionality based on what roles users have been assigned, and save personal settings to a central location.