How do I access HttpContext.Current in Task.Factory.StartNew?

Question

I want to access HttpContext.Current in my asp.net application within

Task.Factory.Start(() =>{
    //HttpContext.Current is null here
});

How can I fix this error?

Answer 1

Task.Factory.Start will fire up a new Thread and because the HttpContext.Context is local to a thread it won't be automaticly copied to the new Thread, so you need to pass it by hand:

var task = Task.Factory.StartNew(
    state =>
        {
            var context = (HttpContext) state;
            //use context
        },
    HttpContext.Current);

Answer 2

You could use a closure to have it available on the newly created thread:

var currentContext = HttpContext.Current;

Task.Factory.Start(() => {
    // currentContext is not null here
});

But keep in mind that a task can outlive the lifetime of the HTTP request and could lead to funny results when accessing the HTTPContext after the request has completed.