How to read session values using jQuery

Question

I am using c# and jQuery.

I have below code where I am setting the Session Variable using C# code.

if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(results))
{
    string[] array = results.Split(',');
    string firstName = array[0];
    string lastName = array[1];
    string activeCardNo = array[2];
    string memberShipTier = array[3];
    string accessToken = array[4];

    Session["skyFirstName"] = firstName.ToString();
    Session["skyLastName"] = lastName.ToString();
    Session["skyActiveCardNo"] = activeCardNo.ToString();
    Session["skyMemberShipTier"] = memberShipTier.ToString();
    Session["boolSignOn"] = "true";
    Response.Redirect(fromPage);
    Response.End();
}

Now I want to read these values (Session["skyFirstName"]) using jQuery so that I can set in my elements. Please suggest.

Answer 1

Session values are stored on the server and it is impossible to read them with client side javascript. One way to achieve this would be to expose some server side script or generic handler which would return the corresponding session value given a key and then use jQuery to send an AJAX request to this handler and read the value. You should be aware that by doing this the user can read all his session values. Be warned that exposing the same script for writing session values could be catastrophic from security standpoint.

Here's an example:

public class ReadSession : IHttpHandler, IReadOnlySessionState
{
    public void ProcessRequest(HttpContext context)
    {
        context.Response.ContentType = "application/json";
        context.Response.Write(new JavaScriptSerializer().Serialize(new
        {
            Key = context.Request["key"],
            Value = context.Session[context.Request["key"]]
        }));
    }

    public bool IsReusable 
    { 
        get { return true; } 
    }
}

and then query it:

$.getJSON('/ReadSession.ashx', { key: 'skyFirstName' }, function(result) {
    alert(result.Value);
});