Setting maxRequestLength programmatically

Question

There's a configuration value called maxRequestLength. In a config file it looks like this:

<configuration>
  <system.web>
    <httpRuntime maxRequestLength="2048576" />
  </system.web>
</configuration>

How can I set the value of maxRequestLength programmatically?

Answer 1

You can't!

maxRequestLength is handled by the HttpWorkerRequest prior the call to the actual HttpHandler, meaning that a generic handler or a page is executed after the request hit the server and has processed by the corresponding asp.net worker. you cannot have any control over the maxRequestLength in your page code or an HttpHandler!

If you want to read the request length in code you can do that either through a HttpModule or the global.asax file, this is how it is done inside the global.asax:

protected void Application_BeginRequest(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    IServiceProvider provider = (IServiceProvider)HttpContext.Current;
    HttpWorkerRequest workerRequest = (HttpWorkerRequest)provider.GetService(typeof(HttpWorkerRequest));

    if (workerRequest.HasEntityBody())
    {
        long contentLength = long.Parse((workerRequest.GetKnownRequestHeader(HttpWorkerRequest.HeaderContentLength)));
    }
}

You could set the maxRequestLength in your web.config to its max value and call the worker's CloseConnection method in your code if the request length reaches the desired value!