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Session Timeout (Again)

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    Session Timeout (Again)

    Is their a clear and concise way to set the session timeout for Alpha running under IIS and have it stick?

    I've changed the value in the IIS on the Application Pool
    I've changed the value in the project properties

    Finally I went directly into the web.config on the deployed server and changed the value there. This seemed to be the only change that worked. However, when I deployed my application again the web.config was overwritten and the timeout was reset back to the default 15 minutes? I have it set to 120 minutes in my project.

    Thanks!

    #2
    Re: Session Timeout (Again)

    I don't use IIS but it may not matter. Assuming you have some xbasic login code somewhere, try putting this in:

    Session.Timeout = 120
    Peter
    AlphaBase Solutions, LLC

    [email protected]
    https://www.alphabasesolutions.com


    Comment


      #3
      Re: Session Timeout (Again)

      I'm not sure of the syntax for that particular directive but it seems that you would add it, in the publishing profile > Publish to IIS > Preserve web.config elements


      See the section "Preserve web.config Elements" in the documentation:
      https://www.alphasoftware.com/docume...ile/index.html

      Comment


        #4
        Re: Session Timeout (Again)

        I don't use IIS either, but I gave up trying to adjust timeout settings as eventually it came down to the load balancer (which is mostly out of my control) being the main culprit for timing people out and sending them to a different instance of WAS. I just put a timer event in the TabbedUI to keep the connection alive by sending a short request to the server every 90 to 120 seconds to run an XBasic script. I have not had any complaints from the clients timing-out, since putting it in.

        Oh, and I don't let Alpha publish to the production server. I always have it publish to a temp folder, then I manually copy that to a staging folder on the server and run a batch file that copies the necessary files from staging to the various WAS instances. That way I know exactly what is getting replaced.

        Comment


          #5
          Re: Session Timeout (Again)

          Originally posted by RichCPT View Post
          Oh, and I don't let Alpha publish to the production server. I always have it publish to a temp folder, then I manually copy that to a staging folder on the server and run a batch file that copies the necessary files from staging to the various WAS instances. That way I know exactly what is getting replaced.
          Smart!
          Peter
          AlphaBase Solutions, LLC

          [email protected]
          https://www.alphabasesolutions.com


          Comment


            #6
            Re: Session Timeout (Again)

            I haven't done this in a while, but I think there is a setting in the application pool.

            Comment


              #7
              Re: Session Timeout (Again)

              Rich,
              Thanks for the reply. This looks like the method I want to proceed with. After reading up on this, I'd rather use the timer approach and allow the session to refresh for users that have open instances of the application instead of setting some arbitrarily long session timeout that remains in effect long after a user has closed their browser.

              Would you be able to elaborate a little bit on where you put the code for a timer in your tabbedui as well as the action you perform in the xbasic function? I'm sure I can put most anything in the xbasic but I am having trouble figuring out where to put the timer code to make the callback.

              Thanks!!

              Comment


                #8
                Re: Session Timeout (Again)

                I was not using the "Home" tab In my TabbedUI. So, I actually put my "keep alive" stuff in a UX that is inside the a5w page that is now used as the "home" tab (in Tabbed UI, Properties, Home Page URL).

                In the home page UX:
                1) I have controls for displaying the server's date/time at login, the workstation's date/time at login, the offset time between them. Also, I have controls to display the last time the "keep Alive" call was made and a count of the number of times the call has been made. Also, there is a slider control that lets user adjust the interval of the timer.
                2) in "Client Side events / onTimer" I make an ajaxCallback to an xbasic function that is defined in that component.
                3) in the "Xbasic Functions", I define the callback. In the future I am going to have it do more, but right now all it does is increment the counter on the UX for the number of times the callback has been called and update the field that displays the date and time of last callback (uses server's time zone). In the function I just use the e._set property and let Alpha generate the actual javascript that sets the client-side controls.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: Session Timeout (Again)

                  Thanks, Rich. I put that idea into a form this AM. That is a different way to think of it. I've had staff writing long notes and getting timed out. The only issue I can see is if they leave that page open all night...

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: Session Timeout (Again)

                    instead of setting some arbitrarily long session timeout that remains in effect long after a user has closed their browser.
                    It's funny. I just did a little experiment. using chrome, FF and Edge the sessions apparently expire when closing the browser (but not in my Chromebook, but I think that's a different story since I don't believe Chrome is really "closed" when you close it).

                    But even if the session runs, what difference does it make? When the user logs in the session.timeout would get reset. And if the user is not "in" the session (i.e. the browser), who cares that the session is still "open"?

                    If you want to try the experiment publish the the attached a5w page and UX. Set security to both to "always allowed". Click the button and refresh the browser. Close the browser, reopen and run the page again. At least in my case the session var does not persist.

                    zzz_Set_session_var.a5wcmp
                    zzz_Set_session_var.a5w
                    Peter
                    AlphaBase Solutions, LLC

                    [email protected]
                    https://www.alphabasesolutions.com


                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: Session Timeout (Again)

                      Very helpful Rich.. Thank You!

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Re: Session Timeout (Again)

                        I added an idleLogout() function. Now everything works just like the users expects. 1st function Reset the timer on the server every 10 minutes. 2nd function logs the user out if the keyboard or mouse hasn't moved for 12 minutes.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Re: Session Timeout (Again)

                          Lee, where do you hook in the code that detects if no input has come in through the mouse or keyboard?

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Re: Session Timeout (Again)

                            Peter, this is a bit off the original topic, but since you brought it up in post # 10....

                            See what happens if you leave the test app open, after clicking the "set var" button, and then open another instance of the browser to that page. The other instance of the browser will probably have access to that same session variable and it will already have been set without clicking the "set var" button! This can be very troublesome if a user opens two instances of an application and the two instances need different values in their "session" variables.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Re: Session Timeout (Again)

                              2017-08-03_2216.png
                              Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
                              Albert Einstein, (attributed)
                              US (German-born) physicist (1879 - 1955)

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