Accessing the server's registry in an ASP.Net Web Service...

[Daniel Bass]

[ the article ]

I've found this article on how to get ASP.Net to read/write from the
server's registry, but it got heavily critted as being something that you
should not do...

http://www.wwwcoder.com/main/parentid/263/site/2281/68/default.aspx


[ why is that? ]

what's the problem with a server side application reading data from a server
box, and using that in it's functions?
the second major question then is, what are the alternatives?


[ a bit of background ]

I've got a messaging framework, and have exposed an incoming interface into
this via HTTP through Web Services. But I don't know how this web service
can directly invoke my application, so i'm going through the input file
layer I've created, that polls a folder for valid files...
So the configurable value i need is the path where this putting and getting
of files is going to take place, the obvious thing to do is stick it in the
server registry so that when the web service is sent data, it sticks the
relevant files into the folder, who's location it finds in the registry.

Thanks for your time.
Daniel Bass.

 

[Kevin Spencer]

I've found this article on how to get ASP.Net to read/write from the

server's registry, but it got heavily critted as being something that you
should not do...

By whom? The article certainly doesn't say that wiritng to the Registry is
not something you should do. It merely warns you about the possible issues
that you may encounter.

[ why is that? ]

Again, who said that?

what's the problem with a server side application reading data from a server
box, and using that in it's functions?

The article does a good job of explaining what issues you will have to deal
with.

the second major question then is, what are the alternatives?
I've got a messaging framework, and have exposed an incoming interface into
this via HTTP through Web Services. But I don't know how this web service
can directly invoke my application, so i'm going through the input file
layer I've created, that polls a folder for valid files...
So the configurable value i need is the path where this putting and getting
of files is going to take place, the obvious thing to do is stick it in the
server registry so that when the web service is sent data, it sticks the
relevant files into the folder, who's location it finds in the registry.

Putting data into the System Registry is hardly "the obvious thing to so" -
actually, a database is the usual place to store data persistently. You can
also write the information to a file. While using the registry for such a
purpose isn't going to harm anything necessarily, it will add to the size of
the registry, which is not necessarily a good thing.

--
HTH,
Kevin Spencer
..Net Developer
Microsoft MVP
Big things are made up
of lots of little things.

[ the article ]

I've found this article on how to get ASP.Net to read/write from the
server's registry, but it got heavily critted as being something that you
should not do...

http://www.wwwcoder.com/main/parentid/263/site/2281/68/default.aspx


[ why is that? ]

what's the problem with a server side application reading data from a server
box, and using that in it's functions?
the second major question then is, what are the alternatives?


[ a bit of background ]

I've got a messaging framework, and have exposed an incoming interface into
this via HTTP through Web Services. But I don't know how this web service
can directly invoke my application, so i'm going through the input file
layer I've created, that polls a folder for valid files...
So the configurable value i need is the path where this putting and getting
of files is going to take place, the obvious thing to do is stick it in the
server registry so that when the web service is sent data, it sticks the
relevant files into the folder, who's location it finds in the registry.

Thanks for your time.
Daniel Bass.

 

[Michael Pearson]

Well, for me if I need a simple configuration value that my webservice needs
to read, I put it in the web.config file. I like to keep out of the
registry as much as possible.

If you need more details about how to work with the web.config, let me know.

Michael

[ the article ]

I've found this article on how to get ASP.Net to read/write from the
server's registry, but it got heavily critted as being something that you
should not do...

http://www.wwwcoder.com/main/parentid/263/site/2281/68/default.aspx


[ why is that? ]

what's the problem with a server side application reading data from a server
box, and using that in it's functions?
the second major question then is, what are the alternatives?


[ a bit of background ]

I've got a messaging framework, and have exposed an incoming interface into
this via HTTP through Web Services. But I don't know how this web service
can directly invoke my application, so i'm going through the input file
layer I've created, that polls a folder for valid files...
So the configurable value i need is the path where this putting and getting
of files is going to take place, the obvious thing to do is stick it in the
server registry so that when the web service is sent data, it sticks the
relevant files into the folder, who's location it finds in the registry.

Thanks for your time.
Daniel Bass.