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Cache Manager plug-in for ASP.NET

- Download Cache Manager v1.0.60115.01

Cache Manager Screenshots

Current Version: 1.0.60115.01
Version Date: 15 January 2006

By Steven Smith (http://aspadvice.com/blogs/ssmith/)

Overview

Cache Manager is an ASP.NET plug-in which can be added to any ASP.NET website with no code, no recompile, a single DLL, and a single entry in web.config. It allows web administrators to monitor and manage the ASP.NET Cache object for their ASP.NET applications.

License Agreement

ASPAlliance Cache Manager License Agreement ---------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2006 ASPAlliance.com. All rights reserved. Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met: 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer. 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution. THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY ASPALLIANCE.COM ``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL ASPALLIANCE.COM OR ITS CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE. ----------------------------------------------------

Installation Instructions

1. Copy AspAlliance.CacheManager.dll to your application's /bin folder.
2. Modify your web.config to include an <httpHandlers> section with the following <add /> element:
   
   <add verb="*" path="CacheManager.axd" type="AspAlliance.CacheManager.CacheManagerPageFactory,AspAlliance.CacheManager" />
   
   See the included sample web.config file for placement of the section within your configuration schema.
3. (optional - recommended) For increased security, change the path from "CacheManager.axd" to something less guessable by your users.
4. (optional - recommended) For increased security, add a <location> element to your web.config and configure role-based authorization. See the sample web.config for details. If you changed the path of your implementation in Step 3, be sure to use the same path here. You must be <authorization> enabled for this to work.
5. (optional - required for subwebs) If you configure CacheManager (or any other HttpHandler) in a root web application, any subwebs (sub folders marked as applications in IIS) will need a copy of the DLL in their /bin folder. Simply drop a copy of AspAlliance.CacheManager into each subweb's /bin folder. Alternately, you may place AspAlliance.CacheManager in the Global Assembly Cache (GAC). For more information, see Installing an Assembly in GAC.

Usage Instructions

Once installation is complete, simply navigate to your website and go to the path you configured in Step 2 (or 3) of installation. For a default installation this will be something like http://yourdomain.com/yourweb/CacheManager.axd. You should see the default Cache Manager application home page. From here you should see a menu on the left and Cache Stats on the right. The menu includes options to Clear Application Cache, View Cache Entries, and Remove Page Output Cache. The stats on the right should show your Server Name, Svr Free Mem MB (Server Free Memory in MegaBytes), App Path (Application Path), and App Cache Entries (Application Cache API Entries). Note that the App Cache Entries do not include system level cached objects including output caching. The menu options are described below.

Home: Returns you to the application home page.

Clear Application Cache: Clears all Cache API cache entries. Will not remove output cached pages and controls unless these depend on an entry in the cache. For more on how to configure this, see Remove ASP.NET Page Output Cache Entries (http://aspalliance.com/668).

View Cache Entries: Shows a table listing all current entries in the Cache API, including the item's data type. For some types, includes the ability to view the contents of the item. Also includes the option to delete individual cache entries.

Remove Page Output Cache: Allows you to specify a page via its relative url (from the server root). For example, to remove the default.aspx output cache in the root of the site, you would specify "/default.aspx" without the quotes. If you specify a page that does not exist or which does not use output caching, no error will occur. At present, I do not know of a way to list out all pages that have Output Caching enabled -- if I figure that out it may appear in a future version.

Cache Stats

These should be largely self-explanatory. Note that the Server Free Memory stat is only available if your account has the necessary permissions, so it will read "Error" under most locked-down installs. Configure impersonation or grant the account you're using for your Application Domain rights to the performance counters and you will see the true value.

Support

1. This page (http://aspalliance.com/cachemanager/) should be your first option. It will include FAQ items when there are some and a link to the support forums.
2. Support Forum at ASP Advice: Cache Manager Forum
3. Alternately, contact me via my blog (http://aspadvice.com/blogs/ssmith/).

Recent Cache Manager Forum Posts
NCache Express seamlessly integrates with Caching Application Block	5/29/2008 8:24 AM
"Failed to Execute URL" exception	4/15/2008 12:37 PM
Features Requested	8/29/2006 9:44 AM

Credits - Do not remove

I referred a lot to prior work available online. The single largest influence on this application was the ELMAH (Error Logging Module and Handler) application, available on GotDotNet (http://workspaces.gotdotnet.com/elmah). I also looked at the CacheView application on CodeProject (http://www.codeproject.com/aspnet/exploresessionandcache.asp) and took some ideas from it, and I referred to BlueRobot.com for the basis of the CSS layout (http://www.bluerobot.com/web/layouts/layout3.html). I had some additional help on the layout from James Crowley (http://developerfusion.co.uk/) and Steven Swafford (http://aspadvice.com/blogs/sswafford/).