OutputCache! How did I miss it?
I've accidentally stumbled upon a thing called OutputCache. Weird little thing, I thought, how come I didn't hear about it? It seemed such a wonderful concept: just cache the output of ASP.Net pages and controls for a specific amount of time, specify for what parameters or controls or properties the cache is valid for and if it is shared between different users. Then just output the cached version and don't execute the entire thing all the time.
I tested it and it works. Most useful I find it for user controls. One can put a list of unchanging stuff like a list of cities or provinces or even customers in a user control, cache its output and forget about it.
How to use it:
A) declaratively. Put in the page or control something like this:
<%@ OutputCache Duration=100000 Shared="true" VaryByParam="none" %>
Just read the link above for the details.
B) programmatically. Put in the page or control code something like this:
CachePolicy.Cached = true;
CachePolicy.Duration = new TimeSpan(1, 0, 0, 0, 0);
CachePolicy.VaryByParams.IgnoreParams = true;
Update: it has come to my attention that this returns an error with the message "The CachePolicy cannot be used, since the control is not being cached." which is returned when the CachePolicy was not instantiated with a BasePartialCachingControl as a parameter. The solution, it seems, it is to also decorate the user control with the PartialCaching attribute.
ex: [PartialCaching(20)] - set the caching to 20 seconds.
C) One can even validate the cache programmatically after whatever of A or B methods were used like this:
Response.Cache.AddValidationCallback(new HttpCacheValidateHandler(MyCacheValidatorMethod),null );
That's it!
I tested it and it works. Most useful I find it for user controls. One can put a list of unchanging stuff like a list of cities or provinces or even customers in a user control, cache its output and forget about it.
How to use it:
A) declaratively. Put in the page or control something like this:
<%@ OutputCache Duration=100000 Shared="true" VaryByParam="none" %>
Just read the link above for the details.
B) programmatically. Put in the page or control code something like this:
CachePolicy.Cached = true;
CachePolicy.Duration = new TimeSpan(1, 0, 0, 0, 0);
CachePolicy.VaryByParams.IgnoreParams = true;
Update: it has come to my attention that this returns an error with the message "The CachePolicy cannot be used, since the control is not being cached." which is returned when the CachePolicy was not instantiated with a BasePartialCachingControl as a parameter. The solution, it seems, it is to also decorate the user control with the PartialCaching attribute.
ex: [PartialCaching(20)] - set the caching to 20 seconds.
C) One can even validate the cache programmatically after whatever of A or B methods were used like this:
Response.Cache.AddValidationCallback(new HttpCacheValidateHandler(MyCacheValidatorMethod),null );
That's it!
I wanted it to sound like Fruit of the Loom, for the connoisseurs in gaming :), but failed miserably. This blog post is about the exotic (and shamelessly expensive) fruits one can found in market stores.
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