INFO: WebClass Initialize, BeginRequest, Terminate Events (191038)

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WebClass Object

The WebClass run-time is not loaded when the Initialize event is fired so you cannot access any part of the WebClass object in that event. The WebClass run-time has already been terminated when the Terminate event is fired so you cannot access any part of the WebClass object in that event.

Events Firing

The initialize event occurs when an end user accesses the .asp (Active Server Pages) file that acts as the host for your IIS application. In the Initialize event, the WebClass is created as an object. This is always the first event in the WebClass's lifetime. The WebClass run-time is not loaded when the Initialize event is fired so you cannot access any part of the WebClass object in that event.

NOTE: If the StateManagement property for the WebClass is set to wcNoState, the WebClass fires the Initialize event each time it receives an HTTP request. See "State Management in IIS Applications" for more information about setting the StateManagement property.

The BeginRequest event is the next event called after the Initialize event when the user starts the application, and is also fired each time the WebClass receives a subsequent request from the browser. This event marks the beginning of processing for an HTTP request. You might use this event to perform processing required for every request the WebClass will perform. For example, you could use BeginRequest to retrieve state information from a database or to verify user information before processing a request.

NOTE: The WebClass fires the BeginRequest event each time it receives an HTTP request.

The Start event generally occurs the first time BeginRequest is fired in the application. It is not fired on subsequent requests. This event is generally used to send an initial response to the browser, launching the Respond event for the specified webitem.

NOTE: If the end user specifies a webitem and event in the initial URL they use to launch the application, the WebClass does not fire the Start event. In this case, the specified event would be the first event fired. See "Setting the Start Event" for more information.

The EndRequest event occurs when the WebClass has finished processing an HTTP request and has returned a response to the client. The processing of an event might require the WebClass to process several templates or webitems and their associated event procedures before a response is returned to the client.

NOTE: The WebClass fires the EndRequest event each time it receives an HTTP request.

The Terminate event tells the run-time DLL to destroy the instance of the WebClass. The WebClass run-time has already been terminated when this event is fired so you cannot access any part of the WebClass object in that event.

NOTE: If the StateManagement property for the WebClass is set to wcNoState, the WebClass fires the Terminate event each time it sends a HTTP response to the browser. If the StateManagement property for the WebClass is set to wcRetainInstance, the WebClass fires the Terminate event only after their is a call the to ReleaseInstance method.

Example

For this sample, there are three HTTP requests going from the browser to the server to show the page:

• If StateManagement=wcRetainInstance the BeginRequest, EndRequest will be fired three times and the initialize event will be fired once with NO Terminate event because the ReleaseInstance method was not called.
• If StateManagement=wcNoState the BeginRequest, Initialize, EndRequest, Terminate will all be fired three times.