Sharing data across Sitecore pipelines

Question

I´m trying to perform some actions in the pipeline "httpRequestBegin" only when necessary. My processor is executed after Sitecore resolves the user (processor type="Sitecore.Pipelines.HttpRequest.UserResolver, Sitecore.Kernel" ), as i´m resolving the user too if Sitecore is not able to resolve it first.

Later, i want to add some rendering in the pipeline "insertRenderings", only if actions in the previous pipeline were executed (If i resolved the user, show a message), so i´m trying to save some "flag" in the first step, to check in the second. My question is, where can I store that flag? I´m trying to find some kind of "per request" cache...

So far, I've tried:

The session: Wrong, it's too early, session doesn't exists yet.
Items (HttpContext.Current.Items): It doesn't work either, my item is not there on the seconds step.

So far i'm using the application cache (HttpContext.Current.Cache) with some unique key, but I don´t like this solution.

Anybody body knows a better approach to share this "flag"?

Could you update your question to flesh out what you're doing in httpRequestBegin? Also, where in httpRequestBegin the does your processor occur? — Martin Davies
Question updated. I´m resolving the user just after the sitecore user resolved is executed. — Vicent Galiana
Could you solve the problem by checking the active user in your insertrenderings processor (perhaps their domain or role)? — Martin Davies
There isn't anything on the user properties telling me if "I" resolved it or sitecore did. I thought about adding some property to the profile, but i don't like the idea of having to store it phisically in the core database. Do you know if it's possible to save properties in memory and reuse them later? — Vicent Galiana

jammykam jammykam · Accepted Answer · 2014-04-23T02:14:48

You could add a flag to the request header and then check it's existence in the latter pipelines, e.g.

// in HttpRequest pipeline
HttpContext.Current.Request.Headers.Add("CustomUserResolve", "true");

// in InsertRenderings pipeline
var customUserResolve = HttpContext.Current.Request.Headers["CustomUserResolve"];
if (Sitecore.MainUtil.GetBool(customUserResolve, false))
{
    // custom logic goes here
}

This feels a little dirty, I think adding to Request.QueryString or Request.Params would been nicer but those are readonly. However, if you only need this for a one time deal (i.e. only the first time it is resolved) then it will work since in the next request the Headers are back to default without your custom header added.

Sharing data across Sitecore pipelines

3 Answers