Using Javascript setTimeout to call an MVC action to keep alive forms authentication

Question

I am using setTimeout to call an MVC action to try and keep alive the users forms authentication.

When I call this code normally (ie not using setTimeout) it DOES keep the forms authentication alive.

When called within setTimeout it does not.

My question is why does this not work when called via setTimeout?

$(document).ready(function() {

    DoKeepAlive();    //simple test when page loads....does keep forms auth alive
});


var timeout= 0;
timeout= setTimeout(validationPrompt, 2 * 60 * 1000);  

function validationPrompt() {

    var answer = confirm("Your session will timeout in less than a minute. Click OK to stay logged in, and reset the timout period.")
    if (answer) {

        DoKeepAlive();     //when called in here by setTimeout, does NOT keep forms auth alive

        //re-set the 10 minutes count
        clearTimeout(timeout);
        timeout= setTimeout(validationPrompt, 2 * 60 * 1000); 
    }
    else {
        var URL = "<%= Url.Content("~/Account/Logoff") %>"
        window.location = URL;
    }
}

function DoKeepAlive(){

        var URL = "<%= Url.Content("~/Account/ValidateAuthentication") %>"
    $.post(
            //"../../Account/ValidateAuthentication",      
            URL,
            function(data) {

            }
        );

}

Missing some code? What is "promptUserTimeoutId"? Also, why are you setting "timeout" to the function "validationPrompt"? — Alejandro Martin
– Alejandro Martin, Commented Jun 10, 2011 at 7:43
sorry Alejandro, I tried to anonomize my code and made a mess of it - should be clearer now? — ozz
– ozz, Commented Jun 10, 2011 at 8:36

Darin Dimitrov · Accepted Answer · 2011-06-10 08:47:09Z

1

It's difficult to say why your code is not working. I would try to simplify it first:

<script type="text/javascript">
    window.setInterval(function () {
        var answer = confirm("Your session will timeout in less than a minute. Click OK to stay logged in, and reset the timout period.");
        if (answer) {
            $.post('<%= Url.Action("ValidateAuthentication", "Account") %>');
        } else {
            window.location.href = '<%= Url.Action("Logoff", "Account") %>';
        }
    }, 2 * 60 * 1000);
</script>

answered Jun 10, 2011 at 8:47

Darin Dimitrov

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11 Comments

ozz Over a year ago

Hi Darin, thanks for the suggestion - same result though, it doesn't work in my live environment :-(

Darin Dimitrov Over a year ago

@james, do you see the AJAX requests being sent? Are they succeeding? Is the timeout of your forms authentication token in web.config higher than 2 * 60 * 1000?

ozz Over a year ago

They do get sent, but the response I get back is my login page. So it looks like a fresh request that is not authenticated that then redirects to Login. And yes the timeout is higher than in config.

Darin Dimitrov Over a year ago

@james, did you enable slidingExpiration?

ozz Over a year ago

@darin - no, it's not set explicitly but I believe defaults to true.

|

Shrinath · Accepted Answer · 2011-06-13 13:15:01Z

1

try putting timeout= setTimeout(validationPrompt, 2 * 60 * 1000); inside $(document).ready ?

answered Jun 13, 2011 at 13:15

Shrinath

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1 Comment

Shrinath Over a year ago

BTW, did you wait that many seconds to see if it is really working? That is a really long time to wait till you find out :)

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 12:20:01Z

1

After much frothing back and forth, I discovered today the time on the server I was using was 3 minutes slow. A post on this thread triggered helped me.

edited May 23, 2017 at 12:20

CommunityBot

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answered Jun 14, 2011 at 8:08

ozz

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