MembershipProvider Class (System.Web.Security)

.NET Framework Class Library

MembershipProvider Class

Defines the contract that ASP.NET implements to provide membership services using custom membership providers.

Namespace: System.Web.Security
Assembly: System.Web (in System.Web.dll)

Syntax

Visual Basic (Declaration)

<AspNetHostingPermissionAttribute(SecurityAction.LinkDemand, Level := AspNetHostingPermissionLevel.Minimal)> _
<AspNetHostingPermissionAttribute(SecurityAction.InheritanceDemand, Level := AspNetHostingPermissionLevel.Minimal)> _
Public MustInherit Class MembershipProvider _
    Inherits ProviderBase

Visual Basic (Usage)

Dim instance As MembershipProvider

[AspNetHostingPermissionAttribute(SecurityAction.LinkDemand, Level = AspNetHostingPermissionLevel.Minimal)]
[AspNetHostingPermissionAttribute(SecurityAction.InheritanceDemand, Level = AspNetHostingPermissionLevel.Minimal)]
public abstract class MembershipProvider : ProviderBase

Visual C++

[AspNetHostingPermissionAttribute(SecurityAction::LinkDemand, Level = AspNetHostingPermissionLevel::Minimal)]
[AspNetHostingPermissionAttribute(SecurityAction::InheritanceDemand, Level = AspNetHostingPermissionLevel::Minimal)]
public ref class MembershipProvider abstract : public ProviderBase

JScript

public abstract class MembershipProvider extends ProviderBase

Remarks

ASP.NET membership is designed to enable you to easily use a number of different membership providers for your ASP.NET applications. You can use the supplied membership providers that are included with the .NET Framework, or you can implement your own provider.

Note:
If you are not familiar with the membership features of ASP.NET, see Introduction to Membership before continuing. For a list of other topics related to membership, see Managing Users by Using Membership.

When implementing a custom membership provider, you are required to inherit the MembershipProvider abstract class.

There are two primary reasons for creating a custom membership provider.

You need to store membership information in a data source that is not supported by the membership providers included with the .NET Framework, such as a FoxPro database, an Oracle database, or other data source.
You need to manage membership information using a database schema that is different from the database schema used by the providers that ship with the .NET Framework. A common example of this would be membership data that already exists in a SQL Server database for a company or Web site.

The MembershipProvider abstract class inherits from the ProviderBase abstract class. MembershipProvider implementations must also implement the required members of ProviderBase.

Topic	Location
How to: Implement a Custom Membership User	Building ASP .NET Web Applications
How to: Implement a Custom Membership User	Building ASP .NET Web Applications
How to: Implement a Custom Membership User	Building ASP .NET Web Applications in Visual Studio
How to: Implement a Custom Membership User	Building ASP .NET Web Applications in Visual Studio
How to: Sample Membership Provider Implementation	Building ASP .NET Web Applications
How to: Sample Membership Provider Implementation	Building ASP .NET Web Applications
How to: Sample Membership Provider Implementation	Building ASP .NET Web Applications in Visual Studio
How to: Sample Membership Provider Implementation	Building ASP .NET Web Applications in Visual Studio
Implementing a Membership Provider	Building ASP .NET Web Applications
Implementing a Membership Provider	Building ASP .NET Web Applications
Implementing a Membership Provider	Building ASP .NET Web Applications in Visual Studio
Implementing a Membership Provider	Building ASP .NET Web Applications in Visual Studio

.NET Framework Security

AspNetHostingPermission
for operating in a hosted environment. Demand value: LinkDemand; Permission value: Minimal.
AspNetHostingPermission
for operating in a hosted environment. Demand value: InheritanceDemand; Permission value: Minimal.

Inheritance Hierarchy

System..::.Object
  System.Configuration.Provider..::.ProviderBase
    System.Web.Security..::.MembershipProvider
      System.Web.ClientServices.Providers..::.ClientFormsAuthenticationMembershipProvider
      System.Web.ClientServices.Providers..::.ClientWindowsAuthenticationMembershipProvider
      System.Web.Security..::.ActiveDirectoryMembershipProvider
      System.Web.Security..::.SqlMembershipProvider

Thread Safety

Any public static (Shared in Visual Basic) members of this type are thread safe. Any instance members are not guaranteed to be thread safe.

Platforms

Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Starter Edition, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2000 SP4, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98

The .NET Framework and .NET Compact Framework do not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.

Version Information

.NET Framework

Supported in: 3.5, 3.0, 2.0

Reference

MembershipProvider Members

System.Web.Security Namespace

Other Resources

Implementing a Membership Provider

Introduction to Membership