PRB: Session Variables Do Not Persist When Application Contains Empty Global.asa (281298)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Internet Information Server 4.0
  • Microsoft Internet Information Server 5.0
This article was previously published under Q281298

SYMPTOMS

If your application contains an empty (0 byte) Global.asa file, session variables may not be maintained as you browse from page to page in your application.

CAUSE

Because Internet Information Server (IIS) tries to parse Global.asa to determine whether there is a Session_OnStart subroutine to process, if Global.asa is empty, IIS fails when it tries to parse the file.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, open Global.asa in Notepad, press the SPACEBAR, and then save the changes. In addition, you can delete Global.asa.

MORE INFORMATION

Steps to Reproduce Behavior

  1. In IIS, create a virtual folder, and make it an application. To make the virtual folder an application, perform the following steps:
    1. In the IIS Management Console, right-click the virtual folder, and then click Properties.
    2. On the Virtual Directory tab, in the Application Settings list box, click Create.
    3. Click OK. The icon for the virtual folder should change from a folder icon to an application icon (a box that contains a globe).
  2. Add Global.asa, and make sure that it is completely empty.
  3. Add an Active Server Pages (ASP) page named Page1.asp, and then paste the following code:
      <% session("test") = "value" %>
  <a href="page2.asp">Page 2</a>
  4. Add another ASP page named Page2.asp, and then paste the following code:
      <% Response.Write session("test") %>
  5. Browse to the first page, and then browse to the second page. The value that is stored in session("test") is not persisted.

REFERENCES

For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

182891 INFO: Session ID Does Not Persist in Active Server Pages

178037 PRB: Session Variables Lost When ASP is Located in Frameset

173307 PRB: Nested Virtual Roots Can Lose Session State

Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:7/14/2004
Keywords:kbprb kbWebServer KB281298
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