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Manage Session Timeout

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Manage Session Timeout

This topic discusses use of the Session Timeout element, which makes it easy to prevent errors caused by session timeouts.

About the Session Timeout Element

When a user's working with a Logi Info application and leaves the browser session inactive for some time, the server-side session may expire and end. This can cause problems with pages that need the session state to be live. The Session Timeout element, introduced in v11.4.046, makes it easy to prevent errors caused by session timeouts.

There element operates in two modes, depending on the value of its Session Auto Keep Alive attribute. When set to True, the session remains alive for as long as the browser is open. This is accomplished by automatically "pinging" the server from the browser, thus informing the server that the browser is still open. Once the browser closes, the server-side session times-out after its expiration period.

If the Session Auto Keep Alive attribute is set to False (the default), the user will be prompted with a pop-up panel in the browser, which asks if the session should be kept alive. This prompt appears some minutes before the timeout occurs. If the user confirms the prompt, the session is kept alive and the user may continue working. If the pop-up is ignored for some minutes, the browser session is redirected to another web page, such as a login page.

Web Server Session Expiration Setting

The Session Timeout element does not control or affect the web server's session expiration setting. That depends entirely on the web server's configuration.

For Windows IIS, the default expiration setting is 20 minutes and can be set using either the IIS Management Console (under the Logi application virtual directorySession State (a typical configuration for IIS 7.5 is shown above) or in the application's Web.config file. Exact settings will vary depending on which Session State mode is being used. Refer to Microsoft's documentation on the subject for more information.

For Linux/UNIX servers, timeout configuration locations vary; consult the documentation. For example, for Apache Tomcat 7 servers, the value can be found in:

    C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Tomcat 7.0\webapps\yourLogiApp\WEB-INF\web.xml

as this code:

  <session-config>
    <session-timeout>20</session-timeout>
  </session-config>

where the value is in minutes.

Attributes

The Session Timeout element has the following attributes:

AttributeDescription
Session Auto Keep Alive

Specifies the operating mode. When set to True, the session remains alive for as long as the browser is open. Once the browser closes, the server-side session times-out after its expiration period.

If set to False (the default), the user will be asked, in a warning pop-up panel, if they want to continue the session. This prompt appears some minutes before the timeout occurs. If the user confirms the prompt, the session is kept alive. If the pop-up is ignored for some minutes, the browser session is redirected to another web page, such as a login page.

Session Ended URLSpecifies a URL that the browser will redirect to once the session ends. The default is the standard Logi logout page rdLogout.aspx.
Session Keep Alive
Caption		Specifies the button caption in the warning pop-up panel. Clicking the button keeps the session alive. The default caption is "Continue the Session".
Session Keep Alive Caption Class

Specifies the class used to style the Session Keep Alive Caption text.

Session Warning CaptionSpecifies the text displayed in the warning pop-up panel. The default value is "Your session will automatically end soon".
Session Warning Caption Class

Specifies the class used to style the Session Warning Caption text.

Session Warning Duration

Specifies the amount of time, in minutes, that the warning pop-up panel will be displayed before the browser is redirected to the Session Ended URL value. The default value is 3 minutes.

This formula is used to determine when the warning pop-up panel will be displayed:

Server session expiration - (Session Warning Duration + 2)

For example, if the server session expiration setting = 20 minutes and Session Warning Duration = 3 minutes, the warning pop-up will appear after 15 minutes of inactivity.

Template Modifier File

Specifies the name of an optional Template Modifier file. The template modifier file can be in any folder accessible to the application; if a fully-qualified file path is not provided then the application expects it to be in the _SupportFiles folder.

Use the Element

The Session Timeout element is easy to implement:

Simply add the Session Timeout element in your _Settings definition, as shown above, then set its optional attributes as desired.

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