What is the role of the Global.asax file?

The Global.asax file, also known as the ASP.NET application file, is used to create application and session-level events and objects in an ASP.NET Web application. It is an optional file that contains code for responding to application-level events, such as Application_Start, Application_End, Session_Start, Session_End, and Application_Error.

Example:

void Application_Start(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
// Code that runs on application startup
}

void Application_End(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
// Code that runs on application shutdown
}

void Application_Error(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
// Code that runs when an unhandled error occurs
}

void Session_Start(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
// Code that runs when a new session is started
}

void Session_End(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
// Code that runs when a session ends.
// Note: The Session_End event is raised only when the sessionstate mode
// is set to InProc in the Web.config file. If session mode is set to StateServer
// or SQLServer, the event is not raised.
}

What is the role of Global.asax in ASP.NET?

The Global.asax file, also known as the ASP.NET application file, is an optional file that contains code for responding to application-level events raised by ASP.NET or by HttpModules. The Global.asax file resides in the root directory of an ASP.NET-based application.

The Global.asax file is parsed and compiled into a dynamically generated .NET Framework class derived from the HttpApplication base class. The Global.asax file can contain application-level event handlers.

Example:

The following example shows a Global.asax file with an Application_Start event handler. The Application_Start event handler is called when a new user visits the application for the first time.

void Application_Start(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
// Code that runs on application startup
// Create a new database connection
string connectionString = “data source=localhost;initial catalog=MyDatabase;Integrated Security=SSPI;”;
SqlConnection myConnection = new SqlConnection(connectionString);

// Open the connection
myConnection.Open();
}