Where in the ASP.NET pipeline does RoleProvider hook into?

Question

The only place I know of that a RoleProvider gets used is when you use an Authorize attribute. Where else can I use a RoleProvider and does it get invoked anywhere other than places I might specifically reference roles (I'm thinking similar to how the Login controls automatically use MembershipProvider)

Said in another way, if I write my own role management layer, but don't implement the actual RoleProvider contract, what built-in functionality in ASP.NET will I be missing out on?

Answer 1

Here are a few ways the built-in RoleProvider adds value:

1: The LoginView control uses roles to allow you to show different content to different roles. It will hook into the RoleProvider to do so.

Example of using roles with the LoginView control:

<asp:LoginView id="LoginView1" runat="server">
    <RoleGroups>
        <asp:RoleGroup Roles="author">
            <ContentTemplate>
                some content here based on if user is in 'author' role....
            </ContentTemplate>
        </asp:RoleGroup>
        <asp:RoleGroup Roles="editor">
            <ContentTemplate>
                some content here based on if user is in 'editor' role....
            </ContentTemplate>
        </asp:RoleGroup>
    </RoleGroups>
</asp:LoginView>

2: You can grant access to physical paths on the server (i.e. subfolders, etc.) by web.config settings, such as:

<configuration>
  <location path="MemberPages">
    <system.web>
      <authorization>
        <allow roles="members, administrators" />
        <deny users="*" />
      </authorization>
    </system.web>
  </location>
  <!-- other configuration settings here -->
<configuration>

3: You can easily detect user roles and take actions in code, such as:

if (User.IsInRole("members"))
{
   //do something
}
else
{
   //do something else
}

The list goes on and on. This discussion has honestly been had many times - don't reinvent the wheel by creating your own role system. Just implement the abstract role provider and be done with it. Here is a good article on the background of Role Management in ASP.NET.

EDIT: After you clarified you actually want to know how the RoleProvider benefits you under MVC, here is what you are looking for:

ASP.NET MVC - Alternative to Role Provider?