How do I avoid calling my initialization method repeatedly in ASP.NET?

Question

protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e) {
    if (!IsPostBack) { // sadly, **never** in here   }

    MyInit() // Slow initialization method, that I only wan't to call one time.
}

So, if I can't tuck my MyInit() in the if, can I solve my performance/strucktur problem with use of OnNeedDataSource()?

Answer 1

Not really sure if this is what you mean, but to initialise something once from Page_Load, you could use a static class with a static bool to determine if it's been initialized. Given it's on Page_Load, you'll also need to guard against multiple threads - so use a double checked lock to make it threadsafe and guard against a race condition.

public static class InitMe
{
    private static bool isInitialized = false;
    private static object theLock = new Object();

    public static void MyInit()
    {
        if(!isInitialized)
        {
            lock(theLock);
            {
                if(!isInitialized)    // double checked lock for thread safety
                {
                    // Perform initialization
                    isInitialized = true;
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

and in your Page_Load, call it via InitMe.MyInit()

Hope that helps.