Custom Membership Providers are a quick and straightforward way of managing membership information when you wish to store that membership data in a datasource that is not supported by the membership providers included within the .NET framework. Often developers will need to implement custom membership providers even when storing the data in a supported datasource, because the schema of that membership information differs from that in the default providers.

In this topic we are going to add a Custom Membership Provider to the Nerd Dinner sample so that users can register and login.

Part 1: Adding the Custom Membership Provider and login Entity

1. Add a new class to your project and name it BrightstarMembershipProvider.cs
2. Right click on the MembershipProvider class name and choose “Implement abstract class” from the context menu, this automatically creates all the override methods that your custom class can implement.
3. Add a new interface to the Models directory and name it INerdDinnerLogin.cs
4. Add the [Entity] attribute to the interface, and add the properties shown below:
5. The Id property is decorated with the Identifier attribute to allow us to work with simpler string values rather than the full URI that is generated by BrightstarDB (for more information, please read the Entity Framework Documentation).

[Entity]
public interface INerdDinnerLogin
{
   [Identifier("http://nerddinner.com/logins/")]
   string Id { get; }
   string Username { get; set; }
   string Password { get; set; }
   string PasswordSalt { get; set; }
   string Email { get; set; }
   string Comments { get; set; }
   DateTime CreatedDate { get; set; }
   DateTime LastActive { get; set; }
   DateTime LastLoginDate { get; set; }
   bool IsActivated { get; set; }
   bool IsLockedOut { get; set; }
   DateTime LastLockedOutDate { get; set; }
   string LastLockedOutReason { get; set; }
   int? LoginAttempts { get; set; } 
}

To update the Brightstar Entity Context, right click on the NerdDinnerContext.tt file and select “Run Custom Tool” from the context menu.

Part 2: Configuring the application to use the Brightstar Membership Provider

To configure your web application to use this custom Membership Provider, we simply need to change the configuration values in the Web.config file in the root directory of the application. Change the membership node contained within the <system.web> to the snippet below:

    <membership defaultProvider="BrightstarMembershipProvider">
      <providers>
        <clear/>
        <add name="BrightstarMembershipProvider" type="BrightstarDB.Samples.NerdDinner.BrightstarMembershipProvider, BrightStarDB.Samples.NerdDinner" enablePasswordReset="true" 

maxInvalidPasswordAttempts="5" minRequiredPasswordLength="6" minRequiredNonalphanumericCharacters="0" passwordAttemptWindow="10" applicationName="/" />
      </providers>
    </membership> 

Part 3: Adding functionality to the Custom Membership Provider

The full code for the BrightstarMembershipProvider.cs is given below, but can be broken down as follows:

Initialization

We add an Initialize() method along with a GetConfigValue() helper method to handle retrieving the configuration values from Web.config, and setting default values if it is unable to retrieve a value.

Private helper methods

We add three more helper methods: CreateSalt() and CreatePasswordHash() to help us with user passwords, and ConvertLoginToMembershipUser() to return a built in .NET MembershipUser object when given the BrightstarDB INerdDinnerLogin entity.

CreateUser()

The CreateUser() method is used when a user registers on our site, the first part of this code validates based on the configuration settings (such as whether an email must be unique) and then creates a NerdDinnerLogin entity, adds it to the NerdDinnerContext and saves the changes to the BrightstarDB store.

GetUser()

The GetUser() method simply looks up a login in the BrightstarDB store, and returns a .NET MembershipUser object with the help of the ConvertLoginToMembershipUser() method mentioned above.

GetUserNameByEmail()

The GetUserNameByEmail() method is similar to the GetUser() method but looks up by email rather than username. It’s used by the CreateUser() method if the configuration settings specify that new users must have unique emails.

ValidateUser()

The ValidateUser() method is used when a user logs in to our web application. The login is looked up in the BrightstarDB store by username, and then the password is checked. If the checks pass successfully then it returns a true value which enables the user to successfully login.

using System;
using System.Collections.Specialized;
using System.Linq;
using System.Security.Cryptography;
using System.Web.Security;
using BrightstarDB.Samples.NerdDinner.Models;

namespace BrightstarDB.Samples.NerdDinner
{
    public class BrightstarMembershipProvider : MembershipProvider
    {

        #region Configuration and Initialization

        private string _applicationName;
        private const bool _requiresUniqueEmail = true;
        private int _maxInvalidPasswordAttempts;
        private int _passwordAttemptWindow;
        private int _minRequiredPasswordLength;
        private int _minRequiredNonalphanumericCharacters;
        private bool _enablePasswordReset;
        private string _passwordStrengthRegularExpression;
        private MembershipPasswordFormat _passwordFormat = MembershipPasswordFormat.Hashed;

        private string GetConfigValue(string configValue, string defaultValue)
        {
            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(configValue))
                return defaultValue;

            return configValue;
        }

        public override void Initialize(string name, NameValueCollection config)
        {
            if (config == null) throw new ArgumentNullException("config");

            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(name)) name = "BrightstarMembershipProvider";

            if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(config["description"]))
            {
                config.Remove("description");
                config.Add("description", "BrightstarDB Membership Provider");
            }

            base.Initialize(name, config);

            _applicationName = GetConfigValue(config["applicationName"],
                          System.Web.Hosting.HostingEnvironment.ApplicationVirtualPath);
            _maxInvalidPasswordAttempts = Convert.ToInt32(
                          GetConfigValue(config["maxInvalidPasswordAttempts"], "10"));
            _passwordAttemptWindow = Convert.ToInt32(
                          GetConfigValue(config["passwordAttemptWindow"], "10"));
            _minRequiredNonalphanumericCharacters = Convert.ToInt32(
                          GetConfigValue(config["minRequiredNonalphanumericCharacters"], "1"));
            _minRequiredPasswordLength = Convert.ToInt32(
                          GetConfigValue(config["minRequiredPasswordLength"], "6"));
            _enablePasswordReset = Convert.ToBoolean(
                          GetConfigValue(config["enablePasswordReset"], "true"));
            _passwordStrengthRegularExpression = Convert.ToString(
                           GetConfigValue(config["passwordStrengthRegularExpression"], ""));

        }
        
        #endregion

        #region Properties

        public override string ApplicationName
        {
            get { return _applicationName; }
            set { _applicationName = value; }
        }

        public override int MaxInvalidPasswordAttempts
        {
            get { return _maxInvalidPasswordAttempts; }
        }

        public override int MinRequiredNonAlphanumericCharacters
        {
            get { return _minRequiredNonalphanumericCharacters; }
        }

        public override int MinRequiredPasswordLength
        {
            get { return _minRequiredPasswordLength; }
        }

        public override int PasswordAttemptWindow
        {
            get { return _passwordAttemptWindow; }
        }

        public override MembershipPasswordFormat PasswordFormat
        {
            get { return _passwordFormat; }
        }

        public override string PasswordStrengthRegularExpression
        {
            get { return _passwordStrengthRegularExpression; }
        }

        public override bool RequiresUniqueEmail
        {
            get { return _requiresUniqueEmail; }
        }
        #endregion

        #region Private Methods

        private static string CreateSalt()
        {
            var rng = new RNGCryptoServiceProvider();
            var buffer = new byte[32];
            rng.GetBytes(buffer);
            return Convert.ToBase64String(buffer);
        }

        private static string CreatePasswordHash(string password, string salt)
        {
            var snp = string.Concat(password, salt);
            var hashed = FormsAuthentication.HashPasswordForStoringInConfigFile(snp, "sha1");
            return hashed;

        }
       
        /// <summary>
        /// This helper method returns a .NET MembershipUser object generated from the supplied BrightstarDB entity
        /// </summary>
        private static MembershipUser ConvertLoginToMembershipUser(NerdDinnerLogin login)
        {
            if (login == null) return null;
            var user = new MembershipUser("BrightstarMembershipProvider",
                login.Username, login.Id, login.Email,
                "", "", login.IsActivated, login.IsLockedOut,
                login.CreatedDate, login.LastLoginDate,
                login.LastActive, DateTime.UtcNow, login.LastLockedOutDate);
            return user;
        }

        #endregion

        public override MembershipUser CreateUser(string username, string password, string email, string passwordQuestion, string passwordAnswer, bool isApproved, object providerUserKey, out MembershipCreateStatus status)
        {
            var args = new ValidatePasswordEventArgs(email, password, true);

            OnValidatingPassword(args);

            if (args.Cancel)
            {
                status = MembershipCreateStatus.InvalidPassword;
                return null;
            }

            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(email))
            {
                status = MembershipCreateStatus.InvalidEmail;
                return null;
            }

            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(password))
            {
                status = MembershipCreateStatus.InvalidPassword;
                return null;
            }

            if (RequiresUniqueEmail && GetUserNameByEmail(email) != "")
            {
                status = MembershipCreateStatus.DuplicateEmail;
                return null;
            }

            var u = GetUser(username, false);

            try
            {
                if (u == null)
                {
                    var salt = CreateSalt();
                    
                    //Create a new NerdDinnerLogin entity and set the properties
                    var login = new NerdDinnerLogin
                    {
                        Username = username,
                        Email = email,
                        PasswordSalt = salt,
                        Password = CreatePasswordHash(password, salt),
                        CreatedDate = DateTime.UtcNow,
                        IsActivated = true,
                        IsLockedOut = false,
                        LastLockedOutDate = DateTime.UtcNow,
                        LastLoginDate = DateTime.UtcNow,
                        LastActive = DateTime.UtcNow
                    };
                    //Create a context using the connection string in the Web.Config
                    var context = new NerdDinnerContext();
                    //Add the entity to the context
                    context.NerdDinnerLogins.Add(login);
                    //Save the changes to the BrightstarDB store
                    context.SaveChanges();

                    status = MembershipCreateStatus.Success;
                    return GetUser(username, true /*online*/);
                }
            }
            catch (Exception)
            {
                status = MembershipCreateStatus.ProviderError;
                return null;
            }

            status = MembershipCreateStatus.DuplicateUserName;
            return null;
        }

        public override MembershipUser GetUser(string username, bool userIsOnline)
        {
            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(username)) return null;
            //Create a context using the connection string in Web.config
            var context = new NerdDinnerContext();
            //Query the store for a NerdDinnerLogin that matches the supplied username
            var login = context.NerdDinnerLogins.Where(l => l.Username.Equals(username)).FirstOrDefault();
            if (login == null) return null;
            if(userIsOnline)
            {
                //if the call states that the user is online, update the LastActive property of the NerdDinnerLogin
                login.LastActive = DateTime.UtcNow;
                context.SaveChanges();
            }
            return ConvertLoginToMembershipUser(login);
        }

        public override string GetUserNameByEmail(string email)
        {
            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(email)) return "";
            //Create a context using the connection string in Web.config
            var context = new NerdDinnerContext();
            //Query the store for a NerdDinnerLogin that matches the supplied username
            var login = context.NerdDinnerLogins.Where(l => l.Email.Equals(email)).FirstOrDefault();
            if (login == null) return string.Empty;
            return login.Username;
        }
        
        public override bool ValidateUser(string username, string password)
        {
            //Create a context using the connection string set in Web.config
            var context = new NerdDinnerContext();
            //Query the store for a NerdDinnerLogin matching the supplied username
            var logins = context.NerdDinnerLogins.Where(l => l.Username.Equals(username));
            if (logins.Count() == 1)
            {
                //Ensure that only a single login matches the supplied username
                var login = logins.First();
                //Check the properties on the NerdDinnerLogin to ensure the user account is activate and not locked out
                if (login.IsLockedOut || !login.IsActivated) return false;
                //Validate the password of the NerdDinnerLogin against the supplied password
                var validatePassword = login.Password == CreatePasswordHash(password, login.PasswordSalt);
                if (!validatePassword)
                {
                    //return validation failure
                    return false;
                }
                //return validation success
                return true;
            }
            return false;
        }

        #region MembershipProvider properties and methods not implemented for this tutorial
...
        #endregion

        
    }
}

Part 4: Running the application

All the models, views and controllers needed to implement the logic logic are generated automatically when creating a new MVC3 Web Application if the option for "Internet Application" is selected. This adds:

• An AccountController class with ActionResult methods for logging in, logging out and registering
• AccountModels.cs which contains classes for LogonModel and RegisterModel
• LogOn and Register views (in the Views/Account directory) that use the models to display form fields and validate input from the user
• A _LogOnPartial view that is used in the main _Layout view to display a login link, or the username if the user is logged in

Press F5 to run the application. You will notice a [Log On] link in the top right hand corner of the screen. You can navigate to the registration page via the logon page.

Register

Choosing a username, email and password will create a login entity for you in the BrightstarDB store, and automatically log you in.

Logged In

The partial view that contains the login link code recognises that you are logged in and displays your username and a [Log Off] link. Clicking the links clears the cookies that keep you logged in to the website.

LogOn

You can log on again at any time by entering your username and password.

Summary

In this tutorial we have walked through some simple steps to use a Custom Membership Provider to allow BrightstarDB to handle the authentication of users on your MVC3 Web Application.

For simplicity, we have kept the same structure of membership information as we would find in a default provider, but you can expand on this sample to include extra membership information by simply adding more properties to the BrightstarDB entity.

As with Custom Membership Providers, Custom Role Providers allow developers to use role management within application when either the role information is stored in a data source other than that supported by the default providers, or the role information is managed in a schema which differs from that set out in the default providers.

In this topic we are going to add a Custom Role Provider to the Nerd Dinner sample so that we can restrict certain areas from users who are not members of the appropriate role.

Part 1: Adding the Custom Role Provider

1. Add the following line to the INerdDinnerLogin interface's propertiesICollection<string> Roles { get; set; }
   To update the Brightstar Entity Context, right click on the NerdDinnerContext.tt file and select “Run Custom Tool” from the context menu.
2. Add a new class to your project and name it BrightstarRoleProvider.cs
3. Make this new class inherit from the RoleProvider class (System.Web.Security namespace)

1. Right click on the RoleProvider class name and choose "Implement abstract class" from the context menu, this automatically creates all the override methods that your custom class can implement.

Part 2: Configuring the application to use the Brightstar Membership Provider

To configure your web application to use the Custom Role Provider, add the following section to your Web.config, under the membership node:

<roleManager  enabled="true" defaultProvider="BrightstarRoleProvider">
  <providers>
<clear/>
<add name="BrightstarRoleProvider" type="BrightstarDB.Samples.NerdDinner.BrightstarRoleProvider" applicationName="/" />
  </providers>
</roleManager>

Part 3: Adding functionality to the Custom Role Provider

The full code for the BrightstarRoleProvider.cs is given below, but can be broken down as follows:

Initialization

We add an Initialize() method along with a GetConfigValue() helper method to handle retrieving the configuration values from Web.config, and setting default values if it is unable to retrieve a value.

GetRolesForUser()

This method returns the contents of the Roles collection that we added to the INerdDinnerLogin entity as a string array.

AddUsersToRoles()

AddUsersToRoles() loops through the usernames and role names supplied, and looks up the logins from the BrightstarDB store. When found, the role names are added to the Roles collection for that login.

RemoveUsersFromRoles()

RemoveUsersFromRoles() loops through the usernames and role names supplied, and looks up the logins from the BrightstarDB store. When found, the role names are removed from the Roles collection for that login.

IsUserInRole()

The BrightstarDB store is searched for the login who matches the supplied username, and then a true or false is passed back depending on whether the role name was found in that login's Role collection. If the login is inactive or locked out for any reason, then a false value is passed back.

GetUsersInRole()

BrightstarDB is queried for all logins that contain the supplied role name in their Roles collection.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.Security;
using BrightstarDB.Samples.NerdDinner.Models;

namespace BrightstarDB.Samples.NerdDinner
{
    public class BrightstarRoleProvider : RoleProvider
    {
        #region Initialization
        
        private string _applicationName;

        private static string GetConfigValue(string configValue, string defaultValue)
        {
            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(configValue))
                return defaultValue;

            return configValue;
        }

        public override void Initialize(string name, System.Collections.Specialized.NameValueCollection config)
        {
            if (config == null) throw new ArgumentNullException("config");

            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(name)) name = "NerdDinnerRoleProvider";

            if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(config["description"]))
            {
                config.Remove("description");
                config.Add("description", "Nerd Dinner Membership Provider");
            }
            base.Initialize(name, config);
            _applicationName = GetConfigValue(config["applicationName"],
                          System.Web.Hosting.HostingEnvironment.ApplicationVirtualPath);
        }
        
        #endregion

        /// <summary>
        /// Gets a list of the roles that a specified user is in for the configured applicationName.
        /// </summary>
        /// <returns>
        /// A string array containing the names of all the roles that the specified user is in for the configured applicationName.
        /// </returns>
        /// <param name="username">The user to return a list of roles for.</param>
        public override string[] GetRolesForUser(string username)
        {
            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(username)) throw new ArgumentNullException("username");
            //create a new BrightstarDB context using the values in Web.config
            var context = new NerdDinnerContext();
            //find a match for the username
            var login = context.NerdDinnerLogins.Where(l => l.Username.Equals(username)).FirstOrDefault();
            if (login == null) return null;
            //return the Roles collection
            return login.Roles.ToArray();
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Adds the specified user names to the specified roles for the configured applicationName.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="usernames">A string array of user names to be added to the specified roles. </param><param name="roleNames">A string array of the role names to add the specified user names to.</param>
        public override void AddUsersToRoles(string[] usernames, string[] roleNames)
        {
            //create a new BrightstarDB context using the values in Web.config
            var context = new NerdDinnerContext();
            foreach (var username in usernames)
            {
                //find the match for the username
                var login = context.NerdDinnerLogins.Where(l => l.Username.Equals(username)).FirstOrDefault();
                if (login == null) continue;
                foreach (var role in roleNames)
                {
                    //if the Roles collection of the login does not already contain the role, then add it
                    if (login.Roles.Contains(role)) continue;
                    login.Roles.Add(role);
                }
            }
            context.SaveChanges();
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Removes the specified user names from the specified roles for the configured applicationName.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="usernames">A string array of user names to be removed from the specified roles. </param><param name="roleNames">A string array of role names to remove the specified user names from.</param>
        public override void RemoveUsersFromRoles(string[] usernames, string[] roleNames)
        {
            //create a new BrightstarDB context using the values in Web.config
            var context = new NerdDinnerContext();
            foreach (var username in usernames)
            {
                //find the match for the username
                var login = context.NerdDinnerLogins.Where(l => l.Username.Equals(username)).FirstOrDefault();
                if (login == null) continue;
                foreach (var role in roleNames)
                {
                    //if the Roles collection of the login contains the role, then remove it
                    if (!login.Roles.Contains(role)) continue;
                    login.Roles.Remove(role);
                }
            }
            context.SaveChanges();
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Gets a value indicating whether the specified user is in the specified role for the configured applicationName.
        /// </summary>
        /// <returns>
        /// true if the specified user is in the specified role for the configured applicationName; otherwise, false.
        /// </returns>
        /// <param name="username">The username to search for.</param>
        /// <param name="roleName">The role to search in.</param>
        public override bool IsUserInRole(string username, string roleName)
        {
            try
            {
                //create a new BrightstarDB context using the values in Web.config
                var context = new NerdDinnerContext();
                //find a match for the username
                var login = context.NerdDinnerLogins.Where(l => l.Username.Equals(username)).FirstOrDefault();
                if (login == null || login.IsLockedOut || !login.IsActivated)
                {
                    // no match or inactive automatically returns false
                    return false;
                }
                //if the Roles collection of the login contains the role we are checking for, return true
                return login.Roles.Contains(roleName.ToLower());
            }
            catch (Exception)
            {
                return false;
            }
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Gets a list of users in the specified role for the configured applicationName.
        /// </summary>
        /// <returns>
        /// A string array containing the names of all the users who are members of the specified role for the configured applicationName.
        /// </returns>
        /// <param name="roleName">The name of the role to get the list of users for.</param>
        public override string[] GetUsersInRole(string roleName)
        {
            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(roleName)) throw new ArgumentNullException("roleName");
            //create a new BrightstarDB context using the values in Web.config
            var context = new NerdDinnerContext();
            //search for all logins who have the supplied roleName in their Roles collection
            var usersInRole = context.NerdDinnerLogins.Where(l => l.Roles.Contains(roleName.ToLower())).Select(l => l.Username).ToList();
            return usersInRole.ToArray();
        }
        
        /// <summary>
        /// Gets a value indicating whether the specified role name already exists in the role data source for the configured applicationName.
        /// </summary>
        /// <returns>
        /// true if the role name already exists in the data source for the configured applicationName; otherwise, false.
        /// </returns>
        /// <param name="roleName">The name of the role to search for in the data source.</param>
        public override bool RoleExists(string roleName)
        {
            //for the purpose of the sample the roles are hard coded
            return roleName.Equals("admin") || roleName.Equals("editor") || roleName.Equals("standard");
        }
        
        /// <summary>
        /// Gets a list of all the roles for the configured applicationName.
        /// </summary>
        /// <returns>
        /// A string array containing the names of all the roles stored in the data source for the configured applicationName.
        /// </returns>
        public override string[] GetAllRoles()
        {
            //for the purpose of the sample the roles are hard coded
            return new string[] { "admin", "editor", "standard" };
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Gets an array of user names in a role where the user name contains the specified user name to match.
        /// </summary>
        /// <returns>
        /// A string array containing the names of all the users where the user name matches <paramref name="usernameToMatch"/> and the user is a member of the specified role.
        /// </returns>
        /// <param name="roleName">The role to search in.</param><param name="usernameToMatch">The user name to search for.</param>
        public override string[] FindUsersInRole(string roleName, string usernameToMatch)
        {
            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(roleName)) throw new ArgumentNullException("roleName");
            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(usernameToMatch)) throw new ArgumentNullException("usernameToMatch");

            var allUsersInRole = GetUsersInRole(roleName);
            if (allUsersInRole == null || allUsersInRole.Count() < 1) return new string[] { "" };
            var match = (from u in allUsersInRole where u.Equals(usernameToMatch) select u);
            return match.ToArray();
        }

        #region Properties

        /// <summary>
        /// Gets or sets the name of the application to store and retrieve role information for.
        /// </summary>
        /// <returns>
        /// The name of the application to store and retrieve role information for.
        /// </returns>
        public override string ApplicationName
        {
            get { return _applicationName; }
            set { _applicationName = value; }
        }

        #endregion

        #region Not Implemented Methods
        
        /// <summary>
        /// Adds a new role to the data source for the configured applicationName.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="roleName">The name of the role to create.</param>
        public override void CreateRole(string roleName)
        {
            //for the purpose of the sample the roles are hard coded
            throw new NotImplementedException();
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Removes a role from the data source for the configured applicationName.
        /// </summary>
        /// <returns>
        /// true if the role was successfully deleted; otherwise, false.
        /// </returns>
        /// <param name="roleName">The name of the role to delete.</param><param name="throwOnPopulatedRole">If true, throw an exception if <paramref name="roleName"/> has one or more members and do not delete <paramref name="roleName"/>.</param>
        public override bool DeleteRole(string roleName, bool throwOnPopulatedRole)
        {
            //for the purpose of the sample the roles are hard coded
            throw new NotImplementedException();
        }

        #endregion
    }
}

Part 4: Adding secure sections

To display the functionality of the new Custom Role Provider, add 2 new ViewResult methods to the Home Controller. Notice that the [Authorize] MVC attribute has been added to each of the methods to restrict access to users in those roles only.

[Authorize(Roles = "editor")]
public ViewResult SecureEditorSection()
{
return View();
}

[Authorize(Roles = "admin")]
public ViewResult SecureAdminSection()
{
return View();
}

Right click on the View() methods, and select "Add View" for each. This automatically adds the SecureEditorSection.cshtml and SecureAdminSection.cshtml files to the Home view folder.

To be able to navigate to these sections, open the file Views/Shared/_Layout.cshtml and add two new action links to the main navigation menu:

<div id="menucontainer">
<ul id="menu">
<li>@Html.ActionLink("Home", "Index", "Home")</li>
<li>@Html.ActionLink("Query SPARQL", "Index", "Sparql")</li>
<li>@Html.ActionLink("Editors Only", "SecureEditorSection", "Home")</li>
<li>@Html.ActionLink("Admin Only", "SecureAdminSection", "Home")</li>
</ul>
</div>

Add the following line of code to the Register() ActionResult method in the AccountController, before SetAuthCookie:

Roles.AddUserToRole(user.UserName, "editor");

In a real world application, you would manage roles within your own administration section, but for the purpose of this sample we are going with an overly simplistic way of adding a user to a role.

Part 5: Running the application

Run the application and register a new user, this user has now been given the Editor role. Clicking on the navigation links to "Secure Editor Section" will allow access to that view. Whereas the "Secure Admin Section" will not pass autorization - by default MVC redirects the user to the login view.

The Open Data Protocol (OData) is an open web protocol for querying and updating data. An OData provider can be added to BrightstarDB Entity Framework projects to allow OData consumers to query the underlying data.

The following steps describe how to create an OData provider to an existing project (in this example we add to the NerdDinner MVC Web Application project).

1. Select Add New Item > Web, and select WCF Data Service. Rename this to OData.svc and click 'add'.

2. Change the class inheritance from DataService to EntityDataService, and add the name of the BrightstarEntityContext to the type argument.

3. Uncomment the configuration settings. The code you are left with is as below:

public class OData : EntityDataService<NerdDinnerContext>
{
// This method is called only once to initialize service-wide policies.
public static void InitializeService(DataServiceConfiguration config)
{
config.SetEntitySetAccessRule("*", EntitySetRights.AllRead);
config.SetEntitySetAccessRule("NerdDinnerLogin", EntitySetRights.None); 
config.SetServiceOperationAccessRule("*", ServiceOperationRights.All);
config.DataServiceBehavior.MaxProtocolVersion = DataServiceProtocolVersion.V2;
}
}

4. Rebuild and run the project. Navigation to /OData.svc and you will see the standard OData metadata page displaying the entity sets from BrightstarDB

5. The OData service can now be queried using the standard OData conventions. There are a few restrictions when using OData services with BrighstarDB.

The data in BrighstarDB can be consumed by various OData consumers. In this topic we look at consuming the data using PowerPivot (a list of recommended OData consumers can be found odata.org/consumers).

Open Excel, click the PowerPivot tab and open the PowerPivot window

If you do not have PowerPivot installed, you can download it from powerpivot.com

To consume data from Brightstar, click the 'From Data Feeds' button in the 'Get External Data' section:

Add a name for your feed, and enter the URL of the OData service file for your BrightstarDB application.

Click "Test Connection" to make sure that you can connect to your OData service and then click "Next"

Select the sets that you wish to consume and click "Finish"

This then shows all the data that is consumed from the OData service in the PowerPivot window. When any data is added or edited in the BrightstarDB store, the data in the PowerPivot windows can be updated by clicking the "Refresh" button.