Chapter 25. The System.Web.Configuration Namespace

The System.Web.Configuration namespace includes a few miscellaneous types used in ASP.NET configuration with the web.config file; AuthenticationMode, FormsAuthPasswordFormat, and FormsProtectionEnum are all involved in ASP.NET security services. It also provides a ClientTargetSectionHandler class, which provides the basic functionality for processing tags in the web.config file, and HttpCapabilitiesBase, which stores a collection of client browser information used by the System.Web.HttpBrowserCapabilities class. Figure 25-1 shows the types in this namespace.

Figure 25-1. The System.Web.Configuration namespace

If you've explored the machine.config file, you have probably noticed that there are many other types referenced there that don't appear in this class library reference or the MSDN (including configuration types like HttpCapabilitiesSectionHandler and AuthenticationConfigHandler). These private types aren't available to the client programmer and are part of the low-level ASP.NET infrastructure.