Question : Read XML file in global.asax to redirect page request to correct page

I have created a xml file that has a vanity url abd the redirect url. I want global asax to read this file to redirect the page request to the appropiate page. SO for example if someone types in http://www.company.com/products have that be redirected to http://www.company.com/siteproducts/products.aspx. below is some code I wrote.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<redirectlinks>
<link>
<vanitylink>/products/</vanitylink>
<redirectlink>/siteproducts/products.aspx?WT.MC_ID=23</redirectlink>
</link>
</redirectlinks>

global.asax

public void Application_BeginRequest()
{
DataTable dtblVanityLinks = null;
string strThisUrl = null;
string strSelect = null;
DataRow[] arrMatches = null;
string strRedirectLink = null;

dtblVanityLinks = GetVanityLinks();
strThisUrl = Request.Path.ToLower();
if (Request.ApplicationPath != "/") {
strThisUrl = strThisUrl.Remove(0, Request.ApplicationPath.Length);
}
strSelect = "vanitylink='" + strThisUrl + "'";
arrMatches = dtblVanityLinks.Select(strSelect, "vanitylink");
if (arrMatches.Length > 0) {
strRedirectLink = arrMatches[0]["redirectlink"];
strRedirectLink = Request.ApplicationPath + strRedirectLink;
Context.RewritePath(strRedirectLink);
}
}

public DataTable GetVanityLinks()
{
DataSet dstVanityLinks = null;
DataTable dtblVanityLinks = null;

dtblVanityLinks = Context.Cache("vanitylinks");
if (dtblVanityLinks == null) {
dstVanityLinks = new DataSet();
dstVanityLinks.ReadXml(Server.MapPath("VanityURLRedirects.xml"));
dtblVanityLinks = dstVanityLinks.Tables(0);
Context.Cache.Insert("vanitylinks", dtblVanityLinks, new CacheDependency(Server.MapPath("VanityURLRedirects.xml")));
}
return dtblVanityLinks;
}

Any ideas on how to get this to work is greatly appreciated.

Answer : Read XML file in global.asax to redirect page request to correct page

You can use one of the pre-built modules instead of writing it yourself as it is tedious and error prone.

http://urlrewriter.net/

The updated code is also posted below.

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    void Application_BeginRequest(Object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        RewriteUrl();
    }

    public DataTable GetVanityLinks()
    {
        DataSet dstVanityLinks = null;
        DataTable dtblVanityLinks = null;

        //dtblVanityLinks = Context.Cache("vanitylinks");

        if (dtblVanityLinks == null)
        {
            dstVanityLinks = new DataSet();
            dstVanityLinks.ReadXml(Server.MapPath("VanityURLRedirects.xml"));
            dtblVanityLinks = dstVanityLinks.Tables[0];
            Context.Cache.Insert("vanitylinks", dtblVanityLinks, new CacheDependency(Server.MapPath("VanityURLRedirects.xml")));
        }

        return dtblVanityLinks;
    }

    public void RewriteUrl()
    {
        DataTable dtblVanityLinks = null;
        string strThisUrl = null;
        string strSelect = null;
        DataRow[] arrMatches = null;
        string strRedirectLink = null;

        dtblVanityLinks = GetVanityLinks();

        strThisUrl = Request.Path.ToLower();

        if (Request.ApplicationPath != "/")
        {
            strThisUrl = strThisUrl.Remove(0, Request.ApplicationPath.Length);
        }

        strSelect = "vanitylink = '" + strThisUrl + "'";
        arrMatches = dtblVanityLinks.Select(strSelect, "vanitylink");
        if (arrMatches.Length > 0)
        {
            strRedirectLink = arrMatches[0]["redirectlink"].ToString(); ;
            strRedirectLink = Request.ApplicationPath + strRedirectLink;

            Context.RewritePath(strRedirectLink);
        }
    }