MVC Referencing strongly typed session objects on my view

Question

According to various sources online i should use this

public static class SessionExtensions
    {
        /// <summary> 
        /// Get value. 
        /// </summary> 
        /// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam> 
        /// <param name="session"></param> 
        /// <param name="key"></param> 
        /// <returns></returns> 
        public static T GetDataFromSession<T>(this HttpSessionStateBase session, string key)
        {
            return (T)session[key];
        }

        /// <summary> 
        /// Set value. 
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="session"></param> 
        /// <param name="key"></param> 
        /// <param name="value"></param> 
        public static void SetDataToSession(this HttpSessionStateBase session, string key, object value)
        {
            session[key] = value;
        } 
    }

To make use of session objects in mvc. I have made the following BaseController

public class BaseController : Controller
    {
        public int UserID
        {
            get { return Session.GetDataFromSession<int>("UserID"); }
            set { Session.SetDataToSession("UserID", value); }
        }
}

I now inherit the BaseController

 public class RequestsController : BaseController
    {
        private FooModel db = new FooModel ();

        // GET: Requests
        public ActionResult Index()
        {
          var viewModel = Mapper.RequestIndex(UserID);
            return View(viewModel);
        }
}

And i can use the UserID session object without issue.

How do i use that same session object on my view, without adding it to the model.

<div class="clearfix">
                @if (Session["UserID"].ToString() == "1")
                {
        <div class="btn btn-default pull-right ">
            @Html.ActionLink("Super Special link for User 1", "sslfu1")
        </div>
                }
    </div>

The Session["UserID"] is incorrect here. What should i use?

Answer 1

I have modified my SessionExtensions class to include the following:

 public static T GetDataFromSession<T>(this HttpSessionStateBase session, string key)
        {
            return (T)session[key];
        }

Then on the view reference it like this: @Session.GetDataFromSession("UserID")

It's not strongly typed , but this fits more naturaly

Answer 2

You have multiple ways to do this, one simple way is to make use of ViewBag.

public ActionResult Index()
{
    var viewModel = Mapper.RequestIndex(UserID);
    ViewBag.UserID = UserID;
    return View(viewModel);
}

In the View you use it like this.

<div class="clearfix">
    @if (ViewBag.UserID == 1)
    {
        <div class="btn btn-default pull-right ">
            @Html.ActionLink("Super Special link for User 1", "sslfu1")
        </div>
    }
</div>

Answer 3

I you want to make it strongly typed you can use an extension method to act like a wrapper for getting UserID.

public static int UserID(this HttpSessionStateBase session)
{
    return session.GetDataFromSession<int>("UserID");
}

In the View

<div class="clearfix">
    @if (Session.UserID() == 1)
    {
        <div class="btn btn-default pull-right ">
            @Html.ActionLink("Super Special link for User 1", "sslfu1")
        </div>
    }
</div>