Store multiple values in a single cookie using ASP.NET and C#

If you search for storing multiple values in a single cookie using ASP.NET and C#, you may get a wide variety of answers out on the Internet.

However, there is a very easy method to accomplish this provided directly by Microsoft: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.web.httpcookie.values%28v=vs.100%29.aspx

The HttpCookie.Values Property is a NameValueCollection that easily allows you to add multiple values to a Cookie simply by indexing into the NameValueCollection to add the appropriate keys and values.

Below is a simple example of how to dynamically create a cookie with a collection of keys and values:

 

/// <summary>

/// Creates a cookie with the specified NameValueCollection of values

/// </summary>

/// <param name="cookieName"></param>

/// <param name="nvCookie"></param>

public static void CreateCookie(string cookieName, NameValueCollection nvCookie)

{

    HttpCookie cookie = new HttpCookie(cookieName);

    foreach (string cookieKey in nvCookie)

    {

        cookie.Values[cookieKey] = nvCookie[cookieKey];

    }//foreach

    HttpContext.Current.Response.Cookies.Add(cookie);

}//method: CreateCookie

You can then use this method in the following manner:

 

NameValueCollection nvCookie = new NameValueCollection();

nvCookie["CustomKey"] = model.CustomValue;

nvCookie["UserName"] = model.UserName;

CookieManager.CreateCookie("MultipleValueCookie", nvCookie);