ASP in a Nutshell, 2nd Edition

Chapter 8. Response Object

Just as the Request object allows you to retrieve and manipulate information sent by the client browser in its HTTP request, the Response object gives you a great deal of control over the HTTP response to the client. This control comes in three broad categories:

• Control over what data and data types are sent to the client in the headers of the HTTP response

• Control over what data and data types are sent to the client in the body of the HTTP response

• Control over when and how that data is sent

Control over the HTTP response headers includes setting cookies on the client machine, setting various preexisting HTTP header values (such as the content type and expiration information for a given page), and, finally, adding your own custom headers to the HTTP response.

You control the HTTP response body directly through the Write and BinaryWrite methods. As you might infer from the names, these methods of the Response object allow you to write information directly to the response body, which will be received by the client just like any other information received in an HTML request response.

Finally, the Response object allows you to control how and when the response is sent to the client. For example, using the properties and methods involved in buffering the response, you can determine whether to send the HTTP response as a single unit to the client or to send the results of the request piecemeal. You can dynamically determine whether the client is still connected ...