I use generic handlers (.ashx) quite a bit when working with client side Javascript, they’re a good way of getting data to and from the client. I’ll do an in-depth post at some point showing a nice way of chaining generic handlers, JQuery and JSON in a quick way of writing AJAXesque web apps.

For the moment though, a quick tip for people needing access to their session variables in handlers. Because a generic handler is stripped down to its bare bones, you’ll need to import your session state by including a specific interface.

using System.Web.UI.HtmlControls;</p>

public class GenericHandler : IHttpHandler, IRequiresSessionState
{
    public void ProcessRequest(HttpContext context)
    {
        context.Response.ContentType = "text/plain";
        context.Response.ContentEncoding = System.Text.Encoding.UTF8;

    context.Response.Write(context.Session["name"]);
}

public bool IsReusable
{
    get
    {
        return false;
    }
}


}
</pre>

Also remember that your session now exists as a property of the context, remember to address it as such.