Is it ok to create an authentication provider that also is a desktop module? I'm asking because we are building a Shibboleth authentication provider and also want to allow administrators the ability to map Shibboleth roles to DNN roles using a grid. This did not seem to work from the Settings page but when I also configured the module as a desktop module with view and edit forms, and added the grid there, it worked ok.

Take a look at how other Authentication Providers work. If what you need to do is simply part of the configuration of your provider, you probably don't need a module.

A more detailed explanation might help me understand.

Just to add a bit ... if your Authentication Provider can read the output of your module, there's no reason that you shouldn't do it this way.

Thanks very much for replying.

I have a module that does Shibboleth authentication that we are going to make Open Source since it is an authentication that the Universities are using. The Shibboleth authentication is working ok.

On the Settings.ascx control, along with allowing the admin user to update some general settings, I have added a Radgrid that will let the user select Shibboleth roles to be paired with existing DNN roles. Later in the authentication code, these Shibboleth roles will be mapped to the corresponding DNN roles. To display these role mappings I am using a RadGrid with an Edit Form where the user can update role mappings and insert new role mappings. There is also a delete command on the RadGrid (which works ok, the delete command doesn't use the Edit Form.)

I tested this Radgrid on a simple web page before bringing it into DNN just to get the Radgrid code working. The Insert, Update, and Delete all worked ok outside of DNN. But when I pulled the code into DNN, the Delete still works, but the Update and Insert event routines never fire from the Settings.ascx control.

So I also tried to configure the authentication provider as a Desktop Module with View and Edit forms and tested the RadGrid from the View and Edit controls and it works fine, with the DNN View control containing the RadGrid and the DNN Edit control containing the Edit form. RadGrid Events fire ok, from the View and Edit control instead of the Settings control.

So I was planning on making the Authentication provider a module also. But then, I haven't seen an example of combining a module with an Authentication provider in the Authentication providers I've looked at. But it seems to work. We are saving the role mappings in portal_settings.

With more testing from the Settings.ascx control, I've found that any events from the Grid Edit form of the RadGrid are not fired. So it seems that from an Authentication Provider Settings control, you can only fire events from the Settings.ascx page itself, and not from a secondary user control like the RadGrid Edit form.

So, I'm hoping that it is ok to combine an Authentication provider with a desktop module so that I can still use the RadGrid.

As long as they share data, there shouldn't be a problem.

I saved table updates in portal_settings using PortalController.UpdatePortalSetting and the data was available both from the View control and on the Settings control. Thanks again.