Caching / Application State

I have a web application that pulls data from template files on the hard-disk of the server. There are about 30-40 different .html files there that it accesses.

I want to cache the data so that I don't have to keep reading and reading the data over and over.
This is my function

VB Code:

Public Function strGetFile(ByVal strFilePath As String, ByVal Server As HttpServerUtility, ByRef State As HttpApplicationState) As String
        If State.Get(strFilePath) = vbNullString Then
            Dim objStreamReader As StreamReader = File.OpenText(Server.MapPath(strFilePath))
            Dim strRetVal As String = objStreamReader.ReadToEnd()
            objStreamReader.Close()
            State.Add(strFilePath, strRetVal)
            Return strRetVal
        Else
            Return State.Get(strFilePath)
        End If
    End Function

Previously I just passed in the file path and the Server object (so that I can use MapPath (this code is in a module)).
But now I'm trying to cache the information. I've read up on the ApplicationState class, but it doesn't seem to be remembering the contents of the files. In fact, it seems more Stateless than Stateful....

In this situation, I would using ASP.NET caching mechanism to store your files. Also, you can add cache file dependencies when you insert your item into cache, and when the underlying file changes, your item will be booted from cache and you can rehydrate next time you try to access the guy.

But the problem is that I cannot access the cache from a code module...

Sure you can.

The page base class exposes a Cache property or you can get a reference by using:

Code:

---

HttpRuntime.Cache

---

Superb :D

VB Code:

Public Function strGetFile(ByVal strFilePath As String, Optional ByVal blnReload As Boolean = False) As String
        Dim strRetVal As String = HttpRuntime.Cache.Get(strFilePath)
        If (strRetVal = vbNullString) Or blnReload Then
            Dim objStreamReader As StreamReader = File.OpenText(ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings("BasePath") & strFilePath)
            strRetVal = objStreamReader.ReadToEnd()
            objStreamReader.Close()
            HttpRuntime.Cache.Item(strFilePath) = strRetVal
        End If
        Return strRetVal
    End Function