ViewState

What is ViewState?
Viewstate is a built-in structure for automatically retaining values amongst the multiple requests
for the same page. The viewstate is internally maintained as a hidden field on the page but is
hashed, providing greater security than developer-implemented hidden fields do.

benefits and Limitation of using Viewstate for state management
Following are the benefits of using Viewstate:-
• No server resources are required because state is in a structure in the page code.
• Simplicity.
• States are retained automatically.
• The values in view state are hashed, compressed, and encoded, thus representing a higher
state of security than hidden fields.
• View state is good for caching data in Web frame configurations because the data is
cached on the client.
Following are limitation of using Viewstate:-
• Page loading and posting performance decreases when large values are stored because
view state is stored in the page.
• Although view state stores data in a hashed format, it can still be tampered because it is
stored in a hidden field on the page. The information in the hidden field can also be seen
if the page output source is viewed directly, creating a potential security risk.
Below is sample of storing values in view state.
this.ViewState["EnterTime"] = DateTime.Now.ToString();