Authenticating users through the ASMX API with Authentication Context [deprecated]
Each ASMX API call requires a valid authentication string, called the AuthenticationContext.
An AuthenticationContext is an encrypted string that contains information about an authenticated user for a given Content Manager application. Every method of the Content Manager API requires a valid authentication string as the first parameter.
In order to get an AuthenticationContext, you must logon to the Content Manager environment using the Application.Login method which matches the user name and password to an unique Internal Content Manager user profile.
As the application is stateless, it is important that the authentication string is cached within your code. To make it more secure, the authentication string expires after a period of time. However, when using the API, each API call returns a renewed authentication string that can be used to update the authentication string cached in your code.
The user management system of Content Manager allows authentication and authorization of users. Every call checks that the user is not disabled.