accessing devise current_user within model - ruby-on-rails

hi i am trying to access current_user within a model for the purpose of creating an element on the fly with find_or_create_by.
the following is the method within my model
def opponent_name=(name)
self.opponent = Opponent.find_or_create_by_name_and_team_id(name,current_user.team_id) if name.present?
end
but the error i am getting is
NameError in EventsController#create
undefined local variable or method `current_user' for #<Event:0x007fb575e92000>

current_user is not accessible from within model files in Rails, only controllers, views and helpers.
What you should do is to pass the current_user.team_id to the opponent_name method like this:
def opponent_name=(name, current_user_team_id)
self.opponent = Opponent.find_or_create_by_name_and_team_id(name,current_user.team_id) if name.present?
end

Access current_user in Model File:
# code in Applcation Controller:
class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base
before_filter :global_user
def global_user
Comment.user = current_user
end
end
#Code in your Model File :
class Comment < ActiveRecord::Base
cattr_accessor :user # it's accessible outside Comment
attr_accessible :commenter
def assign_user
self.commenter = self.user.name
end
end
Pardon me, if It violates any MVC Architecture Rules.

Its not a good way to access the current_user in a model, this logic belongs to the controller. But if you realy cant find a workaround you should put it into a thread. But keep in mind this is not the way how it should be build.
https://rails-bestpractices.com/posts/2010/08/23/fetch-current-user-in-models/

Rails 5.2 introduced current attributes:
https://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActiveSupport/CurrentAttributes.html
but as always... you must have in mind that using global states like this might let to some unpredictable behaviour 🤷‍♀️ :
https://ryanbigg.com/2017/06/current-considered-harmful

Related

Helper method called upon in model file, not working

In a create method in a controller I have:
if logged_in_admin?
#invitation.set_ids
In the Invitation model:
def set_ids
self.person_one_id = current_user.id
end
current_user is a method in app/helpers/sessions_helper.rb and defines the currently logged in user. I use this method successfully in many controller methods. However, for the use case above I get the error message undefined local variable or method 'current_user' for #<Invitation:0x007f699086bf40>.
Why do I get this error message? Is this because this time I'm using the helper method in a model file and is this not allowed? If such is not allowed, what would be the best way to securely set person_one_id for #invitation equal to the id of the currently logged in user?
current_user not available in a model layer(it's MVC, your helpers on the CV layer and model know nothing about the current_user helper). Pass user_id from your helper as argument:
some_helper.rb
def my_helper
if logged_in_admin?
#invitation.set_ids(current_user.id)
# .....
model.rb:
def set_ids(user_id)
self.person_one_id = user_id
end
You have to add the following line to your ApplicationController:
class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base
protect_from_forgery with: :exception
include SessionsHelper
end
Now you should be able to use the methods inside your controllers / models.

Get current_user in Rails form validation by defining a virtual attribute

Rails form validation is designed to go in the model most easily. But I need to make sure the current user has the required privileges to submit a post and the current_user variable is only accessible in the controller and view.
I found this answer in a similar question:
You could define a :user_gold virtual attribute for Book, set it in the controller where you have access to current_user and then incorporate that into your Book validation.`
How can I set this up with my post and user controller so that the current_user variable is accessible in the model?
Solution:
This whole thing is wrong from an application design perspective as #Deefour's answer pointed out. I changed it so my view doesn't render the form unless the condition is true.
The "similar question" is saying you can do something like this
class YourModel < ActiveRecord::Base
attr_accessor :current_user
# ...
end
and then in your controller action you can do something like
#your_model = YourModel.find(params[:id])
#your_model.current_user = current_user
#your_model.assign_attributes(params[:your_model])
if #your_model.valid?
# ...
You can then use self.current_user within YourModel's validation methods.
Note I don't think this is what you should be doing though, as I don't consider this "validation" as much as "authorization". An unauthorized user shouldn't even be able to get the part of your action where such an update to a YourModel instance could be saved.
As for doing the authorization with Pundit as requested, you'd have a file in app/policies/your_model.rb
class YourModelPolicy < Struct.new(:user, :your_model)
def update?
user.some_privilege == true # change this to suit your needs, checking the "required privileges" you mention
end
end
Include Pundit in your ApplicationController
class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base
include Pundit
# ...
end
Then, in your controller action you can do simply
def update
#your_model = YourModel.find(params[:id])
authorize #your_model
# ...
The authorize method will call YourModelPolicy's update? method (it calls the method matching your action + ? by default) and if a falsy value is returned a 403 error will result.
Authorization shouldn't be done in models. Models have already many responsibilities don't you think?
That's a controller thing, and actually you can have the logic in other place using some gem like cancan and in your controller you would do something like:
authorize! :create, Post
You can define a "virtual attribute" in your model like this:
class Book < ActiveRecord::Base
attr_accessor :current_user
end
Its value can be set directly in your controller like this:
class BooksController < ApplicationController
def create
book = Book.new
book.current_user = current_user
book.save!
end
end
And inside your model's validation routine, you can access it like any other ActiveRecord field:
def validate_user_permission
errors[:current_user] = "user does not have permission" unless current_user.is_gold?
end
I can't remember if this is the case with ActiveRecord, but you might be able to set virtual attributes via the mass-assignment methods like create, update, and new in the controller:
def create
Book.create!(current_user: current_user)
end
In order to do that, you would probably have to add the following line to your model to enable mass-assignment of that virtual attribute:
attr_accessible :current_user
I agree with Ismael - this is normally done in the controller. It's not an attribute of the model, it's a permission issue and related to the controller business logic.
If you don't need all the power of a gem like CanCan, you can role your own.
class BooksController < ApplicationController
before_filter :gold_required, :only => :create
def create
book = Book.new
book.save!
end
# Can be application controller
private
def gold_required
return current_user && current_user.is_gold?
end
end
You may want to put the filter on the 'new' method as well.

Rails: How to get the model class name based on the controller class name?

class HouseBuyersController < ...
def my_method
# How could I get here the relevant model name, i.e. "HouseBuyer" ?
end
end
This will do it:
class HouseBuyersController < ApplicationController
def index
#model_name = controller_name.classify
end
end
This is often needed when abstracting controller actions:
class HouseBuyersController < ApplicationController
def index
# Equivalent of #house_buyers = HouseBuyer.find(:all)
objects = controller_name.classify.constantize.find(:all)
instance_variable_set("##{controller_name}", objects)
end
end
If your controller and model are in the same namespace, then what you want is
controller_path.classify
controller_path gives you the namespace; controller_name doesn't.
For example, if your controller is
Admin::RolesController
then:
controller_path.classify # "Admin::Role" # CORRECT
controller_name.classify # "Role" # INCORRECT
It's a bit of a hack, but if your model is named after your controller name then:
class HouseBuyersController < ApplicationController
def my_method
#model_name = self.class.name.sub("Controller", "").singularize
end
end
... would give you "HouseBuyer" in your #model_name instance variable.
Again, this makes a huge assumption that "HouseBuyersController" only deals with "HouseBuyer" models.
For namespaces working:
def resource_class
controller_path.classify.constantize
end
The accepted solution did not work for me as my controller and model was namespaced. Instead, I came up with the following method:
def controllers_model
(self.class.name.split('::')[0..-2] << controller_name.classify).join('::')
end
This is not possible if you are using the default MVC, which your code doesn't seem to follow. Your controller seems to be a model but maybe you just got a type there. Anyway, controllers and models are fundamentally separated in Rails MVC so controllers cannot know which model they are associated with.
For example you could have a model named post. This can have a controller posts_controller or could have a controller like articles_controller. Rails only knows about models when you def the actual code in the controller such as
def index
#posts = Post.all
#posts = Article.all
end
In rails standard controllers there is no way to know what the model is.

Rails 3 devise, current_user is not accessible in a Model ?

in my project.rb model, I'm trying to create a scope with a dynamic variable:
scope :instanceprojects, lambda {
where("projects.instance_id = ?", current_user.instance_id)
}
I get the following error:
undefined local variable or method `current_user' for #<Class:0x102fe3af0>
Where in the controller I can access current_user.instance_id... Is there a reason the model can't access it and a way to get access? Also, is this the right place to create a scope like the above, or does that belong in the controller?
This doesn't make much sense, as you already pointed. The current_user doesn't belong to model logic at all, it should be handled on the controller level.
But you can still create scope like that, just pass the parameter to it from the controller:
scope :instanceprojects, lambda { |user|
where("projects.instance_id = ?", user.instance_id)
}
Now you can call it in the controller:
Model.instanceprojects(current_user)
The already accepted answer provides a really correct way to achieve this.
But here's the thread-safe version of User.current_user trick.
class User
class << self
def current_user=(user)
Thread.current[:current_user] = user
end
def current_user
Thread.current[:current_user]
end
end
end
class ApplicationController
before_filter :set_current_user
def set_current_user
User.current_user = current_user
end
end
This works as expected, however it can be considered dirty, because we basically define a global variable here.
Ryan Bates lays out a pretty safe way to implement this kind of strategy in this railscast
You can browse the source code here
Here he creates a current_tenant method, but you could easily substitute current_user instead.
Here are the key bits of code...
#application_controller.rb
around_filter :scope_current_tenant
private
def current_tenant
Tenant.find_by_subdomain! request.subdomain
end
helper_method :current_tenant
def scope_current_tenant
Tenant.current_id = current_tenant.id
yield
ensure
Tenant.current_id = nil
end
#models/tenant.rb
def self.current_id=(id)
Thread.current[:tenant_id] = id
end
def self.current_id
Thread.current[:tenant_id]
end
Then in the model you can do something like...
default_scope { where(tenant_id: Tenant.current_id) }
You don't need to use scopes. If you have set the appropriate associations in models, following piece of code placed in controller should do the trick:
#projects = current_user.instance.projects

Accessing a variable declared in a controller from a model

I'm using the facebooker gem which creates a variable called facebook_session in the controller scope (meaning when I can call facebook_session.user.name from the userscontroller section its okay). However when I'm rewriting the full_name function (located in my model) i can't access the facebook_session variable.
You'll have to pass the value into your model at some point, then store it if you need to access it regularly.
Models aren't allowed to pull data from controllers -- it would break things in console view, unit testing and in a few other situations.
The simplest answer is something like this:
class User
attr_accessor :facebook_name
before_create :update_full_name
def calculated_full_name
facebook_name || "not sure"
end
def update_full_name
full_name ||= calculated_full_name
end
end
class UsersController
def create
#user = User.new params[:user]
#user.facebook_name = facebook_session.user.name
#user.save
end
end

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