[Catalyst] upon successful login, how do i get redirect users back to the page they wanted to access previously?

[kakimoto at tpg.com.au]

Hello, everyone!

 thank you for your recommendations. 
I have looked at the
http://dev.catalystframework.org/wiki/wikicookbook/nextpageredirect link
and
http://search.cpan.org/~hkclark/Catalyst-Manual-5.7020/lib/Catalyst/Manual/Tutorial/Authentication.pod.

Here's an extract, "As discussed in the previous chapter of the
tutorial, flash allows you to set variables in a way that is very
similar to stash, but it will remain set across multiple requests. Once
the value is read, it is cleared (unless reset).".


I tried using FLASH and yet it doesn't work for me.
The value  I set in the flash gets lost after a redirect. Sorry to ask
but does flash really work and is it reliable? I know setting stuff in
the session variable is definitely reliable.

Here are some extracts.

 1) I access www.lginsurance.com.au/subscriptions/add
 2) Since I am not logged in, Root->auto() kicks in and calls Login->index()
 3) The path which I am requesting for (being '/subscriptions/add') gets
stored in the flash, $c->flash->{'requested_page'} 
 4) Looking at the debugging messages printed from Login.pm->, the 
$c->flash->{'requested_page'} is empty (ie lost!)
5) The login form appears in my web browser and I log in.
6) All good in that I have authenticated myself but the page that loads
is the main menu (instead of the 
 page I previously wanted which is
www.lginsurance.com.au/subscriptions/add). 

Does flash really work or should I just use the session variable?


-------- Root.pm (start) ----------------------------------------------

sub auto : Private {
    my ($self, $c) = @_;

    $c->log->debug(" Root.pm -> auto and path is ". $c->req->path() );

    if ($c->controller eq $c->controller('Login')) {
        $c->log->debug(" Root.pm -> auto  - asked for login path");
        return 1;
    }
    else{
        if ($c->user_exists())
        {   
            my $requested_page = $c->flash->{'requested_page'};
            $c->log->debug(" Root.pm -> auto  - USER's logged in.
Proceed.($requested_page)");

            if ( $requested_page )
            {   
                $c->log->debug(" Root.pm -> auto  - Requested Path is
getting redirected to.");
                $c->response->redirect(
                    $requested_page
                );
                $c->log->debug(" Root.pm -> auto  - BACK FROM
REDIRECTION... ");
            }
            return 1;
        }
        else
        {   
            $c->log->debug(" Root.pm -> auto  - USER's not logged in.
Forcing login and setting 'requested_page' = ". $c->req->pat
h() );
            $c->flash->{'requested_page'} = $c->req->path();

            $c->log->debug(" Root.pm -> auto  - USER's not logged in.
RECHECKING THE 'requested_page' = ". $c->req->path() );

            $c->response->redirect($c->uri_for('/login'));
            return 0;
        }

    }

-------- Root.pm (end ) ----------------------------------------------

-------- Login.pm (start ) ----------------------------------------------

sub index : Private {
    my ($self, $c) = @_;
    $c->log->debug( " in login .pm " );
    my $requested_page = $c->flash->{'requested_page'};
    $c->log->debug(" Login.pm -> index- the path for requested_page is
.($requested_page)");
    
    # Get the username and password from form
    my $username = $c->request->params->{username} || '';
    my $password = $c->request->params->{password} || '';

    # If the username and password values were found in form
    if ($username && $password) {
        # Attempt to log the user in

        if ($c->login($username, $password))
        {
            $c->log->debug(" Login.pm [authenticated current user] ->
index... ");

        
            # If successful, then let them use the application
            $c->response->redirect( $c->uri_for('/') );
            return 1;
        }
        else
        {   
            # Set an error message
            $c->stash->{error_msg} = "Bad username or password.";
        }
    }   
            
    # If either of above don't work out, send to the login page
    $c->stash->{template} = 'login.tt2';
    
    return 1;
}   
    

-------- Login.pm (end ) ----------------------------------------------



Quoting Oliver Charles <oliver.g.charles at googlemail.com>:

> On Sat, Apr 18, 2009 at 2:34 AM,  <kakimoto at tpg.com.au> wrote:>
> > hi, everybody,
> >
> > [snip]
> >
> > upon successful login, how do i get redirect users back to the page
> they
> > wanted to access previously (which is
> > www.lginsurance.com.au/subcriptions/add)? At the moment, upon
> successful
> > login, menu.tt2 will be called.
> 
> At work we do this with http://tr.im/j75v . If an action requires
> the
> user to be authenticated, they call $c->forward('/user/login'). If
> they are logged in, that action returns immediately and the action
> can
> continue. Otherwise, the current URI is stored in session, and the
> login form is presented. Then, when the login is successful, the URI
> is restored, and the user is redirect.
> 
> However... after seeing Devin's approach, which is essentially the
> same but without the session, I may change to that. I believe the
> two
> approaches are essentially the same though.
> 
> -- 
>     Oliver Charles / aCiD2
> 
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>