raaa

The raaa plugin is a very very basic implementation of an authentication and authorization system. The plugin provides just enough code to abstract the authentication and authorization approach. The plugin does not dictate the implementation of the authentication or authorization.

The simplest use of the plugin requires the inclusion of AuthenticatedSystem in the controller and the implementation of two methods; find_active_user(id) and access_denied!. e.g.

class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base
  include AuthenticatedSystem

  protected

  def find_active_user(id)
    User.find_by_id(id)
  end

  def access_denied!
    if not is_authenticated?
      redirect_to(:controller=> '/account', :action => 'login')
    else
      redirect_to(:controller => '/security', :action => 'access_denied')
    end
  end
end

The plugin user can also override protect? to limit the actions that require authentication. e.g.

# don't protect the login and the about method
def protect?
  if ['login', 'about'].include?(action_name)
    return false
  else
    return true
  end
end

The plugin also supports redirecting back to a page after login, customizable authorization after authentication, hooking into the storing of user information in the session etc. See the documentation of AuthenticatedSystem for more details.