rolify

Very simple Roles library without any authorization enforcement supporting scope on resource object.

Let's see an example:

user.has_role?(:moderator, Forum.first)
=> false # if user is moderator of another Forum

This library can be easily integrated with any authentication gem (devise, Authlogic, Clearance) and authorization gem* (CanCanCan, authority)

*: authorization gem that doesn't provide a role class

Requirements

• Rails >= 3.2
• ActiveRecord >= 3.2 or Mongoid >= 3.1
• supports ruby 2.0/1.9.3, JRuby 1.6.0+ (in 1.9 mode) and Rubinius 2.0.0dev (in 1.9 mode)
• support of ruby 1.8 has been dropped due to Mongoid >=3.0 that only supports 1.9 new hash syntax

Installation

Add this to your Gemfile and run the +bundle+ command.

gem "rolify"

Getting Started

1. Generate Role Model

First, create your Role model and migration file using this generator:

rails g rolify Role User

NB for versions of Rolify prior to 3.3, use:

rails g rolify:role Role User

Role and User classes are the default. You can specify any Role class name you want. This is a completely new file so any name will do the job. For the User class name, you would probably use the one provided by your authentication solution. rolify just adds some class methods in an existing User class.

If you want to use Mongoid instead of ActiveRecord, just add --orm=mongoid argument, and skip to step #3

2. Run the migration (only required when using ActiveRecord)

Let's migrate!

rake db:migrate

3.1 Configure your user model

This gem adds the rolify method to your User class. You can also specify optional callbacks on the User class for when roles are added or removed:

class User < ActiveRecord::Base
  rolify :before_add => :before_add_method

  def before_add_method(role)
    # do something before it gets added
  end
end

The rolify method accepts the following callback options:

• before_add
• after_add
• before_remove
• after_remove

Mongoid callbacks are also supported and works the same way.

3.2 Configure your resource models

In the resource models you want to apply roles on, just add resourcify method. For example, on this ActiveRecord class:

class Forum < ActiveRecord::Base
  resourcify
end

4. Add a role to a user

To define a global role:

user = User.find(1)
user.add_role :admin

To define a role scoped to a resource instance:

user = User.find(2)
user.add_role :moderator, Forum.first

To define a role scoped to a resource class:

user = User.find(3)
user.add_role :moderator, Forum

That's it!

5. Role queries

To check if a user has a global role:

user = User.find(1)
user.add_role :admin # sets a global role
user.has_role? :admin
=> true

To check if a user has a role scoped to a resource instance:

user = User.find(2)
user.add_role :moderator, Forum.first # sets a role scoped to a resource instance
user.has_role? :moderator, Forum.first
=> true
user.has_role? :moderator, Forum.last
=> false

To check if a user has a role scoped to a resource class:

user = User.find(3)
user.add_role :moderator, Forum # sets a role scoped to a resource class
user.has_role? :moderator, Forum
=> true
user.has_role? :moderator, Forum.first
=> true
user.has_role? :moderator, Forum.last
=> true

A global role overrides resource role request:

user = User.find(4)
user.add_role :moderator # sets a global role
user.has_role? :moderator, Forum.first
=> true
user.has_role? :moderator, Forum.last
=> true

6. Resource roles querying

Starting from rolify 3.0, you can search roles on instance level or class level resources.

Instance level

forum = Forum.first
forum.roles
# => [ list of roles that are only bound to forum instance ]
forum.applied_roles
# => [ list of roles bound to forum instance and to the Forum class ]

Class level

Forum.with_role(:admin)
# => [ list of Forum instances that have role "admin" bound to them ]
Forum.with_role(:admin, current_user)
# => [ list of Forum instances that have role "admin" bound to them and belong to current_user roles ]
Forum.with_roles([:admin, :user], current_user)
# => [ list of Forum instances that have role "admin" or "user" bound to them and belong to current_user roles ]

User.with_any_role(:user, :admin)
# => [ list of User instances that have role "admin" or "user" bound to them ]
User.with_role(:site_admin, current_site)
# => [ list of User instances that have a scoped role of "site_admin" to a site instance ]
User.with_role(:site_admin, :any)
# => [ list of User instances that have a scoped role of "site_admin" for any site instances ]
User.with_all_roles(:site_admin, :admin)
# => [ list of User instances that have a role of "site_admin" and a role of "admin" bound to it ]

Forum.find_roles
# => [ list of roles that are bound to any Forum instance or to the Forum class ]
Forum.find_roles(:admin)
# => [ list of roles that are bound to any Forum instance or to the Forum class, with "admin" as a role name ]
Forum.find_roles(:admin, current_user)
# => [ list of roles that are bound to any Forum instance, or to the Forum class with "admin" as a role name, and belongs to current_user ]

Strict Mode

class User < ActiveRecord::Base
  rolify strict: true
end

@user = User.first

@user.add_role(:forum, Forum)
@user.add_role(:forum, Forum.first)

@user.has_role?(:forum, Forum) #=> true
@user.has_role?(:forum, Forum.first) #=> true
@user.has_role?(:forum, Forum.last) #=> false

I.e. you get true only on a role that you manually add.

Cached Roles (to avoid N+1 issue)

@user.add_role :admin, Forum
@user.add_role :member, Forum

users = User.with_role(:admin, Forum).preload(:roles)
users.each do |user|
  user.has_cached_role?(:member, Forum) # no extra queries
end

This method should be used with caution. If you don't preload the roles, the has_cached_role? might return false. In the above example, it would return false for @user.has_cached_role?(:member, Forum), because User.with_role(:admin, Forum) will load only the :admin roles.

Resources

• Wiki
• Usage: all the available commands
• Tutorials:
  • How-To use rolify with Devise and CanCanCan
  • Using rolify with Devise and Authority
  • Step-by-step tutorial provided by RailsApps

Upgrade from previous versions

Please read the upgrade instructions.

Known issues

• If you are using Mongoid and/or less-rails gem, please read this
• Moped library (ruby driver for Mongodb used by Mongoid) doesn't support rubinius 2.2 yet (see mongoid/moped#231)
• If you use Rails 4 and Mongoid, use Mongoid ~> 4. rolify is fully tested with Rails 4 and Mongoid 4.

Questions or Problems?

If you have any issue or feature request with/for rolify, please create an new issue on GitHub specifying the ruby runtime, rails and rolify versions you're using and the gems listed in your Gemfile, or fork the project and send a pull request.

To get the specs running you should call bundle and then rake. See the spec/README for more information.