Redirecting not logged-in users with iron-router... Again

Question

I am fighting with the common need for redirecting a user to a login page if he is not logged-in (Meteor v0.8.0 on Windows 7).

There are several similar questions on stackoverflow, but no answer seems to work for me.

Won't work #1: render()

From the documentation:

onBeforeAction: function () {
  if (!Meteor.user()) {
    // render the login template but keep the url in the browser the same
    this.render('login');

    // stop the rest of the before hooks and the action function 
    this.stop();
  }
},

Two issues here:

1- The documentation is outdated. There is no this.stop() function anymore. As stated here, the code should be :

onBeforeAction: function (pause) {
  if (!Meteor.user()) {
    // render the login template but keep the url in the browser the same
    this.render('login');

    // stop the rest of the before hooks and the action function 
    pause();
  }
},

2- This works only if the route has no layoutTemplate. If it has one, the login template is rendered in the {{>yield}} of the layoutTemplate. This is usually not what you want for a login page.

Won't work #2: Router.go() or this.redirect()

Defining a route for the login page sounds like the natural way. You can then do:

Router.onBeforeAction(function(pause) {
    if (!Meteor.user()) {
        pause();
        Router.go('\login');
    }
}, {except: ['login']});

Or:

Router.onBeforeAction(function() {
    if (!Meteor.user())
        this.redirect('\login');
}, {except: ['login']});

But strangely, there is still an issue if the original route (before redirect) has a layoutTemplate: the /login template is rendered inside the {{yield}}. Which again is not what you usually want (and definitely not what you expect, as the /login template has no layoutTemplate defined).

I found a way to partially solve this:

Router.onBeforeAction(function() {
    if (!Meteor.user()) {
        var that = this;
        setTimeout(function() { that.redirect('\login'); }, 0);
    }
}, {except: ['login']});

Now everything is fine: the /login template renders as a clean page... Except that the layoutTemplate of the original route briefly blinks before the /login template is displayed.

Have you got this same problem?

score 21 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 02 '15 at 20:34

21

You can put an if or unless template helper in the layout template.

{{#unless currentUser}}
  {{> loginPage}}
 {{else}}
  {{> yield}}
{{/unless}}

answered Mar 02 '15 at 20:34

LakeEffect

547
5
13

5

Most elegant solution as it simplifies complexity when using Iron Router, no reactive rerouting if `Meteor.user` is updated. – chuckus Jul 26 '15 at 01:21
The issue in your solution is that if there are links to other templates/routes on the LogIn page (as sign-up, recover password, etc), they will not work because the '{{#unless currentUser}}' avoid any other route to run. – Ruben May 19 '16 at 01:30

Kelly Copley · Accepted Answer · 2014-05-05T16:33:48.050

9

Ok, so it seems that the render function on a route only renders a template into the current layout. To render a template into a different layout you have to call this.setLayout('templateName'). The one caveat seems to be that you'll need to set the layout back after login.

onBeforeAction: function(pause) {
    var routeName = this.route.name;

    if (_.include(['login'], routeName))
        return;

    if (! Meteor.userId()) {
        this.setLayout("newLayout");
        this.render('login');

        //if you have named yields it the login form
        this.render('loginForm', {to:"formRegion"});

        //and finally call the pause() to prevent further actions from running
        pause();
    }else{
        this.setLayout(this.lookupLayoutTemplate());
    }
}

You could also just render the login template as the layout if your login template is all you need by calling this.setLayout('login')

edited May 05 '14 at 16:33

answered May 05 '14 at 15:56

Kelly Copley

2,736
16
25

1

It works, thanks Kelly! All I had to do is `Router.onBeforeAction(function() { if (!Meteor.userId()) this.setLayout("login"); }}, {except: ['login']});` It seems there is no need for calling `pause()` – steph643 May 05 '14 at 21:48
Glad to help! Also figuring this out actually help me learn something new about the way that iron-router works. – Kelly Copley May 05 '14 at 23:17
1

`setLayout(undefined)` keeps the login layout, so I had to create a blank template that just yields, and changed your last line to `this.setLayout(this.lookupLayoutTemplate() || 'blank');` – Loren May 08 '14 at 02:44
Also, if you link to another excluded route, such as `signup`, from your login page, it does not work unless you have a `layoutTemplate` set in the `signup` route. – Loren May 11 '14 at 01:52
1

the API updated. quotes from the iron router docs: onRun and onBeforeAction hooks now require you to call this.next(), and no longer take a pause() argument. So the default behaviour is reversed.... AND ..... controller.setLayout() is now controller.layout(). Usually called as this.layout("fooTemplate") inside a route action. – DeyyyFF Jun 10 '15 at 15:35
Not to your particular question, but be careful of using this pattern without doing other checks for an existing user. On the client console if I were to type `Meteor.userId = function() { return true; }` and try again I've gotten in to this area. – Nate Mar 11 '16 at 19:06

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 29 '14 at 19:28

3

It looks like this has something to do with waiting on subscriptions in waitOn.

The following solves the layout rendering issues for me:

Router.onBeforeAction(function() {
    if (!Meteor.user() && this.ready())
        return this.redirect('/login');
}, {except: ['login']});

answered Aug 29 '14 at 19:28

Eelco

31
2

8

It should be noted that an `else { this.next() }` is needed. – Iggy van Lith Jan 03 '15 at 19:32

Kelly Copley · Answer 4 · 2014-05-03T16:49:33.543

0

You just need to return the the result of render() from your onBeforeAction()

onBeforeAction: function () {

  if (_.include(['login'], this.route.name)){
    return;
  }

  if (!Meteor.userId()) {

    return this.render('login');

  }
}

Also note I changed Meteor.user() to Meteor.userId(). This keeps the hook from being rerun every time the current users document chages.

edited May 03 '14 at 16:49

answered May 02 '14 at 15:47

Kelly Copley

2,736
16
25

Sorry, but this does not work. When omitting the call to `pause()`, as you suggest, the 'login' template is never rendered. When adding `pause()` to what you suggest, the result is the same as in **"Won't work #1"** above. – steph643 May 03 '14 at 13:25
I've added a check so that the hook doesn't run for the login route.. Other than that I don't know what might cause this.. I use this code in all of my projects and it works great. – Kelly Copley May 03 '14 at 16:50
Just to be sure, do you confirm the proposed code gets you the 'login' form to render without any layoutTemplate, even when called from a route that has one? – steph643 May 04 '14 at 06:33
I'm not sure if I follow, but generally I set a default layout template in my Router.configure(). – Kelly Copley May 04 '14 at 07:00
When you have a default layout, you probably don't care if the 'login' template is rendered inside this default layout. Instead, suppose you have 5 pages with layout1 and 5 other pages with layout2. When the user must login, you don't want the 'login' template to render inside layout1 or layout2. You want it to render on a clean page, with no template or a brand new template3. That is where the problem lies. – steph643 May 05 '14 at 09:50
Ok, I've spent the last few hours working this out the way you are using iron-router.. Finally Came up with a solution. I'll post a second answer with a proper way to achieve this. – Kelly Copley May 05 '14 at 15:44

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Aug 20 '14 at 14:08

0

On Meteor 0.8.3 for me works:

Router.onBeforeAction(function () { 
  if (_.include(['formLogin'], this.route.name)){
    return;
  }

  if (!Meteor.userId()) {
    this.redirect('formLogin');
    return;
  }

});

answered Aug 20 '14 at 14:08

pwldp

31
4

Redirecting not logged-in users with iron-router... Again

5 Answers5

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