I'm using the restful_authentication plugin/generator to user access control in an app I'm working on. I added on to the user model for things like male/female. I have two methods on the user model male? and female?. I have two fields in a model that has a one-to-many relationship with the User model that are only needed if the current_user.female? is true. However I'm not sure how I would call the method from a model that is not the User model. Can anyone offer some advice?
Thanks,
Tim K.
try current_user.male? and current_user.female?
check out lib/authenticated_system.rb in your project. this will give
you some insight on how to work with logged in users.
good luck. mike
sorry, I misread your question...
No problem Michael, yeah - I've tried that... The only way I can think of doing it is assigning an instance variable that I can check from the model. But that just doesn't seem right. Anyone else have any thoughts?
Sorta Ryan... more like
validates_presence_of :ovaries, :if => :female?
However ovaries is in one model and :female? is a method on the user model.
Do you have a relationship (belongs_to, has_many) set up on these
other models with your User model?
Could you pass a value into a method on these other classes and then
use a dynamic finder on User?
OtherClass
def my_method name u = User.find_by_username name end
It's tough to figure it out without knowing how these other models are
set up.
Michael, there is definitely a relationship. Here let me give you some better details. I'm calculating lean body mass which is different for both men and women. I have the User model that restful_authentication generates with a few added fields one of which is User.sex, and a has_many :measurements relationship. I then have two methods in the generated User model as such:
def male? self.sex == "male" end
def female? self.sex == "female" end
I have a Measurements model which has a relationship with the user using belongs_to :user. I have two fields that are I want to validate the presence of only in the case were current_user.female? is true.
Hope that clears it up a little more.
Tim
validates_presence_of :wrist_inches, :if => :female?
Results in:
undefined method `female?' for #<Measurement:0x1123378>
Remember female? is a method of a different model. I think the issue here is really how do I call the current_user object that restful_auth sets as a local variable from other models. Because logic tells me I could create a method on the the Measurements model that does:
def current_user_is_female User.find_by_id(current_user.id).female? end
and then doing:
validates_presence_of :wrist_inches, :if => :current_user_is_female
But doing that of course leaves me with a "undefined local variable or method `current_user' for #<Measurement:0x1736bac>"
Tim
Awesome Ryan - that was exactly it!
I needed to make a another definition for female? -- Perfect! 
You rock man!
Tim