stored_location_for vs after_sign_in_path_for

[fearless_fool]

In Devise 1.2.1, I've seen plenty of documentation on how to use
after_sign_in_path_for, but not much about stored_location_for. After
looking over the sources, I think I want to use stored_location_for.
Here's how the devise code uses them:

def redirect_location(scope, resource) #:nodoc:
stored_location_for(scope) || after_sign_in_path_for(resource)
end

If our resource is named 'user', then I should do:

session[:user_return_to] = my_special_path

Then the next time the user logs in, he or she will be directed to
my_special_path after a successful login. After that, the session
variable will be deleted and subsequent logins will use
after_sign_in_path_for(user) instead.

Question 1: is this correct?

Question 1a: is there no API for setting the session variable?

Question 2: does this hold true if the user registers as well? That
is, after a successful registration, the user is automatically logged
in (right?), he or she will be directed to my_special_path, right?

Question 3: Did I overlook something, or is this a hole in the
documentation?

I'll go ahead and test this in my code, but would love some assurance
that I'm headed in the right direction!

[Walter Davis]

On Jun 1, 2011, at 1:30 PM, fearless_fool wrote:

> In Devise 1.2.1, I've seen plenty of documentation on how to use
> after_sign_in_path_for, but not much about stored_location_for. After
> looking over the sources, I think I want to use stored_location_for.
> Here's how the devise code uses them:
>
> def redirect_location(scope, resource) #:nodoc:
> stored_location_for(scope) || after_sign_in_path_for(resource)
> end
>
> If our resource is named 'user', then I should do:
>
> session[:user_return_to] = my_special_path
>
> Then the next time the user logs in, he or she will be directed to
> my_special_path after a successful login. After that, the session
> variable will be deleted and subsequent logins will use
> after_sign_in_path_for(user) instead.
>
> Question 1: is this correct?
>
> Question 1a: is there no API for setting the session variable?
>
> Question 2: does this hold true if the user registers as well? That
> is, after a successful registration, the user is automatically logged
> in (right?), he or she will be directed to my_special_path, right?

In my limited experience, this happens when the user is first signed
in -- when they fill in their password after confirmation, etc. The
next page they hit will be the result of this method. By default, it
will either be their last-visited private page, if they were forced
into the registration funnel by landing on a protected page, or the
site root.

I have used it in a couple of applications to request that a user add
additional details to their profile that I don't bother to capture the
first time around. Sort of a staggered registration, in other words.

No idea about your other questions, though.

Walter

[fearless_fool]

So I've added the following to my code:

session[:user_return_to] = my_special_path

... and it sends the user to my_special_path after logging in *and*
after registering -- that's exactly the behavior I was looking for.

So my "question 3" remains: am I overlooking some documentation
somewhere?

If the answer is no, then I'll create a Wiki "how to" entry.

[Carlos Antonio]

Hello, you're right, it's supposed to work exactly this way. the :user_return_to session key (based on your scope) is the value Devise stores internally inside FailureApp to redirect you back later, after sign in / up.

Here is where it happens: https://github.com/plataformatec/devise/blob/master/lib/devise/failure_app.rb#L140

About the docs, I think they could be expanded a bit more, so a wiki entry would help a lot =).

-- 

At.
Carlos A. da Silva