ActsAsRole (aka Authenticated Routing)
==========

Requirements:
 Rails 2.x (I'm sure that earlier versions will work), RESTful Authentication

Have you ever wanted to not give delete access to a user but allow them to update.  Or dynamically build the access permssions to features?  

Authenticated Routing protects controller actions using the convention of routing resources. It offers fine grained control over controller class name and action within a Ruby on Rails applilcation.  The currrent plugin is Roles based with a permissions model.   Also, multiple roles given to one person.  Currently, the only way to create and associate permissions, roles and users is through the console.  One other nice feature is the ability to conditionally enable links in the view.  

Since this grew out of the needs of a production based product the setup is more envolved than I like. It's the first thing on thte chopping block.

Example
=======

has_access?(users_path)
 or 
has_access?(:controller => 'users', :action => 'index')



What is missing
=======
 GUI tools: Relate a user to a role, Relate a permissin to a role, Adding Permissions


INSTALLATION: (this is involved)
=======
  1. Install the plugin: script/plugin install git://github.com/wpdavenport/acts_as_role.git
  2. Add the following code to the top of the application controller:
     	include ActsAsRole
  3. Add the following code to the top of the application helper:
     	include ActsAsRole
  4. Create these tables:
		script/generate model access permission_id:integer role_id:integer
		script/generate model right user_id:integer role_id:integer
		script/generate model role name:string enabled:boolean 		# default => true
		script/generate model permission controller:string action:string
  5. Finally we need to add the relationships to the models:
		Access model
		 belongs_to :permission
		 belongs_to :role

		Rights model
		 belongs_to :user
		 belongs_to :role
		 validates_uniqueness_of :role_id, :scope => :user_id

		Role model
		 has_many :accesses, :dependent => :destroy
		 has_many :permissions, :through => :accesses
		 has_many :rights, :dependent => :destroy
		 has_many :users, :through => :rights

		User model
		 has_many :rights, :dependent => :destroy
		 has_many :roles, :through => :rights

		Permission model
		 has_many :accesses, :dependent => :destroy
		 has_many :roles, :through => :accesses
		 validates_uniqueness_of :action, :scope => :controller

Once the plugin is set up
=======
	- create a role
	   role = Role.create(:name => "Admin")
	- create a permission
	   permission = Permission.create(:controller => 'users', :action => 'index')
	- Relate a user to a role
	   user = User.find(1)
	   user.roles << role
	- Relate a permissin to a role
	   role.permissions << permission
			

TODO
=======
 • Find a way to simplify permission management
 • Add admin pages to manage roles and permisions



Copyright (c) 2008-2009 [Bill Davenport and Jon Morton], released under the MIT license