Redirect to previous page in zend framework

Question

I want to add a redirection URL to my login forms action (as a query) in login page, so after loging-in, one can visit the previous page he or she was surfing.

First I thought about using Zend Session and save the url of each page in a variable. but I read in the documentation that it has overhead. So, is there a better way to do so? or is there an other way to use zend session with no overhead?

Answer 1

I have a predispatch hook in plugin for authorization. In it if (and only if) user needs to be logged I save the request URI to session and after logging in I redirect there. There is no overhead except when redirecting to login form. But that's a case where overhead is no problem. :)

if(!$auth->hasIdentity()){
  $this->_insertLastUrlToSession();
  $this->redirect('/index/login');
} else {
  //no overhead
}

Answer 2

I see this already has an answer, but i'd like to throw mine in too, just as a different way to skin the cat sort of deal, using static methods.

class App_Helpers_LastVisited {
    /**
     * Example use:
     * App_Helpers_LastVisited::saveThis($this->_request->getRequestUri());
     */
    public static function saveThis($url) {
        $lastPg = new Zend_Session_Namespace('history');
        $lastPg->last = $url;
        //echo $lastPg->last;// results in /controller/action/param/foo
    }

    /**
     * I typically use redirect:
     * $this->_redirect(App_Helpers_LastVisited::getLastVisited());
     */
    public static function getLastVisited() {
        $lastPg = new Zend_Session_Namespace('history');
        if(!empty($lastPg->last)) {
            $path = $lastPg->last;
            $lastPg->unsetAll();
            return $path;
        }

        return ''; // Go back to index/index by default;
     }
}

This doesn't run all the time, only on a need to basis.

That's the whole code, part of my blog post here (http://hewmc.blogspot.com/2010/08/simple-way-to-store-last-visited-url-in.html)

Answer 3

You can try using HTTP_REFERRER header like this:

// str_replace is the easiest way to get rid of domain - u can also preg_replace it   
return str_replace("http://".Zend_Controller_Front::getInstance()->getRequest()->getServer("HTTP_HOST"),"",Zend_Controller_Front::getInstance()->getRequest()->getServer("HTTP_REFERER"));  

Answer 4

This Zend framework plugin allows you to save current and last qualified url and filter out unwanted urls. feel free to use and comment:

<?php

class Plugins_PageLog extends Zend_Controller_Plugin_Abstract
{
    public function preDispatch(Zend_Controller_Request_Abstract $request){
        $module = $request->getModuleName();
        $controller = $request->getControllerName();
        $action = $request->getActionName();
        $params=$request->getParams();

        // to grap urls that are in default module, not in auth controller, and not an error url 
        $controller2= Zend_Controller_Front::getInstance();
        if ($controller2->getDispatcher()->isDispatchable($request) 
            && ( $module == 'default' || $module == NULL )
            && $controller != 'auth'
            && ( !isset($params['error_handler']))
        ) {

            // init 2 session variables: the current and last qualified url
            if (!isset($_SESSION['redirect'])) $_SESSION['redirect'] = '';
            if (!isset($_SESSION['last_visited_url'])) $_SESSION['last_visited_url'] = '';

            // tempurl is to save current qualified url temporarily to ensure current and last qualified url will not be same
            if (!isset($tempUrl)) $tempUrl = '';
            if ($_SESSION['last_visited_url'] != $_SESSION['redirect']) {
                $tempUrl = $_SESSION['redirect'];
                $tempParams = $_SESSION['redirect_params'];
            }

            // save current qualified url
            $_SESSION['redirect']=$request->getRequestUri();
            $_SESSION['redirect_params'] = $params;

            // to ensure there are no duplicated urls due to browser refresh 
            if ($tempUrl != $_SESSION['redirect']){
                $_SESSION['last_visited_url'] = $tempUrl;
                $_SESSION['last_visited_url_params'] = $tempParams;
            }
        }

        //echo '<pre>';var_dump($_SESSION['last_visited_url']);echo '</pre>';
        //echo '<pre>';var_dump($_SESSION['redirect']);echo '</pre>';
    }
}

Answer 5

Basically the same thing that Jesta is doing in his answer, but I added the following functions to my "MW_Form" class - which is a superclass of all my forms - easy enough to $form->trackReferrer($this->getRequest()); from the controller with any form. The getReferrer() function takes a "default" argument (which if the user has REFERER headers disabled, or there is no referrer - your going to want a default place to redirect back to)

  /**
   * Adds a form element named "referrer" and sets its default value to either
   * the 'referrer' param from the request, or the HTTP_REFERER header.
   *
   * @param Zend_Controller_Request_Abstract $request 
   * @return MW_Form
   * @author Corey Frang
   */
  public function trackReferrer(Zend_Controller_Request_Abstract $request)
  {
    $this->addElement('hidden', 'referrer');
    $this->setDefault('referrer', 
      $request->getParam('referrer', 
        $request->getServer('HTTP_REFERER')));
        // HTTP_REFERER not HTTP_REFERRER - grrr HTTP spec misspellings

    // use no decorator for the actual form element
    $this->referrer->setDecorators(array()); 

    // use our custom "referrer" decorator to stick the hidden before the <dl>
    $decorators = $this->getDecorators();
    $this->clearDecorators();
    foreach ($decorators as $class=>$decorator)
    {
      if (substr($class,-5) == '_Form') {
        $this->addDecorator('Referrer');
        $added = true;
      }
      $this->addDecorator($decorator);
    }
    if (!$added) $this->addDecorator('Referrer');

    return $this;
  }

  /**
   * Returns the referrer field if it exists.
   *
   * @return string | false
   * @param mixed $default The value to return if referrer isn't set
   * @author Corey Frang
   **/
  public function getReferrer($default = false)
  {
    if (!isset($this->referrer)) return $default;
    $val = $this->referrer->getValue();
    if ($val) return $val;
    return $default;
  }

The Decorator Used - gives you the added benifit of not using up any rows in the <dl> created by zend_form:

class MW_Form_Decorator_Referrer extends Zend_Form_Decorator_Abstract  {
  /**
   * Attaches the standard "ViewHelper" decorator for the 'referrer' element
   * prepended on the content
   *
   * @return void
   * @author Corey Frang
   **/
  public function render($content)
  {
    $form = $this->getElement();
    if ($form instanceOf MW_Form)
    {
      $referrer = $form->referrer;
      if ($referrer)
      {
        $decorator = new Zend_Form_Decorator_ViewHelper(array('placement'=>self::PREPEND));
        $decorator->setElement($referrer);
        return $decorator->render($content);
      }
    }
    return "Error - No Referrer Found".$content;
  }
}

Example Usage (from a controller):

$form = $description->getEditForm();
$form->trackReferrer($this->_request);
if ($this->_request->isPost())
{
  if ($form->process($this->_request->getPost()))
  {
    return $this->_redirect($form->getReferrer('/page'));
  }
}