angular controller function once $q.defer() is complete - angularjs

Question

I am new to angular and probably doing this completely wrong. On the /sites controller page, I want to access verifyAuth.getUserSiteAccess() to return a list of sites and build html links for the view.
I am using a google auth module, if the user logs in the userSites var is empty so I ping google, then call /api/index.php/login to return a list of user sites, then in this case finish with $q.defer().resolve(true);. Problem is the site controller function is trying to access userSites before it is defined. Is there a way to call $scope.test() after $q.defer().resolve is finished? or is there a better way to do this?
If I run setTimeout($scope.test, 500) it works fine.
Route -> Verify user access token, load userSites if undefined -> verify section access -> complete defer.
Site controller
'use strict';
angular.module('mps.sites', ['ngRoute'])
.controller('sites', ['verifyAuth', '$rootScope', '$scope', '$q', function(verifyAuth, $rootScope, $scope, $q) {
$scope.test = function() {
var test = verifyAuth.getUserSiteAccess();
console.log('test', test, '/test');
};
$scope.test();
}]);
** App.js routing and auth ** - not entire file...
'use strict';
angular.module('mps', [
'ngRoute',
'angularOauth',
'googleOauth',
'mps.global',
'mps.home',
'mps.sites',
'mps.site'
]).
config(['$routeProvider', function($routeProvider) {
$routeProvider.when('/', {
templateUrl: 'views/home/index.html',
controller: 'home',
resolve: {
auth: function(verifyAuth) {
verifyAuth.verifyUserAccess(true);
}
}
});
$routeProvider.when('/sites', {
templateUrl: 'views/sites/index.html',
controller: 'sites',
resolve: {
auth: function(verifyAuth) {
console.log('sites route selected');
verifyAuth.verifyUserAccess(false);
}
}
});
...
.factory('verifyAuth', ['$rootScope', '$window', '$q', '$location', '$timeout', '$http', 'Token',
function($rootScope, $window, $q, $location, $timeout, $http, Token) {
var userSites = null;
return {
deferLocation: function(isToken, index) {
var deferred = $q.defer();
var _location = $location;
if(isToken) {
switch(index) {
case true:
// Homepage/site toggling.
deferred.reject();
_location.path('/sites');
_location.replace();
break;
default:
// All pages.
deferred.resolve(true);
break;
}
} else {
// No token, redirect to login screen.
this.userError();
}
},
verifySectionAccess: function(userSites, siteName, index) {
if(siteName) {
// Subpage, verify section.
for(var i in userSites.sites) {
if(userSites.sites[i].sitename === siteName) {
this.deferLocation(true, index);
return false;
}
}
} else {
// Sites page.
this.deferLocation(true, index);
return false;
}
// No access to section.
this.userError();
return false;
},
// Check user permission are set.
verifyUserAccess: function (index, siteName) {
var token = Token.get();
var _this = this;
if(token) {
if(userSites) {
// Verify user section access.
_this.verifySectionAccess(userSites, siteName, index);
} else {
// Use google token to get user email and load site permissions.
Token.verifyAsync(token).
then(function(data) {
$http({method: 'GET', async: false, url: '/api/index.php/login/' + data.email}).success(function(d) {
userSites = d;
// Verify user access to specific section.
_this.verifySectionAccess(userSites, siteName, index);
});
}, function(error) {
_this.userError();
return false;
}
);
}
} else {
this.deferLocation(false, index);
}
},
getUserSiteAccess: function() {
console.log(userSites);
return userSites;
}

Answer 1

You have a number of issues here, all seem to be stemming from a misunderstanding of how promises work:
1) Functions that make async operations and are .then-able need to return a promise.
In your case, your deferLocation creates a promise (although doesn't return it), but it does not even do anything async.
On the other hand, the only function that does do something async (verifyUserAccess) doesn't have promises at all.
2) If you want a resolve parameter to be resolved with async value (as it seems to be with auth), then the function needs to return a promise. Then $route will wait until the promise is resolved. In your case, you don't return anything.
I suggest you read more about promises. Build something small with mock $timeout calls and ask specific questions if you run into problems.
Here's a high-level idea of how to build this:
app.factory("verifyAuth", function($q, Token, AuthSvc, SitesSvc) {
return {
verifyUserAccess: function(site){
var deferred = $q.defer();
var token = Token.token;
if (!token){
deferred.reject("no-token");
} else {
AuthSvc.verifyToken(token)
.then(function(result){
if (result.isValid){
// returns a promise to get a list of userSites
return SitesSvc.getSites(result.user);
} else {
return deferred.reject("token-not-valid");
}
})
.then(function(userSites){
if (checkAccessPermissions(site, userSites)){
deferred.resolve(true);
} else {
deferred.resolve(false);
}
})
.catch(function(error){
// some other error
deferred.reject(error);
});
}
return deferred.promise;
}
};
});

Answer 2

Router calls return verifyUser.buildUserData in the resolve, this checks if there is a token, if not logs the user out. Then checks if there is a site list global variable, if not pings the token to google to get the user email and the user email to the database to get the site list, from there loop through the list and check auth if a site name is passed into buildUserData.
The below example will handle all the auth before the view is rendered. Thanks New Dev for pointing me in the right direction.
Router:
...
config(['$routeProvider', function($routeProvider) {
$routeProvider.when('/', {
templateUrl: 'views/home/index.html',
controller: 'home',
resolve: {
auth: function(verifyUser) {
return verifyUser.homepageRedirect();
}
}
});
$routeProvider.when('/sites', {
templateUrl: 'views/sites/index.html',
controller: 'sites',
resolve: {
auth: function(verifyUser) {
return verifyUser.buildUserData();
}
}
});
$routeProvider.when('/sites/:site/scheduling', {
templateUrl: 'views/sites/scheduling/index.html',
controller: 'site',
resolve: {
auth: function(verifyUser, $route) {
return verifyUser.buildUserData($route.current.params.site);
}
}
});
...
Factories
.factory('getUserEmail', ['$rootScope', '$window', '$q', '$location', '$timeout', '$http', 'Token', function($rootScope, $window, $q, $location, $timeout, $http, Token) {
return {
// Get user email address based on token.
getEmail: function() {
var deferred = $q.defer();
var token = Token.get();
$http({method: 'GET', async: false, url: 'https://www.googleapis.com/oauth2/v1/tokeninfo', params: {access_token: token }}).
success(function(data) {
$rootScope.username = data.email;
deferred.resolve(data);
return data;
}).error(function(data) {
deferred.reject(data);
});
return deferred.promise;
}
}
}])
.factory('getUserSites', ['$rootScope', '$window', '$q', '$location', '$timeout', '$http', 'Token', function($rootScope, $window, $q, $location, $timeout, $http, Token) {
return {
// Get user site access.
getSites: function() {
var deferred = $q.defer();
console.log('site list is undefined.');
$http({method: 'GET', async: false, url: '/api/index.php/login/' + $rootScope.username}).
success(function(data) {
$rootScope.sites = data.sites;
deferred.resolve(data);
}).error(function(data) {
deferred.reject(data);
});
return deferred.promise;
}
}
}])
.factory('verifyUser', ['$rootScope', '$window', '$q', '$location', '$timeout', '$http', 'Token', 'getUserEmail', 'getUserSites', function($rootScope, $window, $q, $location, $timeout, $http, Token, getUserEmail, getUserSites) {
return {
siteError: function() {
localStorage.removeItem('accessToken');
$location.path('/');
},
// Redirect user to /sites if logged in.
homepageRedirect: function() {
var deferred = $q.defer();
var token = Token.get();
if(!token) {
deferred.resolve(true);
} else {
deferred.reject(true);
$location.path('/sites');
}
return deferred.promise;
},
// Verify user token exists and they have access to the section.
buildUserData: function(site) {
console.log('site',site,'/site');
var deferred = $q.defer();
var token = Token.get();
var _this = this;
if(!token) {
deferred.reject('no token');
localStorage.removeItem('accessToken');
$location.path('/');
} else {
if($rootScope.sites) {
console.log('site list present, check access.');
if(site) {
var data = $rootScope.sites;
console.log(data, site);
for(var i in data) {
console.log(data[i].sitename);
if(data[i].sitename === site) {
console.log('user has access, render view.');
deferred.resolve(true);
return false;
}
}
console.log('No site access, logout.');
deferred.reject('No access to site.');
_this.siteError();
} else {
console.log('No access needed, landing page.');
deferred.resolve(true);
}
} else {
console.log('no site list, get user email from google and query db with user.');
getUserEmail.getEmail().then(function(data) {
return getUserSites.getSites();
}).then(function(data) {
if(site) {
console.log('sub page');
for(var i in data.sites) {
console.log(data.site[i]);
if(data.sites[i].sitename === site) {
console.log('user has access, render view.');
deferred.resolve(true);
return false;
}
}
console.log('No site access, logout.');
deferred.reject('No access to site.');
_this.siteError();
} else {
deferred.resolve(true);
}
}).catch(function(data) {
deferred.reject(true);
_this.siteError();
});
}
}
return deferred.promise;
}
}
}]);