bacbkone router redirect if not authenticated - backbone.js

Question

I am trying to implement a simple app that needs a login and user authentication. As I am new to backbone and marionette, I have been trying to follow the example for this tutorial: https://github.com/davidsulc/marionette-gentle-introduction
Generally I have set up a new app:
var App = new Marionette.Application({});
App.addRegions({
headerRegion : "#nav-region",
mainRegion : "#main-region"
});
App.navigate = function(route, options){
options || (options = {});
Backbone.history.navigate(route, options);
};
App.getCurrentRoute = function(){
return Backbone.history.fragment
};
App.on("start", function(){
if(Backbone.history){
Backbone.history.start();
}
});
And routers are defined in modules, e.g.:
App.module("ContentManagementApp", function(ContentManagementApp, App, Backbone, Marionette, $, _){
ContentManagementApp.Router = Marionette.AppRouter.extend({
appRoutes : {
"contentmanagement/:dsid(/:dspageclassid)": "showContentMananagement",
}
});
var API = {
showContentMananagement : function(dsid, dspageclassid){
// If not set, set to frontpage
ContentManagementApp.Show.Controller.showDSPage(dsid, dspageclassid);
App.execute("set:active:header", "contentmanagement");
},
};
App.on("contentmanagement:show", function(dsid, dspageclassid){
App.navigate("contentmanagement/" + dsid + "/" + dspageclassid);
API.showContentMananagement(dsid, dspageclassid);
});
App.addInitializer(function(){
new ContentManagementApp.Router({
controller : API
});
});
});
I would like to test if the user is logged and redirect to the login page when the app starts, but it seems like App.addInitializer is called before. Does it mean I have to do the check in each module, or can I get by it somehow?

Answer 1

How do you determine if the user is logged or not?
If it's a call to an API that could fail (due to the user being unauthenticated), it will probably return an HTTP error code 403. I usually do this using a global jQuery ajax.error() handler, I check if it's a 403 (Forbidden) for any of my normal API calls (model fetching and so on) and if it is, I redirect to a login url.
Otherwise, if you want to check for a cookie or similar, you should do it before calling Backbone.history.start(). Only start the app if the user is logged. :)

Answer 2

I just set this up in my app - in your backend when the user is logged in create a cookie/destroy it when they sign-out. Then I use the jquery-cookie-rails gem to access the cookie as $.cookie('cookie_name') and if it isn't there I route them to the signin path.
I would note - I also check to see if the user is signed on the backend when hitting different controller actions and route them appropriately. I just like the extra protection :).