JSON view not working after implementing authorization in CakePHP - cakephp

Question

Since I implemented authorization in my cakephp project, it seens I can't access my views with JSON anymore. Do I have to set a specific setting anywhere to make this work again?
I was hoping adding autoComplete to the allowedActions and isAuthorized would do the trick
app\Controller\BrandsController.php (stripped from unnecessary code)
<?php
App::uses('Sanitize', 'Utility');
class BrandsController extends AppController {
public $helpers = array('Html', 'Form', 'Session');
public $components = array('Session', 'RequestHandler');
public function beforeFilter() {
parent::beforeFilter();
$this->Auth->allowedActions = array('autoComplete');
}
public function isAuthorized($user) {
if ($this->action === 'view' || $this->action === 'index' || $this->action === 'autoComplete') {
return true;
}
return parent::isAuthorized($user);
}
public function autoComplete($name = null)
{
if(!$name)
{
$name = #$this->params->query['name'];
}
$name = Sanitize::paranoid($name, array(' '));
if (!$name || empty($name))
{
new NotFoundException(__('Invalid searchquery'));
}
else
{
$objects = $this->Brand->find('list',
array(
'conditions' => array("Brand.name LIKE" => "%" . $name . "%")
)
);
$this->layout = 'ajax';
$this->RequestHandler->setContent('json', 'application/json' );
$this->set(compact('objects'));
$this->render('json/output_json');
}
}
}
?>
app\View\Brands\json\output_json.ctp
<?php
Configure::write('debug', 0);
echo json_encode($objects);
?>
Call
<?php
$brandsAutoCompleteUrl = Router::url(array('controller' => 'brands', 'action' => 'autoComplete'));
?>
<script type="text/javascript">
$(document).ready(function(){
$.getJSON('<?php echo $brandsAutoCompleteUrl; ?>', { name: 'test' }, function(data) {
// never called
});
});
</script>
In my Chrome debug window it sais
GET http://localhost/cakephp/brands/autoComplete?name=tes 500 (Internal Server Error)
When I call this url from my browser directly, I get the expected results

Answer 1

I fixed this problem by replacing
$this->RequestHandler->setContent('json', 'application/json' );
by
$this->response->type(array('json' => 'application/json'));

Answer 2

correct allowing is
$this->Auth->allow('view', 'index');
This can be done only in a controller that is owner of allowed actions -
Link to documentation
Also - in firefox firebug or in chrome you can view response for your 500 HTTP error that is usually an html code with an exact CakePHP error - investigate this first.
Why do you add components and helpers in this controller instead of AppController? This components are common for any controller - it is reasonable to put them to AppController.
And if you haven't noticed - all helpers and components of AppController are merged with helpers and components of child controllers. You can't switch off Auth component by replacing components in child controller.
Recommendation:
Avoid using of '#' for code like #$this->params->query['name'];. Use !empty($this->params->query['name']) in 'if' condition
If you don't know: empty($name) == !$name, also !$name can trigger error in variable $name is not initiated - http://www.php.net/manual/ru/types.comparisons.php (1st table)