README.md

Getting started

First, you have to create a new class where you will define all your rules. Let's start with this:

<?php
require_once "SimpleRoles.php";

class Ability extends SimpleRoles {
    
    function __construct($user) {
        parent::__construct();

        // You should define here your rules
    }

}

We place our rules inside the __construct function.

<?php
function __construct($user) {
    parent::__construct();

    // We put the current user roles in $user_roles.
    // Please note that you can use whatever method you
    // prefer for checking role membership.
    $user_roles = array();
    if($user != null)
        $user_roles = $user->getRoles();

    if(in_array('admin', $user_roles)) {
        $this->can('read_article');
        $this->can('update_article');
        $this->can('delete_article');
    }

    if(in_array('moderator', $user_roles)) {
        $this->can('read_article');
        $this->can('update_article');
    }

    if(in_array('guest', $user_roles)) {
        $this->cannot('all');
        $this->can('read_article');
    }
}

The code is self-explanatory. all is a special keyword which will match every rule. Now, we just have to add code to our main application. For example:

<?php
...
$a = new Ability($session_current_user);
...
if(isset($_POST['update'])) {
    $a->authorize('update_article');
    // ... We're authorized. Update the article.
} else if(isset($_POST['delete'])) {
    $a->authorize('delete_article');
    // ... We're authorized. Delete the article.
} else {
    $a->authorize('read_article');
    // ... We're authorized. Display the article.
}

$session_current_user is an instance of some User model, representing the current logged in user. In the Ability class, we called $user->getRoles() to get an array of enabled roles for the current user.

Now, if the user is not authorized to complete the action, an exception will be raised. You can override this behavior by adding a special function called unauthorized to your Ability class, for example:

<?php
protected function unauthorized($action) {
  echo "You are not authorized to view this page\n";
  // ... Redirect to home page
  exit;
}

If you just want to check if an user is authorized or not to do an action, without doing extra jobs, just call $a->is_authorized('your action').