Trigger a HTTP error in Rails

Question

I'm trying to call a custom instance of a 403 HTTP error in Rails but I can't seem to figure out how to do this...

I have several user authentication roles and basically if a role tries to browse to an area that it is not authorised to visit I want to display a 403 instead of just redirecting the user.

How do I do this?

Delft

I think the accepted answer should be changed -- this one is a better solution, since it's the correct error code as well as a better presentation to the end user: #9130691 – Decode

Answer 1

In your controller code add the following line:

render :status => :forbidden, :text => "Forbidden fruit"

Refer to this page for http code to symbol mapping.

Ruby

Fantastic! Thanks heaps... FYI you're missing a comma after :forbidden – Delft

Thanks I have updated the answer and added a reference to http code to ruby symbol list. – Ruby

The old url to the code mapping is gone. I updated it to point to apidock instead. apidock.com/rails/ActionController/Base/… – Psychogenesis

The :text will need to become :plain in newer versions of Rails. – Goddamned

Answer 2

Just for posterity: I think return 403.html is a nicer solution, because it generates a standard page, just like the 404. The above solution only displays the text given. And because someone in good practice can only go to a forbidden page by typing or clicking a link outside the web app, a standard error page is the way to go.

Aestival