Test if an external url is valid before redirecting to it?

Rails
1

In our site, users can have a url associated with their account to which
they are redirected when their login expires. This can differ from user
to user, and is prone to being mis-copied, or the sites in question not
being there any more etc. I’d like to test if the url is valid before
sending the user on to it.

So, i want, in the controller, to do something like this -

if external_url_is_valid?(user.expiry_url)
redirect_to user.expiry_url
else
redirect_to “our_default_expiry_page”
end

Can anyone tell me a nice, simple and efficient way of doing the
“external_url_is_valid?” bit?

2

On Tue, Feb 10, 2009 at 6:56 PM, Max W. <
[email protected]> wrote:

redirect_to user.expiry_url

require ‘net/http’
require ‘uri’

def external_url_is_valid?(url)
uri = URI.parse(url)
response = Net::HTTP.start(uri.host, uri.port) {|http|
http.head(uri.path)}
response.is_a?(Net::HTTPSuccess) ||
response.is_a?(Net::HTTPRedirection)
end

Watch the validity of the url - www.google.com is not valid
http://www.google.com also won’t work, http://www.google.com/ will

I wouldn’t do this at the point of redirection, I would do it at the
point
of saving the redirection url

Andrew T.
http://ramblingsonrails.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewtimberlake

“I have never let my schooling interfere with my education” - Mark Twain

3

That’s perfect, thanks Andrew.

You’re probably right about testing the validity at the point of adding
it rather than (or as well as) the redirect. I think i’ll put a remote
test button next to the input field, and maybe call it automatically on
change of the field.

Anyway, thanks again.
max