# Cleanup at session expiration **URL:** \ **Category:** Rails\ **Created:** [August 22, 2006, 6:08pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/cleanup-at-session-expiration/65972 "2006-08-22T18:08:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wpwood](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wpwood](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/wpwood)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 6:08pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/cleanup-at-session-expiration/65972/1 "2006-08-22T18:08:45Z")
I’m going to explicitly time out sessions if they’re idle more than X minutes. Like online banking sites do. How do I set things up so that, when a session expires, a set of database records and a set of files that may have been created (which are identified via a seperate set of database records) are deleted just before the session data? TIA, Bill ---
**Author:** ![wpwood](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wpwood](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/wpwood)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 9:05pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/cleanup-at-session-expiration/65972/2 "2006-08-22T21:05:35Z")
> ----- Original Message ----- > “Bill W.” [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) writes: > I’m going to explicitly time out sessions if they’re idle more than X minutes. > Like online banking sites do. > > How do I set things up so that, when a session expires, a set of database > records and a set of files that may have been created (which are identified > via a seperate set of database records) are deleted just before the session data? Assuming you are using ‘reset\_session’ to clean up, why not over-ride the method in your Controller like def reset\_session do\_my\_clean\_up super end Long ---
**Author:** ![wpwood](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wpwood](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/wpwood)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 9:11pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/cleanup-at-session-expiration/65972/3 "2006-08-22T21:11:58Z")
Bill W. wrote: > I’m going to explicitly time out sessions if they’re idle more than X > minutes. Like online banking sites do. > > How do I set things up so that, when a session expires, a set of > database records and a set of files that may have been created (which > are identified via a seperate set of database records) are deleted just > before the session data? You don’t give any indication how you plan to call the session expiration routine, so I’m not sure whether my session\_cleanup routine is something you can use. But you might be able to get some ideas from it: [http://alevans.com/dl/session\_cleanup-0.3.0.tgz](http://alevans.com/dl/session_cleanup-0.3.0.tgz) –Al Evans ---
**Author:** ![wpwood](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wpwood](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/wpwood)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 10:51pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/cleanup-at-session-expiration/65972/4 "2006-08-22T22:51:52Z")
Hi Long, Long wrote: > Assuming you are using ‘reset\_session’ to clean up, > why not over-ride the method in your Controller like > > def reset\_session > do\_my\_clean\_up > super > end I am using reset\_session as the last action of the manual cleanup (which is what I need to automate). Is that what RoR uses? So if I just set an expiration time on the session, and have the over-ridden ‘reset\_session’ action in my Controller, RoR will call that action? It hadn’t occurred to me to just over-ride the method. That’s sooooo cool. Rails ROCKS! Thanks! Bill ---
**Author:** ![wpwood](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wpwood](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/wpwood)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 11:43pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/cleanup-at-session-expiration/65972/5 "2006-08-22T23:43:59Z")
Hi Long, Long wrote: > the method over-ride concept is really > fundamental to OO. I understand how over-ride works for methods I explicitly call. But that isn’t the case here. The use case starts with an abandoned session. I found documentation on how to set the expiration time, how to reset it so the session stays alive, etc. But I couldn’t find any documentation or examples on how the expiration process works (i.e., this call, then that, etc.) or of how to hook into it. Do I need to put the over-ridden definition in application.rb? Or will RoR somehow find it whichever Controller it’s in? Can you point me to any documentation on how this works? Does Rails keep a list somewhere of all the methods an application over-rides? Thanks, Bill ---
**Author:** ![wpwood](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wpwood](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/wpwood)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2006, 12:05am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/cleanup-at-session-expiration/65972/6 "2006-08-23T00:05:29Z")
Bill W. wrote: > The use case starts with an abandoned session. I > found documentation on how to set the expiration time, how to reset it > so > the session stays alive, etc. But I couldn’t find any documentation or > examples on how the expiration process works (i.e., this call, then > that, > etc.) or of how to hook into it. The general answer is that there isn’t any expiration process unless you make one. You have expired the session, so that it won’t be active next time somebody wanders into the internet cafe and goes to your site. But the session itself is still there, unless you remove it. When the next user comes along, your app doesn’t know anything at all about that expired session. If you just want to delete old sessions, you can use a cron job. If you need to clean up after them, though, you’ll need something like the script I mentioned above. Unless your user explicitly logs out (giving you to opportunity to do whatever you need to do, then reset\_session), your Rails app won’t ever see that old session again until you go looking for it. –Al Evans ---
**Author:** ![wpwood](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wpwood](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/wpwood)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 10:59pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/cleanup-at-session-expiration/65972/7 "2006-08-22T22:59:53Z")
> > super > > end > > I am using reset\_session as the last action of the manual cleanup (which is > what I need to automate). Is that what RoR uses? So if I just set an > expiration time on the session, and have the over-ridden ‘reset\_session’ > action in my Controller, RoR will call that action? It hadn’t occurred to > me to just over-ride the method. That’s sooooo cool. Rails ROCKS! Thanks! Hey Bill, Yes I think that will work. Rails ROCKS for sure but the method over-ride concept is really fundamental to OO. Cheers, Long ---
**Author:** ![wpwood](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wpwood](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/wpwood)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2006, 1:12am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/cleanup-at-session-expiration/65972/8 "2006-08-23T01:12:11Z")
> etc.) or of how to hook into it. Do I need to put the over-ridden > definition in application.rb? Or will RoR somehow find it whichever > Controller it’s in? Can you point me to any documentation on how this > works? Does Rails keep a list somewhere of all the methods an application > over-rides? I will just put my 2cents in with Al’s post. Without over-riding ‘reset\_session’, one can call it from any controller that is a subclass of ApplicationController (AC). If ALL subclasses of AC requires the manual clean up then the answer is “Yes, over-ride in AC”. In a previous technology I was accustomed to relying on a “Session Manager” that runs in a background process and zaps all expired sessions automatically. It seems we need to manage sessions differently in RoR. Once a session is idle for an extended period (either abandoned or due to a long coffee break), the only way (well in most cases) it gets more activity is through access from the originating browser. So it makes sense to me to invalidate the session when the client tries to reconnect and force him/her to a new session, if the current session is deem expired. For the “truly” abandoned sessions a cron job will have to do. Long