lutece-rbac

name	lutece-rbac
description	Rules and patterns for implementing RBAC (Role-Based Access Control) in a Lutece 8 plugin. Entity permissions, ResourceIdService, plugin.xml declaration, JspBean authorization checks.

Lutece 8 RBAC Implementation

Before implementing RBAC, consult ~/.lutece-references/lutece-form-plugin-forms/ — specifically FormsResourceIdService.java, AbstractJspBean.java, and FormJspBean.java.

Architecture Overview

Entity (implements RBACResource)
    ↓ getResourceTypeCode() / getResourceId()
ResourceIdService (registers type + permissions)
    ↓ register() → ResourceTypeManager
plugin.xml (declares <rbac-resource-type-class>)
    ↓
RBACService.isAuthorized(type, id, permission, user)
    ↓ checks user roles against RBAC table
JspBean (enforces authorization)

Step 1 — Entity Implements RBACResource

import fr.paris.lutece.portal.service.rbac.RBACResource;

public class Entity implements RBACResource
{
    public static final String RESOURCE_TYPE = "MYPLUGIN_ENTITY";

    private int _nId;

    @Override
    public String getResourceTypeCode( )
    {
        return RESOURCE_TYPE;
    }

    @Override
    public String getResourceId( )
    {
        return String.valueOf( _nId );
    }
}

Rules:

• RESOURCE_TYPE is a unique constant — use PLUGINNAME_ENTITYNAME in uppercase
• getResourceId() returns the ID as a String
• The entity class must also have its normal fields, getters/setters

Step 2 — ResourceIdService

import fr.paris.lutece.portal.service.rbac.Permission;
import fr.paris.lutece.portal.service.rbac.ResourceIdService;
import fr.paris.lutece.portal.service.rbac.ResourceType;
import fr.paris.lutece.portal.service.rbac.ResourceTypeManager;

public class EntityResourceIdService extends ResourceIdService
{
    public static final String PERMISSION_CREATE = "CREATE";
    public static final String PERMISSION_MODIFY = "MODIFY";
    public static final String PERMISSION_DELETE = "DELETE";
    public static final String PERMISSION_VIEW = "VIEW";

    private static final String PROPERTY_LABEL_RESOURCE_TYPE = "myplugin.permission.resourceType.entity.label";
    private static final String PROPERTY_LABEL_CREATE = "myplugin.permission.resourceType.entity.create";
    private static final String PROPERTY_LABEL_MODIFY = "myplugin.permission.resourceType.entity.modify";
    private static final String PROPERTY_LABEL_DELETE = "myplugin.permission.resourceType.entity.delete";
    private static final String PROPERTY_LABEL_VIEW = "myplugin.permission.resourceType.entity.view";

    public EntityResourceIdService( )
    {
        setPluginName( "myplugin" );
    }

    @Override
    public void register( )
    {
        ResourceType rt = new ResourceType( );
        rt.setResourceIdServiceClass( EntityResourceIdService.class.getName( ) );
        rt.setPluginName( getPluginName( ) );
        rt.setResourceTypeKey( Entity.RESOURCE_TYPE );
        rt.setResourceTypeLabelKey( PROPERTY_LABEL_RESOURCE_TYPE );

        Permission permission;

        permission = new Permission( );
        permission.setPermissionKey( PERMISSION_CREATE );
        permission.setPermissionTitleKey( PROPERTY_LABEL_CREATE );
        rt.registerPermission( permission );

        permission = new Permission( );
        permission.setPermissionKey( PERMISSION_MODIFY );
        permission.setPermissionTitleKey( PROPERTY_LABEL_MODIFY );
        rt.registerPermission( permission );

        permission = new Permission( );
        permission.setPermissionKey( PERMISSION_DELETE );
        permission.setPermissionTitleKey( PROPERTY_LABEL_DELETE );
        rt.registerPermission( permission );

        permission = new Permission( );
        permission.setPermissionKey( PERMISSION_VIEW );
        permission.setPermissionTitleKey( PROPERTY_LABEL_VIEW );
        rt.registerPermission( permission );

        ResourceTypeManager.registerResourceType( rt );
    }

    @Override
    public ReferenceList getResourceIdList( Locale locale )
    {
        return EntityHome.findReferenceList( );
    }

    @Override
    public String getTitle( String strId, Locale locale )
    {
        Entity entity = EntityHome.findByPrimaryKey( Integer.parseInt( strId ) );
        return ( entity != null ) ? entity.getTitle( ) : "";
    }
}

Rules:

• One ResourceIdService per RBAC-protected entity
• Permission constants are public static final — reused in JspBean
• PROPERTY_LABEL_* keys use the full prefix (plugin name included) because they are Java constants used with I18nService
• register() creates the ResourceType, registers all permissions, and calls ResourceTypeManager.registerResourceType()
• getResourceIdList() returns all resources for the admin RBAC configuration UI
• getTitle() returns a human-readable name for a specific resource

Step 3 — plugin.xml Declaration

<rbac-resource-types>
    <rbac-resource-type>
        <rbac-resource-type-class>
            fr.paris.lutece.plugins.myplugin.service.EntityResourceIdService
        </rbac-resource-type-class>
    </rbac-resource-type>
</rbac-resource-types>

Add inside <plug-in>, after <admin-features>. One <rbac-resource-type> per ResourceIdService.

Step 4 — i18n (messages.properties)

# RBAC resource type label
permission.resourceType.entity.label=MyPlugin - Entities

# Permission labels
permission.resourceType.entity.create=Create an entity
permission.resourceType.entity.modify=Modify an entity
permission.resourceType.entity.delete=Remove an entity
permission.resourceType.entity.view=View an entity

No prefix in the properties file (prefix is added in Java/templates only).

Step 5 — JspBean Authorization Checks

Check on wildcard (all resources of a type)

// Before allowing access to a CREATE form
User user = getUser( );

if ( !RBACService.isAuthorized( Entity.RESOURCE_TYPE, RBAC.WILDCARD_RESOURCES_ID,
        EntityResourceIdService.PERMISSION_CREATE, user ) )
{
    throw new AccessDeniedException( "Unauthorized" );
}

Check on a specific resource

// Before allowing MODIFY or DELETE on a specific entity
String strId = request.getParameter( PARAMETER_ID );
Entity entity = EntityHome.findByPrimaryKey( Integer.parseInt( strId ) );

if ( entity == null || !RBACService.isAuthorized( Entity.RESOURCE_TYPE,
        String.valueOf( entity.getId( ) ), EntityResourceIdService.PERMISSION_MODIFY, user ) )
{
    throw new AccessDeniedException( "Unauthorized" );
}

Pass permissions to template (for conditional display)

// In the manage view — pass permission flags to template (uses @Inject Models _models)
_models.put( "canCreate", RBACService.isAuthorized( Entity.RESOURCE_TYPE,
    RBAC.WILDCARD_RESOURCES_ID, EntityResourceIdService.PERMISSION_CREATE, getUser( ) ) );
_models.put( "canDelete", RBACService.isAuthorized( Entity.RESOURCE_TYPE,
    RBAC.WILDCARD_RESOURCES_ID, EntityResourceIdService.PERMISSION_DELETE, getUser( ) ) );

Template conditional display

<#if canCreate>
    <@aButton href='jsp/admin/plugins/myplugin/ManageEntities.jsp?view=createEntity' buttonIcon='plus' title='#i18n{myplugin.manage_entities.buttonAdd}' color='primary' />
</#if>

<#if canDelete>
    <@aButton href='jsp/admin/plugins/myplugin/ManageEntities.jsp?action=confirmRemoveEntity&id=${entity.id}' buttonIcon='trash' color='danger' title='#i18n{portal.util.labelDelete}' />
</#if>

Filter collections by permission

// Filter a list to only authorized resources
Collection<Entity> authorizedEntities = RBACService.getAuthorizedCollection(
    EntityHome.findAll( ),
    EntityResourceIdService.PERMISSION_VIEW,
    getUser( )
);

Filter actions per entity (forms pattern)

// Each entity gets only the actions the user is authorized to perform
for ( Entity entity : paginator.getPageItems( ) )
{
    List<EntityAction> listAuthorizedActions =
        (List<EntityAction>) RBACService.getAuthorizedActionsCollection(
            listAllActions, entity, (User) getUser( ) );
    entity.setActions( listAuthorizedActions );
}

Requires EntityAction to implement RBACAction (return permission key via getPermission()).

Advanced — Helper Method (forms pattern)

The forms plugin combines CSRF token validation + RBAC check in a single reusable method:

protected void checkUserPermission( String strResourceType, String strResourceId,
        String strPermission, HttpServletRequest request, String strCsrfAction )
    throws AccessDeniedException
{
    // CSRF validation (if action requires it)
    if ( strCsrfAction != null && !_securityTokenService.validate( request, strCsrfAction ) )
    {
        throw new AccessDeniedException( "Invalid security token" );
    }

    // RBAC check
    if ( !RBACService.isAuthorized( strResourceType, strResourceId, strPermission,
            (User) AdminUserService.getAdminUser( request ) ) )
    {
        throw new AccessDeniedException( "Unauthorized" );
    }
}

Usage:

@View( VIEW_CREATE_ENTITY )
public String getCreateEntity( HttpServletRequest request ) throws AccessDeniedException
{
    checkUserPermission( Entity.RESOURCE_TYPE, RBAC.WILDCARD_RESOURCES_ID,
        EntityResourceIdService.PERMISSION_CREATE, request, null );
    // ...
}

@Action( ACTION_CREATE_ENTITY )
public String doCreateEntity( HttpServletRequest request ) throws AccessDeniedException
{
    checkUserPermission( Entity.RESOURCE_TYPE, RBAC.WILDCARD_RESOURCES_ID,
        EntityResourceIdService.PERMISSION_CREATE, request, ACTION_CREATE_ENTITY );
    // ...
}

• Pass null for CSRF on @View methods (GET, no state change)
• Pass the action name for @Action methods (POST, state change)

Advanced — Workgroup Authorization (forms pattern)

Workgroups are an additional authorization layer on top of RBAC. An entity can belong to an admin workgroup, and only users in that workgroup can see it.

import fr.paris.lutece.portal.service.workgroup.AdminWorkgroupService;

// Filter list by workgroup membership
List<Entity> listEntities = EntityHome.findAll( );
listEntities = (List<Entity>) AdminWorkgroupService.getAuthorizedCollection(
    listEntities, (User) getUser( ) );

// Check single entity workgroup authorization
if ( !AdminWorkgroupService.isAuthorized( entity, (User) getUser( ) ) )
{
    throw new AccessDeniedException( "Unauthorized" );
}

Requires the entity to implement AdminWorkgroupResource:

public interface AdminWorkgroupResource
{
    String getWorkgroup( );
}

When to use: When entities need to be partitioned by admin workgroup (e.g., different departments manage different forms).

Wildcard Constants

Constant	Meaning	Usage
RBAC.WILDCARD_RESOURCES_ID ("*")	All resources of a type	isAuthorized(type, RBAC.WILDCARD_RESOURCES_ID, perm, user)
RBAC.WILDCARD_PERMISSIONS_KEY ("*")	All permissions	Granted when configuring a role in admin

Common Permissions

Permission	Constant	When to check
CREATE	PERMISSION_CREATE	Before showing create form / processing create action
MODIFY	PERMISSION_MODIFY	Before showing modify form / processing modify action
DELETE	PERMISSION_DELETE	Before delete confirmation / processing delete action
VIEW	PERMISSION_VIEW	Before listing or viewing details
PUBLISH	PERMISSION_PUBLISH	Before changing visibility/status

File Checklist

File	What to add
Entity.java	implements RBACResource, RESOURCE_TYPE constant, getResourceTypeCode(), getResourceId()
EntityResourceIdService.java	New class extending ResourceIdService, permission constants, register()
plugin.xml	<rbac-resource-type> with <rbac-resource-type-class>
messages.properties	permission.resourceType.entity.label + one key per permission
EntityJspBean.java	RBACService.isAuthorized() calls, AccessDeniedException throws, permission flags in model
Templates	<#if canXxx> conditionals around protected buttons/links

Reference Sources

Forms plugin (RBAC + workgroups + CSRF)

Need	File to consult
ResourceIdService (fine-grained, 13 perms)	~/.lutece-references/lutece-form-plugin-forms/src/java/**/service/FormsResourceIdService.java
checkUserPermission() helper	~/.lutece-references/lutece-form-plugin-forms/src/java/**/web/admin/AbstractJspBean.java
Workgroup + RBAC combined	~/.lutece-references/lutece-form-plugin-forms/src/java/**/web/admin/FormJspBean.java
Action filtering per entity	~/.lutece-references/lutece-form-plugin-forms/src/java/**/web/admin/FormJspBean.java (getManageForms)
Multiple resource types	~/.lutece-references/lutece-form-plugin-forms/webapp/WEB-INF/plugins/forms.xml

Core

Need	File to consult
RBACService	~/.lutece-references/lutece-core/src/java/**/service/rbac/RBACService.java
ResourceIdService abstract class	~/.lutece-references/lutece-core/src/java/**/service/rbac/ResourceIdService.java
ResourceTypeManager	~/.lutece-references/lutece-core/src/java/**/service/rbac/ResourceTypeManager.java
AdminWorkgroupService	~/.lutece-references/lutece-core/src/java/**/service/workgroup/AdminWorkgroupService.java