Google App Engine using UserProperty to link data

Question

I am writing an application in GAE. In order to link the currently logged in user to data in my application I have been relying on equality between users.get_current_user() and members.user (see model below). Where I run into trouble is when the user signs in with an email address using different capitalization than his/her initial login (janeDoe@example.com != janedoe@example.com). What is the most reliable way to link the current user to application specific data?

class members(db.Model):
    firstName=db.StringProperty(verbose_name='First Name',required=True)
    lastName=db.StringProperty(verbose_name='Last Name',required=True)
    user=db.UserProperty()

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 07 '11 at 23:23

4

Don't use the username - call user.user_id(), and compare on that. It's guaranteed to remain the same, even if nickname or email address change.

answered Mar 07 '11 at 23:23

Nick Johnson

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If I do that, I would need to change the property type to something other than db.UserProperty(). – garnertb Mar 08 '11 at 12:17
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@user589983 Why? `user_id()` is a method on a User object, which is returned by `UserProperty`. – Nick Johnson Mar 08 '11 at 17:15

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 06 '11 at 16:02

0

Always convert username to lowercase and then do operations on it: when storing the first time and on later comparisons.

answered Mar 06 '11 at 16:02

Peter Knego

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I don't know Pyton, but this seems right. Anyhow this problem is language agnostic: you always lowercase email (and usernames in general) before storing or comparing them. – Peter Knego Mar 06 '11 at 16:22

Google App Engine using UserProperty to link data

2 Answers2