Extending Users

Overview

In some cases, you may need to extend the default User model in SolidX to accommodate additional attributes or relationships specific to your application. This is achieved by creating a custom user model as a child of the base User model provided by SolidX.

This guide covers how to:

• Create a custom user model
• Add custom fields and relationships
• Override user creation logic to handle password encryption, validation, and persistence

---

Configuring a Custom User Model

As an example, consider extending the User model into an InstituteUser model. The InstituteUser includes fields such as userType and a relation to an Institute.

Steps to Create a Custom User Model

1. Set isChild: true in your model metadata.
2. Specify User as the parentModelUserKey.
3. Add your custom fields and relationships.

Sample Field Metadata for instituteUser

{
  "singularName": "instituteUser",
  "pluralName": "instituteUsers",
  "displayName": "Institute User",
  "tableName": "fees_portal_institute_user",
  "isChild": true,
  "parentModelUserKey": "user",
  "enableAuditTracking": true,
  "enableSoftDelete": true,
  "fields": [
    {
      "name": "userType",
      "displayName": "User Type",
      "type": "selectionStatic",
      "ormType": "varchar",
      "defaultValue": "Institute Admin",
      "selectionStaticValues": [
        "Mswipe Admin:Mswipe Admin",
        "Institute Admin:Institute Admin"
      ],
      "required": true
    },
    {
      "name": "institute",
      "displayName": "Institute",
      "type": "relation",
      "ormType": "integer",
      "relationType": "many-to-one",
      "relationCoModelSingularName": "institute",
      "relationModelModuleName": "fees-portal",
      "relationCascade": "cascade"
    }
  ]
}

This configuration generates list and form views in SolidX to manage your custom users.

---

Overriding User Creation Logic

User creation involves more than a simple insert (password encryption, password history, email notifications). Therefore, you must override the generated create method in your custom user controller.

Default Generated Code

Default Implementation

@ApiBearerAuth("jwt")
@Post()
@UseInterceptors(AnyFilesInterceptor())
async create(@Body() createDto: CreateInstituteUserDto, @UploadedFiles() files: Array<Express.Multer.File>) {
  return this.service.create(createDto, files);
}

Revised Implementation

Replace the default with logic that validates input, converts DTOs, and calls signupForExtensionUser:

Revised Implementation (InstituteController)

@ApiBearerAuth("jwt")
@Post()
@UseInterceptors(AnyFilesInterceptor())
async create(@Body() createDto: CreateInstituteUserDto, @UploadedFiles() files: Array<Express.Multer.File>) {
  // Custom validation
  const result = await this.service.validateEmailDomain(createDto.instituteId, createDto.email);
  if (result === false) {
    throw new BadRequestException('Email Domain is not Valid');
  }

  // Convert DTOs
  const signupDto = this.service.toSignUpDto(createDto);
  const extensionUserDto = await this.service.toExtensionUserDto(createDto);

  // Persist user
  return this.authenticationService.signupForExtensionUser(signupDto, extensionUserDto, this.repo);
}

Supporting Methods in Service

Methods Implementation (InstituteService)

async toExtensionUserDto(createDto: CreateInstituteUserDto): Promise<any> {
  let institute = null;
  if (createDto.instituteId) {
    institute = await this.InstituteRepo.findOne({ where: { id: createDto.instituteId } });
  }
  return { ...createDto, institute };
}

toSignUpDto(createDto: CreateInstituteUserDto): SignUpDto {
  return {
    fullName: createDto.fullName,
    username: createDto.username,
    email: createDto.email,
    password: createDto.password,
    mobile: createDto.mobile,
    roles: [createDto.userType], // role name = userType
  };
}

async validateEmailDomain(instituteId: number, email: string) {
  const institute = await this.InstituteRepo.findOne({ where: { id: instituteId } });
  if (!institute) return false;
  if (!institute.emailDomain) return true;

  const emailDomain = email.split('@')[1]?.toLowerCase();
  return emailDomain === institute.emailDomain.toLowerCase();
}

⚠️ Use the generated code for other CRUD operations as-is. Only create() requires overriding.

---

Generated Code for Custom User Models

When isChild: true and User is the parent model, SolidX generates DTOs and Entities extending the base User model:

DTOs & Entity

// Create DTO
export class CreateInstituteUserDto extends CreateUserDto { ... }

// Update DTO
export class UpdateInstituteUserDto extends UpdateUserDto { ... }

// Entity
@ChildEntity()
export class InstituteUser extends User { ... }

---

How It Works

1. The generated custom model extends User, inheriting all base fields and methods.
2. AuthenticationService.signupForExtensionUser() handles:
   • Persistence of user fields
   • Password encryption & history
   • Email notifications
3. SolidX generates both UI and API endpoints for managing custom users.

Note

• All user records, including custom ones, are stored in the same ss_user table.
  SolidX uses a discriminator column (type) to differentiate between custom user types.