set user id as the current user in Joomla

Question

I have a userId - $uid.

I wanted to make this user as logged in to the s/m in joomla.

I've tried this -

$currentUser = new JUser($uid);

$mainframe = JFactory::getApplication('site');
$credentials = array();
$credentials['username'] = $currentUser->username;
$credentials['password'] = $currentUser->password; //this is the hashed password

//perform the login action
$mainframe->login($credentials);

$newuser = JFactory::getUser(); //this doesn't get updated to the new user ($uid) details

How can I make the user as the current user by using the uid itself?

Update: I just found that user can be loaded with JUser::load()

Trial 2-

$user = JUser::getInstance($uid);
$user->load($uid); //this should load the new user.

$newuser = JFactory::getUser(); //still i get the anonymous details here 
            //($newuser->id = 0)

As there is wp_set_current_user($uid); for wordpress user_load_by_name() in drupal, is there any similar function for joomla ? Please help.!!!

Thanks!

Answer 1

You can simply do this by using a core plugin...

//Will obtain user object - what the question author needed.
$user = JFactory::getUser($uid);

//Will authorize you as this user.
JPluginHelper::importPlugin('user');
$options = array();
$options['action'] = 'core.login.site';
$response->username = $user->username;
$result = $app->triggerEvent('onUserLogin', array((array)$response, $options));

Answer 2

This may no have been available back then, but now I use two ways of loading users in Joomla.

Method 1: Load any user as an instance of the User class

Loading a user this way will simply store it in the variable and you can then use it for other things. This does not affect the current session and cannot make you login as a user.

<?php
$foo = JFactory::getUser(1234)

Method 2: Load any user as currently logged in user

<?php
JFactory::getUser()->load(1234)

After issuing this command, Joomla with see user 1234 as logged in. In fact, any subsequent call to JFactory::getUser() will return an instance of the User class for user id 1234

Edit: If you are using this in a loop, it will help if you force Joomla to logout first by doing this ...

<?php
// First, logout ...
Factory::getApplication()->logout()
// ... then load the account.
JFactory::getUser()->load(1234)

I have seen a case where the loop kept remembering the first loaded item. It's probably due to a race condition somewhere in Joomla.