Overwrite function of Magento Core Class without having to develope extension

Question

I try to overwrite a function from a core class without having to create an extra extension for it.

I need to overwrite the function _loginPostRedirect() from Mage_Customer_AccountController to change the redirect behaviour.

The class is in app\code\core\Mage\Customer\controllers\AccountController.php

Im not sure about the fall-back way of magento, but I remember I readed that magento first looks in app\code\local\ instead of app\code\core to find out if the file exists there and then app\code\local\Mage\Customer\controllers\AccountController.php is getting loaded instead of app\code\core\Mage\Customer\controllers\AccountController.php.

But I tried it and magento still loads the file from app\code\core.

How does it work?

Basically I just want to change one line at the very bottom:

    /**
     * Define target URL and redirect customer after logging in
     */
    protected function _loginPostRedirect()
    {
        $session = $this->_getSession();

        if (!$session->getBeforeAuthUrl() || $session->getBeforeAuthUrl() == Mage::getBaseUrl()) {
            // Set default URL to redirect customer to
            $session->setBeforeAuthUrl($this->_getHelper('customer')->getAccountUrl());
            // Redirect customer to the last page visited after logging in
            if ($session->isLoggedIn()) {
                if (!Mage::getStoreConfigFlag(
                    Mage_Customer_Helper_Data::XML_PATH_CUSTOMER_STARTUP_REDIRECT_TO_DASHBOARD
                )) {
                    $referer = $this->getRequest()->getParam(Mage_Customer_Helper_Data::REFERER_QUERY_PARAM_NAME);
                    if ($referer) {
                        // Rebuild referer URL to handle the case when SID was changed
                        $referer = $this->_getModel('core/url')
                            ->getRebuiltUrl( $this->_getHelper('core')->urlDecodeAndEscape($referer));
                        if ($this->_isUrlInternal($referer)) {
                            $session->setBeforeAuthUrl($referer);
                        }
                    }
                } else if ($session->getAfterAuthUrl()) {
                    $session->setBeforeAuthUrl($session->getAfterAuthUrl(true));
                }
            } else {
                $session->setBeforeAuthUrl( $this->_getHelper('customer')->getLoginUrl());
            }
        } else if ($session->getBeforeAuthUrl() ==  $this->_getHelper('customer')->getLogoutUrl()) {
            $session->setBeforeAuthUrl( $this->_getHelper('customer')->getDashboardUrl());
        } else {
            if (!$session->getAfterAuthUrl()) {
                $session->setAfterAuthUrl($session->getBeforeAuthUrl());
            }
            if ($session->isLoggedIn()) {
                $session->setBeforeAuthUrl($session->getAfterAuthUrl(true));
            }
        }
//        $this->_redirectUrl($session->getBeforeAuthUrl(true));
        $this->_redirectUrl("/customer/account");
    }

Answer 1

You will have to override that core controller by simple module what i have made . you can copy code inside app/code/local/Mage only Block , Model , Helper not controller.

1. Create a file config.xml /app/code/local/Vendor/Module/etc.

<config>
    <modules>
        <Vendor_Module>
            <version>1.0.1</version>
        </Vendor_Module>
    </modules>
        <frontend>
            <routers>
                <customer>
                    <args>
                        <modules>
                            <vendor_module before="Mage_Customer">Vendor_Module_Customer</vendor_module>
                        </modules>
                    </args>
                </customer>
            </routers>
        </frontend>
</config>

2. Create a controller file app/code/local/Vendor/Module/controllers/Customer/AccountController.php

<?php
require_once 'Mage/Customer/controllers/AccountController.php';
class Vendor_Module_AccountController extends Mage_Customer_AccountController
{
         protected function _loginPostRedirect()
    {
        $session = $this->_getSession();

        if (!$session->getBeforeAuthUrl() || $session->getBeforeAuthUrl() == Mage::getBaseUrl()) {
            // Set default URL to redirect customer to
            $session->setBeforeAuthUrl($this->_getHelper('customer')->getAccountUrl());
            // Redirect customer to the last page visited after logging in
            if ($session->isLoggedIn()) {
                if (!Mage::getStoreConfigFlag(
                    Mage_Customer_Helper_Data::XML_PATH_CUSTOMER_STARTUP_REDIRECT_TO_DASHBOARD
                )) {
                    $referer = $this->getRequest()->getParam(Mage_Customer_Helper_Data::REFERER_QUERY_PARAM_NAME);
                    if ($referer) {
                        // Rebuild referer URL to handle the case when SID was changed
                        $referer = $this->_getModel('core/url')
                            ->getRebuiltUrl( $this->_getHelper('core')->urlDecodeAndEscape($referer));
                        if ($this->_isUrlInternal($referer)) {
                            $session->setBeforeAuthUrl($referer);
                        }
                    }
                } else if ($session->getAfterAuthUrl()) {
                    $session->setBeforeAuthUrl($session->getAfterAuthUrl(true));
                }
            } else {
                $session->setBeforeAuthUrl( $this->_getHelper('customer')->getLoginUrl());
            }
        } else if ($session->getBeforeAuthUrl() ==  $this->_getHelper('customer')->getLogoutUrl()) {
            $session->setBeforeAuthUrl( $this->_getHelper('customer')->getDashboardUrl());
        } else {
            if (!$session->getAfterAuthUrl()) {
                $session->setAfterAuthUrl($session->getBeforeAuthUrl());
            }
            if ($session->isLoggedIn()) {
                $session->setBeforeAuthUrl($session->getAfterAuthUrl(true));
            }
        }
//        $this->_redirectUrl($session->getBeforeAuthUrl(true));
        $this->_redirectUrl("/customer/account");
    }
}

3. Create file app/etc/modules/Vendor_Module.xml

<?xml version="1.0"?>
    <config>
        <modules>
            <Vendor_Module>
                <active>true</active>    //  is active or not
                <codePool>local</codePool> //location of the module i.e inside the local folder
            </Vendor_Module>
        </modules>
    </config>