method

update_attribute

Importance_5
v2.3.8 - Show latest stable - 5 notes - Class: ActiveRecord::Base
update_attribute(name, value) public

Updates a single attribute and saves the record without going through the normal validation procedure. This is especially useful for boolean flags on existing records. The regular update_attribute method in Base is replaced with this when the validations module is mixed in, which it is by default.

Show source
Register or log in to add new notes.
August 11, 2008
8 thanks

Validations

update_attribute will not perform validations checks when the Validation module is included.

If you want to perform validations when updating, use update_attributes instead.

October 22, 2009 - (>= v2.1.0)
4 thanks

Update statement won't include all attributes with ActiveRecord::Dirty

With the addition of ActiveRecord::Dirty, the update statement will only feature changed columns, as opposed to the comment of railsmonk below.

February 3, 2009
4 thanks

This method will still rewrite all the values of the table

Even if you update only a small boolean flag on your record, update_attribute will generate an UPDATE statement that will include all the fields of the record, including huge BLOB and TEXT columns. Take this in account.

April 3, 2010 - (>= v2.2.1)
3 thanks

Careful with this method.

Despite the name and description, it will actually update any changed fields on the model rather than just the desired attribute.

def update_attribute(name, value)
  send(name.to_s + '=', value)
  save(false)
end

See? Use update_all and pass in the model ID as a condition, instead.

August 19, 2014
0 thanks

callbacks

As a note, AFAICT, this skips “validations” but does still run all callbacks still [like after_save, etc.] So if you’re looking for something that just updates see here: http://stackoverflow.com/a/7243777/32453