Turning off magic columns (updated_at, created_at) possible?

Rails
1

Is there a way to turn off “magic column” functionality (updated_at,
created_at, etc…)?

For example, I recently ran a script to save the latitude/longitude of
all of my users based on their zip codes. Everything worked fine, then I
realized all of the user’s updated_at columns were changed. Damn! I
forgot about that. While I want these columns to “just work” in most
cases, is there a way to turn it off on demand? I doubt there is a built
in feature – but maybe somebody has an idea. Thanks.

2

Adam R. wrote:

Is there a way to turn off “magic column” functionality (updated_at,
created_at, etc…)?

For example, I recently ran a script to save the latitude/longitude of
all of my users based on their zip codes. Everything worked fine, then I
realized all of the user’s updated_at columns were changed. Damn! I
forgot about that. While I want these columns to “just work” in most
cases, is there a way to turn it off on demand? I doubt there is a built
in feature – but maybe somebody has an idea. Thanks.

From the docs:

“This behavior can be turned off by setting
ActiveRecord::Base.record_timestamps = false.”