Rails 3 Modifying updated_at

Question

I am creating a CourseEnrollment model and whenever a user views the course, I want to update the database with the current timestamp. Should I just update the existing updated_at field or create a seperate field for the model?

Answer 1

Check out the AR touch method http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActiveRecord/Persistence.html#method-i-touch

Answer 2

I'd create a separate field. updated_at doesn't really correctly communicate its purpose. Something like last_viewed_at would be more appropriate. Of course, updated_at will be updated when you update last_viewed_at, so you need to find a way to override that when all you want to do is update that column.

You can temporarily disable timestamp updating by setting self.record_timestamps to false in a before_filter and then re-enabling it in an after_filter.