Rails Update Without Callback - Ruby

When working on a Ruby on Rails project, there may be situations where you want to update a model without triggering callbacks. This can be useful when performing routine maintenance or migrating data between different systems. In this article, we will explore how to update a record in Rails without invoking callbacks.

Solution

The best approach to updating a record without triggering callbacks in Rails is to use the update_columns method. This method allows you to update a record's attributes without performing any validations, callbacks, or updating the updated_at timestamp.

Here is an example of how to use update_columns to update a record without callbacks:

user = User.find_by(id: 1)
user.update_columns(name: 'John Doe', age: 32)

In this example, we are updating the attributes name and age of a user with an id of 1. Notice that we did not use the update method which would trigger callbacks and validations.

Considerations

While using update_columns is a convenient way to update a record without callbacks, there are some important things to keep in mind:

• Using update_columns skips all callbacks, validations, and updating timestamps. This means that you need to be careful when using it and make sure that your data remains consistent.

• If you need to perform certain actions when updating a record, you may need to use a different method that triggers callbacks. update_attributes and update are two such methods that trigger callbacks and validations.

Conclusion

In summary, there are situations where you may want to update a record without triggering callbacks in a Rails project. The best approach to doing this is to use the update_columns method which allows you to update attributes without triggering callbacks, validations, or updating timestamps. However, you need to be careful when using this method to ensure that your data remains consistent.