How to Create Auto Update Time Attributes in InstallSchema of Magento 2

This topic is written with the purpose to help you create auto-update time attributes in InstallSchema of Magento 2 by using MYSQL.

How to create auto update time attributes in InstallSchema of Magento 2

MYSQL will work directly with TIMESTAMP and DATETIME, that are allowed to automatically initialize, update and show the current date and time on your website instead of you must insert manually the proper value of the date and time into your PHP code, specifically as:

• Auto-initializing time attributes means auto-loading the current timestamp and datetime.

• Auto-updating time attributes means auto-renewing to the current timestamp and datetime.

To build auto-update time attributes perfectly in Magento 2 store, you can refer the following script code. The code needs to be added into InstallSchema file.

app/code/Mageplaza/HelloWorld/Setup/InstallSchema.php

Here there are two columns created_at and update_at included in your table. When you set a new row to the data table, auto-initializing will be done in the created_at column and the updated_at will be changed if you continue to update a row in the data table.

...
->addColumn(
    'created_at',
    \Magento\Framework\DB\Ddl\Table::TYPE_TIMESTAMP,
    null,
    ['nullable' => false, 'default' => \Magento\Framework\DB\Ddl\Table::TIMESTAMP_INIT],
    'Created At'
)->addColumn(
    'updated_at',
    \Magento\Framework\DB\Ddl\Table::TYPE_TIMESTAMP,
    null,
    ['nullable' => false, 'default' => \Magento\Framework\DB\Ddl\Table::TIMESTAMP_INIT_UPDATE],
    'Updated At'
)
->addColumn(
    'created_at',
    \Magento\Framework\DB\Ddl\Table::TYPE_TIMESTAMP,
    null,
    ['nullable' => false, 'default' => \Magento\Framework\DB\Ddl\Table::TIMESTAMP_INIT],
    'Created At'
)->addColumn(
    'updated_at',
    \Magento\Framework\DB\Ddl\Table::TYPE_TIMESTAMP,
    null,
    ['nullable' => false, 'default' => \Magento\Framework\DB\Ddl\Table::TIMESTAMP_INIT_UPDATE],
    'Updated At'
)
...

Finally, you need to run the command php bin/magento setup:upgrade in console, after that, the created_at and updated_at fields will be established in MYSQL.

When you complete all, that means you can use the auto-updating time attributes in InstallSchema in Magento 2.

Conclusion

That’s how to create auto update time attributes in Magento 2 InstallSchema. Remember to double-check if there is something wrong.

I hope this is a helpful tutorial. If you have any question or want to discuss more about this topic, feel free to let me know.

Thanks for reading!

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