Add *_previously_was attribute methods when dirty tracking (#36836)

2 files changed, 13 insertions, 1 deletions

diff --git a/activemodel/CHANGELOG.md b/activemodel/CHANGELOG.md
index 9d77564c61..c301f4766d 100644
--- a/activemodel/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/activemodel/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+*   Add *_previously_was attribute methods when dirty tracking. Example:
 
+        pirate.update(catchphrase: "Ahoy!")
+        pirate.previous_changes["catchphrase"] # => ["Thar She Blows!", "Ahoy!"]
+        pirate.catchphrase_previously_was # => "Thar She Blows!"
+
+    *DHH*
 
 Please check [6-0-stable](https://github.com/rails/rails/blob/6-0-stable/activemodel/CHANGELOG.md) for previous changes.
diff --git a/activemodel/lib/active_model/dirty.rb b/activemodel/lib/active_model/dirty.rb
index aaefe00c83..245616502d 100644
--- a/activemodel/lib/active_model/dirty.rb
+++ b/activemodel/lib/active_model/dirty.rb
@@ -84,6 +84,7 @@ module ActiveModel
   #   person.previous_changes         # => {"name" => [nil, "Bill"]}
   #   person.name_previously_changed? # => true
   #   person.name_previous_change     # => [nil, "Bill"]
+  #   person.name_previously_was      # => nil
   #   person.reload!
   #   person.previous_changes         # => {}
   #
@@ -122,7 +123,7 @@ module ActiveModel
 
     included do
       attribute_method_suffix "_changed?", "_change", "_will_change!", "_was"
-      attribute_method_suffix "_previously_changed?", "_previous_change"
+      attribute_method_suffix "_previously_changed?", "_previous_change", "_previously_was"
       attribute_method_affix prefix: "restore_", suffix: "!"
     end
 
@@ -180,6 +181,11 @@ module ActiveModel
       mutations_before_last_save.changed?(attr_name.to_s)
     end
 
+    # Dispatch target for <tt>*_previously_was</tt> attribute methods.
+    def attribute_previously_was(attr_name) # :nodoc:
+      mutations_before_last_save.original_value(attr_name.to_s)
+    end
+
     # Restore all previous data of the provided attributes.
     def restore_attributes(attr_names = changed)
       attr_names.each { |attr_name| restore_attribute!(attr_name) }