Deprecate update_attribute.

Historically, update_attribute and update_attributes are similar, but
with one big difference: update_attribute does not run validations.
These two methods are really easy to confuse given their similar
names. Therefore, update_attribute is being deprecated in favor of
update_column, and will be removed in Rails 4.

See the discussion on rails-core here:
https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rubyonrails-core/BWPUTK7WvYA/discussion

3 files changed, 10 insertions, 6 deletions

diff --git a/activerecord/lib/active_record/associations/has_one_association.rb b/activerecord/lib/active_record/associations/has_one_association.rb
index 2131edbc20..f0d1120c68 100644
--- a/activerecord/lib/active_record/associations/has_one_association.rb
+++ b/activerecord/lib/active_record/associations/has_one_association.rb
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ module ActiveRecord
             when :destroy
               target.destroy
             when :nullify
-              target.update_attribute(reflection.foreign_key, nil)
+              target.update_column(reflection.foreign_key, nil)
           end
         end
       end
diff --git a/activerecord/lib/active_record/migration.rb b/activerecord/lib/active_record/migration.rb
index e6686597b7..b4b4667ce0 100644
--- a/activerecord/lib/active_record/migration.rb
+++ b/activerecord/lib/active_record/migration.rb
@@ -232,7 +232,7 @@ module ActiveRecord
   #       add_column :people, :salary, :integer
   #       Person.reset_column_information
   #       Person.all.each do |p|
-  #         p.update_attribute :salary, SalaryCalculator.compute(p)
+  #         p.update_column :salary, SalaryCalculator.compute(p)
   #       end
   #     end
   #   end
@@ -252,7 +252,7 @@ module ActiveRecord
   #     ...
   #     say_with_time "Updating salaries..." do
   #       Person.all.each do |p|
-  #         p.update_attribute :salary, SalaryCalculator.compute(p)
+  #         p.update_column :salary, SalaryCalculator.compute(p)
   #       end
   #     end
   #     ...
diff --git a/activerecord/lib/active_record/persistence.rb b/activerecord/lib/active_record/persistence.rb
index 038355deaa..c9e3fc5b05 100644
--- a/activerecord/lib/active_record/persistence.rb
+++ b/activerecord/lib/active_record/persistence.rb
@@ -174,8 +174,12 @@ module ActiveRecord
     # * updated_at/updated_on column is updated if that column is available.
     # * Updates all the attributes that are dirty in this object.
     #
+    # This method has been deprecated in favor of <tt>update_column</tt> due to
+    # its similarity with <tt>update_attributes</tt>.
+    #
     def update_attribute(name, value)
       name = name.to_s
+      ActiveSupport::Deprecation.warn("update_attribute is deprecated and will be removed in Rails 4. If you want to skip mass-assignment protection, callbacks, and modifying updated_at, use update_column. If you do want those things, use update_attributes.")
       raise ActiveRecordError, "#{name} is marked as readonly" if self.class.readonly_attributes.include?(name)
       send("#{name}=", value)
       save(:validate => false)
@@ -239,7 +243,7 @@ module ActiveRecord
     # Saving is not subjected to validation checks. Returns +true+ if the
     # record could be saved.
     def increment!(attribute, by = 1)
-      increment(attribute, by).update_attribute(attribute, self[attribute])
+      increment(attribute, by).update_column(attribute, self[attribute])
     end
 
     # Initializes +attribute+ to zero if +nil+ and subtracts the value passed as +by+ (default is 1).
@@ -256,7 +260,7 @@ module ActiveRecord
     # Saving is not subjected to validation checks. Returns +true+ if the
     # record could be saved.
     def decrement!(attribute, by = 1)
-      decrement(attribute, by).update_attribute(attribute, self[attribute])
+      decrement(attribute, by).update_column(attribute, self[attribute])
     end
 
     # Assigns to +attribute+ the boolean opposite of <tt>attribute?</tt>. So
@@ -273,7 +277,7 @@ module ActiveRecord
     # Saving is not subjected to validation checks. Returns +true+ if the
     # record could be saved.
     def toggle!(attribute)
-      toggle(attribute).update_attribute(attribute, self[attribute])
+      toggle(attribute).update_column(attribute, self[attribute])
     end
 
     # Reloads the attributes of this object from the database.