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

4 files changed, 31 insertions, 11 deletions

diff --git a/activerecord/test/cases/base_test.rb b/activerecord/test/cases/base_test.rb
index b065919310..91a70e0239 100644
--- a/activerecord/test/cases/base_test.rb
+++ b/activerecord/test/cases/base_test.rb
@@ -2127,7 +2127,7 @@ class BasicsTest < ActiveRecord::TestCase
 
   def test_cache_key_format_for_existing_record_with_nil_updated_at
     dev = Developer.first
-    dev.update_attribute(:updated_at, nil)
+    dev.update_column(:updated_at, nil)
     assert_match(/\/#{dev.id}$/, dev.cache_key)
   end
 
diff --git a/activerecord/test/cases/dirty_test.rb b/activerecord/test/cases/dirty_test.rb
index 2a3d6a6cc1..bdc2cb264d 100644
--- a/activerecord/test/cases/dirty_test.rb
+++ b/activerecord/test/cases/dirty_test.rb
@@ -498,7 +498,7 @@ class DirtyTest < ActiveRecord::TestCase
     assert !pirate.previous_changes.key?('created_on')
 
     pirate = Pirate.find_by_catchphrase("Ahoy!")
-    pirate.update_attribute(:catchphrase, "Ninjas suck!")
+    pirate.update_column(:catchphrase, "Ninjas suck!")
 
     assert_equal 2, pirate.previous_changes.size
     assert_equal ["Ahoy!", "Ninjas suck!"], pirate.previous_changes['catchphrase']
diff --git a/activerecord/test/cases/persistence_test.rb b/activerecord/test/cases/persistence_test.rb
index e4b8caae52..a941f1f416 100644
--- a/activerecord/test/cases/persistence_test.rb
+++ b/activerecord/test/cases/persistence_test.rb
@@ -355,10 +355,17 @@ class PersistencesTest < ActiveRecord::TestCase
 
   def test_update_attribute
     assert !Topic.find(1).approved?
-    Topic.find(1).update_attribute("approved", true)
+
+    ActiveSupport::Deprecation.silence do
+      Topic.find(1).update_attribute("approved", true)
+    end
+
     assert Topic.find(1).approved?
 
-    Topic.find(1).update_attribute(:approved, false)
+    ActiveSupport::Deprecation.silence do
+      Topic.find(1).update_attribute(:approved, false)
+    end
+
     assert !Topic.find(1).approved?
   end
 
@@ -368,7 +375,10 @@ class PersistencesTest < ActiveRecord::TestCase
 
   def test_update_attribute_for_readonly_attribute
     minivan = Minivan.find('m1')
-    assert_raises(ActiveRecord::ActiveRecordError) { minivan.update_attribute(:color, 'black') }
+
+    ActiveSupport::Deprecation.silence do
+      assert_raises(ActiveRecord::ActiveRecordError) { minivan.update_attribute(:color, 'black') }
+    end
   end
 
   # This test is correct, but it is hard to fix it since
@@ -395,7 +405,11 @@ class PersistencesTest < ActiveRecord::TestCase
   def test_update_attribute_with_one_updated
     t = Topic.first
     title = t.title
-    t.update_attribute(:title, 'super_title')
+
+    ActiveSupport::Deprecation.silence do
+      t.update_attribute(:title, 'super_title')
+    end
+
     assert_equal 'super_title', t.title
     assert !t.changed?, "topic should not have changed"
     assert !t.title_changed?, "title should not have changed"
@@ -409,10 +423,16 @@ class PersistencesTest < ActiveRecord::TestCase
     developer = Developer.find(1)
     prev_month = Time.now.prev_month
 
-    developer.update_attribute(:updated_at, prev_month)
+    ActiveSupport::Deprecation.silence do
+      developer.update_attribute(:updated_at, prev_month)
+    end
+
     assert_equal prev_month, developer.updated_at
 
-    developer.update_attribute(:salary, 80001)
+    ActiveSupport::Deprecation.silence do
+      developer.update_attribute(:salary, 80001)
+    end
+
     assert_not_equal prev_month, developer.updated_at
 
     developer.reload
@@ -450,7 +470,7 @@ class PersistencesTest < ActiveRecord::TestCase
 
   def test_update_column_should_not_leave_the_object_dirty
     topic = Topic.find(1)
-    topic.update_attribute("content", "Have a nice day")
+    topic.update_column("content", "Have a nice day")
 
     topic.reload
     topic.update_column(:content, "You too")
diff --git a/activerecord/test/cases/timestamp_test.rb b/activerecord/test/cases/timestamp_test.rb
index 28543a5a3a..c965371a49 100644
--- a/activerecord/test/cases/timestamp_test.rb
+++ b/activerecord/test/cases/timestamp_test.rb
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ class TimestampTest < ActiveRecord::TestCase
 
   def setup
     @developer = Developer.order(:id).first
-    @developer.update_attribute(:updated_at, Time.now.prev_month)
+    @developer.update_column(:updated_at, Time.now.prev_month)
     @previously_updated_at = @developer.updated_at
   end
 
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ class TimestampTest < ActiveRecord::TestCase
 
     pet = Pet.first
     owner = pet.owner
-    owner.update_attribute(:happy_at, 3.days.ago)
+    owner.update_column(:happy_at, 3.days.ago)
     previously_owner_updated_at = owner.updated_at
 
     pet.name = "I'm a parrot"