3 files changed, 26 insertions, 11 deletions
diff --git a/activerecord/lib/active_record/timestamp.rb b/activerecord/lib/active_record/timestamp.rb
index 149113b950..7695b12392 100644
--- a/activerecord/lib/active_record/timestamp.rb
+++ b/activerecord/lib/active_record/timestamp.rb
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 module ActiveRecord
   # Active Records will automatically record creation and/or update timestamps of database objects
-  # if fields of the names created_at/created_on or updated_at/updated_on are present.
+  # if fields of the names created_at/created_on or updated_at/updated_on are present. This module is
+  # automatically included, so you don't need to do that manually.
   module Timestamp 
     def self.append_features(base) # :nodoc:
       super
@@ -9,14 +10,22 @@ module ActiveRecord
     end    
       
     def timestamp_before_create
-      write_attribute("created_at", Time.now) if respond_to?(:created_at) && created_at.nil?
-      write_attribute("created_on", Time.now) if respond_to?(:created_on) && created_on.nil?
+      write_attribute("created_at", Time.now) if record_timestamps && respond_to?(:created_at) && created_at.nil?
+      write_attribute("created_on", Time.now) if record_timestamps && respond_to?(:created_on) && created_on.nil?
       timestamp_before_update
     end
 
     def timestamp_before_update
-      write_attribute("updated_at", Time.now) if respond_to?(:updated_at)
-      write_attribute("updated_on", Time.now) if respond_to?(:updated_on)
+      write_attribute("updated_at", Time.now) if record_timestamps && respond_to?(:updated_at)
+      write_attribute("updated_on", Time.now) if record_timestamps && respond_to?(:updated_on)
     end
   end 
+
+  class Base
+    # Records the creation date and possibly time in created_on (date only) or created_at (date and time) and the update date and possibly
+    # time in updated_on and updated_at. This only happens if the object responds to either of these messages, which they will do automatically
+    # if the table has columns of either of these names. This feature is turned on by default.
+    @@record_timestamps = true
+    cattr_accessor :record_timestamps
+  end
 end
 \ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/activerecord/test/fixtures/mixin.rb b/activerecord/test/fixtures/mixin.rb
index 0c3bf5000a..1b6099901f 100644
--- a/activerecord/test/fixtures/mixin.rb
+++ b/activerecord/test/fixtures/mixin.rb
@@ -6,16 +6,12 @@ end
 class ListMixin < ActiveRecord::Base
   acts_as_list :column => "pos", :scope => :parent
 
-  def self.table_name
-    "mixins"
-  end
+  def self.table_name() "mixins" end
 end
 
 
 class ListWithStringScopeMixin < ActiveRecord::Base
   acts_as_list :column => "pos", :scope => 'parent_id = #{parent_id}'
 
-  def self.table_name
-    "mixins"
-  end
+  def self.table_name() "mixins" end
 end
 \ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/activerecord/test/mixin_test.rb b/activerecord/test/mixin_test.rb
index 58e7ff1807..72be561f59 100644
--- a/activerecord/test/mixin_test.rb
+++ b/activerecord/test/mixin_test.rb
@@ -125,4 +125,14 @@ class TouchTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
     assert_not_nil @obj.updated_at
     assert_not_nil @obj.created_at
   end  
+  
+  def test_create_turned_off
+    Mixin.record_timestamps = false
+
+    assert_nil @first.updated_at
+    @first.save
+    assert_nil @first.updated_at
+
+    Mixin.record_timestamps = true
+  end
 end