Timestamps management in Laravel - Cheat Sheet & Quick Revision

Recall & Review

beginner

What are timestamps in Laravel Eloquent models?

Timestamps are special columns named created_at and updated_at that Laravel automatically manages to record when a record is created and last updated.

beginner

How do you disable automatic timestamps in a Laravel model?

Set the public property <code>public $timestamps = false;</code> inside the model class to stop Laravel from automatically updating <code>created_at</code> and <code>updated_at</code>.

beginner

Which Laravel migration method adds created_at and updated_at columns?

The $table->timestamps(); method adds both created_at and updated_at columns as nullable timestamp fields.

intermediate

How can you customize the names of timestamp columns in Laravel?

Override the <code>const CREATED_AT</code> and <code>const UPDATED_AT</code> constants in your model to use custom column names for timestamps.

intermediate

What happens if you manually set updated_at to null in a Laravel model?

If you set updated_at to null, Laravel will treat it as no update time. But on saving, Laravel will overwrite it with the current timestamp unless timestamps are disabled.

Which columns does Laravel automatically manage for timestamps?

A created_at and updated_at

B created_on and updated_on

C created and modified

D start_time and end_time

Laravel uses created_at and updated_at columns by default to track record creation and updates.

How do you add timestamp columns in a Laravel migration?

A $table->timestamps();

B $table->timestampColumns();

C $table->addTimestamps();

D $table->timeStamps();

The correct method to add created_at and updated_at columns is $table->timestamps();.

To disable automatic timestamps in a Laravel model, you should:

A Remove timestamps columns from the database

B Set public $timestamps = false;

C Override save() method

D Set timestamps to null

Setting public $timestamps = false; in the model disables automatic timestamp updates.

Which constants do you override to rename timestamp columns in Laravel?

A START_TIME and END_TIME

B TIMESTAMP_CREATED and TIMESTAMP_UPDATED

C CREATED_AT and UPDATED_AT

D CREATED_ON and UPDATED_ON

You override const CREATED_AT and const UPDATED_AT in your model to customize timestamp column names.

If you want Laravel to stop updating timestamps but keep the columns, what do you do?

A Override the save method

B Delete the timestamp columns

C Set timestamps to nullable

D Set public $timestamps = false;

Disabling timestamps by setting public $timestamps = false; stops Laravel from updating those columns.

Explain how Laravel manages timestamps in Eloquent models and how you can customize or disable this feature.

Think about the default columns and how Laravel updates them automatically.

Describe the steps to add timestamps to a new Laravel database table and how to prevent Laravel from updating them automatically.

Consider both migration and model changes.