Repository update does not respect readonly flag on CreateDateColumn or UpdateDateColumn

[jdforsythe]

Issue type:

[ ] question
[x] bug report
[ ] feature request
[ ] documentation issue

Database system/driver:

[ ] cordova
[ ] mongodb
[ ] mssql
[ ] mysql / mariadb
[ ] oracle
[x] postgres
[ ] sqlite
[ ] sqljs
[ ] react-native
[ ] expo

TypeORM version:

[ ] latest
[ ] @next
[x] 0.2.11 (or put your version here)

Related to:

#3271

Steps to reproduce or a small repository showing the problem:

I recently switched our update method to use repository.update() instead of repository.save() to prevent the needless extra SELECT before UPDATE.

pizza-route.ts

@JsonController('/pizzas')
export class PizzaController {
  private readonly pizzaRepository: Repository<Pizza>;

  constructor() {
    const connection: Connection = getConnectionManager().get();
    this.pizzaRepository = connection.getRepository<Pizza>(Pizza);
  }

  @Put('/:id')
  async put(@Param('id') id: number, @EntityFromBody({ required: true }) pizza: Pizza) {
    /* before */
    // return this.pizzaRepository.save(pizza);

    /* after */
    return this.pizzaRepository.update(id, pizza).then((res: UpdateResult) => {
      console.log(res); // always empty { generatedMaps: [], raw: [] }
      return pizza; // can't return updated DB object
   });
  }
}

I was surprised by two things:

1. It started throwing this same error from @CreateDateColumn and @UpdateDateColumn should use value if provided. #3271:

multiple assignments to same column \"updatedAt\".

I thought adding the readonly flag:

@UpdateDateColumn({ readonly: true }) updatedAt: Date;

would fix the problem, but the repository.update() method appears to ignore the readonly flag for the UpdateDateColumn() and CreateDateColumn().

2. The repository.update() method does not give access to the updated DB value like repository.save() does. I expected to see the query like:

UPDATE "pizza" SET "name" = $2, "updatedAt" = CURRENT_TIMESTAMP WHERE "id" = $1 RETURNING *

but the query was

UPDATE "pizza" SET "id" = $2, "name" = $3, "updatedAt" = $4, "updatedAt" = CURRENT_TIMESTAMP WHERE "id" = $1

with no RETURNING *. The UpdateResult doesn't contain the updated record from the DB and in my testing it's always completely empty:

{
  generatedMaps: [],
  raw: []
}

so even if the error wasn't occurring, I wouldn't be able to send a return object with the new updatedAt value or any other DB-calculated values back to the client without performing a subsequent SELECT

[pleerock]

by using update instead of save you disable lot of orm functionality, not just disabling additional select.

when you use @UpdateDateColumn typeorm suppose to manage its date on its own. If you don't need it - just create a regular column and update its date when you need it.

[pleerock]

I expected to see the query like: UPDATE "pizza" SET "name" = $2, "updatedAt" = CURRENT_TIMESTAMP WHERE "id" = $1 RETURNING *

some people can expect returning, some not. But update doesn't tell anything about returning - it just tells that it updates. That's why you don't have anything in returning result.

[jesslombera]

Even when I save the entity, it still does not update the @UpdateDateColumn

[pleerock]

@lomberas it can't be so, make sure you do everything right or file a new issue.