Question

Given the following code:

def create
  @something = Something.new(params[:something])
  thing = @something.thing # another model

  # modification of attributes on both 'something' and 'thing' omitted

  # do I need to wrap it inside a transaction block?  
  @something.save
  thing.save
end

Would create method be wrapped in ActiveRecord transaction implicitly, or would I need to wrap it into the transaction block? If I do need to wrap it, would this be the best approach?

Answer 1

Brief answer : You need to explicitly wrap your code in a transaction block. Basically you must use transactions when you want to execute a group of SQL statements, to maintain referential integrity.

Something.transaction do 
  @something.save
  thing.save
end

Further reading: http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActiveRecord/Transactions/ClassMethods.html