[mysql] Having both a Created and Last Updated timestamp columns in MySQL 4.0

I have the following table schema;

CREATE TABLE `db1`.`sms_queue` (
  `Id` INTEGER UNSIGNED NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
  `Message` VARCHAR(160) NOT NULL DEFAULT 'Unknown Message Error',
  `CurrentState` VARCHAR(10) NOT NULL DEFAULT 'None',
  `Phone` VARCHAR(14) DEFAULT NULL,
  `Created` TIMESTAMP NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
  `LastUpdated` TIMESTAMP NOT NULL ON UPDATE CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
  `TriesLeft` tinyint NOT NULL DEFAULT 3,
  PRIMARY KEY (`Id`)
)
ENGINE = InnoDB;

It fails with the following error:

ERROR 1293 (HY000): Incorrect table definition; there can be only one TIMESTAMP column with CURRENT_TIMESTAMP in DEFAULT or ON UPDATE clause.

My question is, can I have both of those fields? or do I have to manually set a LastUpdated field during each transaction?

This question is related to mysql mysql-error-1293

The answer is


If you do decide to have MySQL handle the update of timestamps, you can set up a trigger to update the field on insert.

CREATE TRIGGER <trigger_name> BEFORE INSERT ON <table_name> FOR EACH ROW SET NEW.<timestamp_field> = CURRENT_TIMESTAMP;

MySQL Reference: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/triggers.html


You can have them both, just take off the "CURRENT_TIMESTAMP" flag on the created field. Whenever you create a new record in the table, just use "NOW()" for a value.

Or.

On the contrary, remove the 'ON UPDATE CURRENT_TIMESTAMP' flag and send the NOW() for that field. That way actually makes more sense.


This issue seemed to have been resolved in MySQL 5.6. I have noticed this until MySQL 5.5; here is an example code:

DROP TABLE IF EXISTS `provider_org_group` ;
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `provider_org_group` (
  `id` INT NOT NULL,
  `name` VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL,
  `type` VARCHAR(100) NULL,
  `inserted` TIMESTAMP NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
  `insert_src_ver_id` INT NULL,
  `updated` TIMESTAMP NULL ON UPDATE CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
  `update_src_ver_id` INT NULL,
  `version` INT NULL,
  PRIMARY KEY (`id`),
  UNIQUE INDEX `id_UNIQUE` (`id` ASC),
  UNIQUE INDEX `name_UNIQUE` (`name` ASC))
ENGINE = InnoDB;

Running this on MySQL 5.5 gives:

ERROR 1293 (HY000): Incorrect table definition; there can be only one TIMESTAMP column with CURRENT_TIMESTAMP in DEFAULT or ON UPDATE clause

Running this on MySQL 5.6

0 row(s) affected   0.093 sec

This is how can you have automatic & flexible createDate/lastModified fields using triggers:

First define them like this:

CREATE TABLE `entity` (
  `entityid` int(11) NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
  `createDate` timestamp NOT NULL DEFAULT '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
  `lastModified` timestamp NOT NULL DEFAULT '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
  `name` varchar(255) DEFAULT NULL,
  `comment` text,
  PRIMARY KEY (`entityid`),
)

Then add these triggers:

DELIMITER ;;
CREATE trigger entityinsert BEFORE INSERT ON entity FOR EACH ROW BEGIN SET NEW.createDate=IF(ISNULL(NEW.createDate) OR NEW.createDate='0000-00-00 00:00:00', CURRENT_TIMESTAMP, IF(NEW.createDate<CURRENT_TIMESTAMP, NEW.createDate, CURRENT_TIMESTAMP));SET NEW.lastModified=NEW.createDate; END;;
DELIMITER ;
CREATE trigger entityupdate BEFORE UPDATE ON entity FOR EACH ROW SET NEW.lastModified=IF(NEW.lastModified<OLD.lastModified, OLD.lastModified, CURRENT_TIMESTAMP);
  • If you insert without specifying createDate or lastModified, they will be equal and set to the current timestamp.
  • If you update them without specifying createDate or lastModified, the lastModified will be set to the current timestamp.

But here's the nice part:

  • If you insert, you can specify a createDate older than the current timestamp, allowing imports from older times to work well (lastModified will be equal to createDate).
  • If you update, you can specify a lastModified older than the previous value ('0000-00-00 00:00:00' works well), allowing to update an entry if you're doing cosmetic changes (fixing a typo in a comment) and you want to keep the old lastModified date. This will not modify the lastModified date.

For mysql 5.7.21 I use the following and works fine:

CREATE TABLE Posts ( modified_at timestamp NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP ON UPDATE CURRENT_TIMESTAMP, created_at timestamp NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP )


There is a trick to have both timestamps, but with a little limitation.

You can use only one of the definitions in one table. Create both timestamp columns like so:

create table test_table( 
  id integer not null auto_increment primary key, 
  stamp_created timestamp default '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 
  stamp_updated timestamp default now() on update now() 
); 

Note that it is necessary to enter null into both columns during insert:

mysql> insert into test_table(stamp_created, stamp_updated) values(null, null); 
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.06 sec)

mysql> select * from test_table; 
+----+---------------------+---------------------+ 
| id | stamp_created       | stamp_updated       |
+----+---------------------+---------------------+
|  2 | 2009-04-30 09:44:35 | 2009-04-30 09:44:35 |
+----+---------------------+---------------------+
2 rows in set (0.00 sec)  

mysql> update test_table set id = 3 where id = 2; 
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.05 sec) Rows matched: 1  Changed: 1  Warnings: 0  

mysql> select * from test_table;
+----+---------------------+---------------------+
| id | stamp_created       | stamp_updated       | 
+----+---------------------+---------------------+ 
|  3 | 2009-04-30 09:44:35 | 2009-04-30 09:46:59 | 
+----+---------------------+---------------------+ 
2 rows in set (0.00 sec)  

As of MySQL 5.6 its easy-peasy... give it a try:

create table tweet ( 
    id integer not null auto_increment primary key, 
    stamp_created timestamp default now(), 
    stamp_updated timestamp default now() on update now(),
    message varchar(163)
)

This is how can you have automatic & flexible createDate/lastModified fields using triggers:

First define them like this:

CREATE TABLE `entity` (
  `entityid` int(11) NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
  `createDate` timestamp NOT NULL DEFAULT '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
  `lastModified` timestamp NOT NULL DEFAULT '0000-00-00 00:00:00',
  `name` varchar(255) DEFAULT NULL,
  `comment` text,
  PRIMARY KEY (`entityid`),
)

Then add these triggers:

DELIMITER ;;
CREATE trigger entityinsert BEFORE INSERT ON entity FOR EACH ROW BEGIN SET NEW.createDate=IF(ISNULL(NEW.createDate) OR NEW.createDate='0000-00-00 00:00:00', CURRENT_TIMESTAMP, IF(NEW.createDate<CURRENT_TIMESTAMP, NEW.createDate, CURRENT_TIMESTAMP));SET NEW.lastModified=NEW.createDate; END;;
DELIMITER ;
CREATE trigger entityupdate BEFORE UPDATE ON entity FOR EACH ROW SET NEW.lastModified=IF(NEW.lastModified<OLD.lastModified, OLD.lastModified, CURRENT_TIMESTAMP);
  • If you insert without specifying createDate or lastModified, they will be equal and set to the current timestamp.
  • If you update them without specifying createDate or lastModified, the lastModified will be set to the current timestamp.

But here's the nice part:

  • If you insert, you can specify a createDate older than the current timestamp, allowing imports from older times to work well (lastModified will be equal to createDate).
  • If you update, you can specify a lastModified older than the previous value ('0000-00-00 00:00:00' works well), allowing to update an entry if you're doing cosmetic changes (fixing a typo in a comment) and you want to keep the old lastModified date. This will not modify the lastModified date.

i think this is the better query for stamp_created and stamp_updated

CREATE TABLE test_table( 
    id integer not null auto_increment primary key, 
    stamp_created TIMESTAMP DEFAULT now(), 
    stamp_updated TIMESTAMP DEFAULT '0000-00-00 00:00:00' ON UPDATE now() 
); 

because when the record created, stamp_created should be filled by now() and stamp_updated should be filled by '0000-00-00 00:00:00'


create table test_table( 
id integer not null auto_increment primary key, 
stamp_created timestamp default '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 
stamp_updated timestamp default now() on update now() 
); 

source: http://gusiev.com/2009/04/update-and-create-timestamps-with-mysql/


You can have them both, just take off the "CURRENT_TIMESTAMP" flag on the created field. Whenever you create a new record in the table, just use "NOW()" for a value.

Or.

On the contrary, remove the 'ON UPDATE CURRENT_TIMESTAMP' flag and send the NOW() for that field. That way actually makes more sense.


As of MySQL 5.6 its easy-peasy... give it a try:

create table tweet ( 
    id integer not null auto_increment primary key, 
    stamp_created timestamp default now(), 
    stamp_updated timestamp default now() on update now(),
    message varchar(163)
)

If you do decide to have MySQL handle the update of timestamps, you can set up a trigger to update the field on insert.

CREATE TRIGGER <trigger_name> BEFORE INSERT ON <table_name> FOR EACH ROW SET NEW.<timestamp_field> = CURRENT_TIMESTAMP;

MySQL Reference: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/triggers.html


There is a trick to have both timestamps, but with a little limitation.

You can use only one of the definitions in one table. Create both timestamp columns like so:

create table test_table( 
  id integer not null auto_increment primary key, 
  stamp_created timestamp default '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 
  stamp_updated timestamp default now() on update now() 
); 

Note that it is necessary to enter null into both columns during insert:

mysql> insert into test_table(stamp_created, stamp_updated) values(null, null); 
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.06 sec)

mysql> select * from test_table; 
+----+---------------------+---------------------+ 
| id | stamp_created       | stamp_updated       |
+----+---------------------+---------------------+
|  2 | 2009-04-30 09:44:35 | 2009-04-30 09:44:35 |
+----+---------------------+---------------------+
2 rows in set (0.00 sec)  

mysql> update test_table set id = 3 where id = 2; 
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.05 sec) Rows matched: 1  Changed: 1  Warnings: 0  

mysql> select * from test_table;
+----+---------------------+---------------------+
| id | stamp_created       | stamp_updated       | 
+----+---------------------+---------------------+ 
|  3 | 2009-04-30 09:44:35 | 2009-04-30 09:46:59 | 
+----+---------------------+---------------------+ 
2 rows in set (0.00 sec)  

My web host is stuck on version 5.1 of mysql so anyone like me that doesn't have the option of upgrading can follow these directions:

http://joegornick.com/2009/12/30/mysql-created-and-modified-date-fields/


For mysql 5.7.21 I use the following and works fine:

CREATE TABLE Posts ( modified_at timestamp NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP ON UPDATE CURRENT_TIMESTAMP, created_at timestamp NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP )


My web host is stuck on version 5.1 of mysql so anyone like me that doesn't have the option of upgrading can follow these directions:

http://joegornick.com/2009/12/30/mysql-created-and-modified-date-fields/


This issue seemed to have been resolved in MySQL 5.6. I have noticed this until MySQL 5.5; here is an example code:

DROP TABLE IF EXISTS `provider_org_group` ;
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `provider_org_group` (
  `id` INT NOT NULL,
  `name` VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL,
  `type` VARCHAR(100) NULL,
  `inserted` TIMESTAMP NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
  `insert_src_ver_id` INT NULL,
  `updated` TIMESTAMP NULL ON UPDATE CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
  `update_src_ver_id` INT NULL,
  `version` INT NULL,
  PRIMARY KEY (`id`),
  UNIQUE INDEX `id_UNIQUE` (`id` ASC),
  UNIQUE INDEX `name_UNIQUE` (`name` ASC))
ENGINE = InnoDB;

Running this on MySQL 5.5 gives:

ERROR 1293 (HY000): Incorrect table definition; there can be only one TIMESTAMP column with CURRENT_TIMESTAMP in DEFAULT or ON UPDATE clause

Running this on MySQL 5.6

0 row(s) affected   0.093 sec

You can have them both, just take off the "CURRENT_TIMESTAMP" flag on the created field. Whenever you create a new record in the table, just use "NOW()" for a value.

Or.

On the contrary, remove the 'ON UPDATE CURRENT_TIMESTAMP' flag and send the NOW() for that field. That way actually makes more sense.


create table test_table( 
id integer not null auto_increment primary key, 
stamp_created timestamp default '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 
stamp_updated timestamp default now() on update now() 
); 

source: http://gusiev.com/2009/04/update-and-create-timestamps-with-mysql/