[Proposal] Default value for Timestamp columns

[driesvints]

I posted a question at #368 a bit earlier that I should have investigated more before posting. Sorry for that.

But one question regarding this still remains: apparently you can't set a default value of CURRENT_TIMESTAMP at this point for timestamp columns because setting a default value through the DB scheme creator is currently hardcoded with single quotes around the values.

/**
 * Get the SQL for a default column modifier.
 *
 * @param  Illuminate\Database\Schema\Blueprint  $blueprint
 * @param  Illuminate\Support\Fluent  $column
 * @return string|null
 */
protected function modifyDefault(Blueprint $blueprint, Fluent $column)
{
    if ( ! is_null($column->default))
    {
        return " default '".$this->getDefaultValue($column->default)."'";
    }
}

Because of this you can't set default SQL constant values like CURRENT_TIMESTAMP because default 'CURRENT_TIMESTAMP' will return a syntax error for your SQL query.

Can this perhaps be reviewed so you can set SQL constants as default values?

[franzliedke]

@taylorotwell If you're interested in this, I could come up with a pull request for a wrapValue() method in the Grammar class. Something like that.

[darrenpowers]

I'm having the same problem. I want to do something like this:

$table->timestamp('updated_at')->default('CURRENT_TIMESTAMP ON UPDATE CURRENT_TIMESTAMP');

I know Laravel will update it automatically but I prefer the DB to be more responsible with data integrity as Laravel and web are not the only ways for data to be affected in our env.

[taylorotwell]

default now supports being passed stuff from DB::raw so you should be able to pass whatever you want now.

[frecklebit]

So how can we do this in a migration in L3?

[DeadDuck]

you can use:

$t->timestamp('created_at')->default(DB::raw('CURRENT_TIMESTAMP'));
$t->timestamp('updated_at')->default(DB::raw('CURRENT_TIMESTAMP on update CURRENT_TIMESTAMP'));

It would better be the default behaviour. So one could just use $table->timestamps() and wouldn't have to notice the situation and look for a solution.

[romack15]

where did the DB class came from? what's the complete namespace location?
Thanks @DeadDuck

[driesvints]

@romack15 the DB class is actually a Facade for Laravel's DB component. Check http://laravel.com/docs/5.1/facades#facade-class-reference for more info :)