Value of an attribute can't be updated within beforeInsert()

Question

I've a Grails 2.2.1 project having a domain named 'Question'. Within this domain, beforeinsert() currently look like this:

def beforeInsert() {
    dateCreated = new Date()
    dateModified = new Date()
}

I want to update dateCreated if this value is passed from a controller and if not, allow as it is. Here's my modification, but unfortunately its not working:

def beforeInsert() {
    dateCreated = dateCreated ? dateCreated : new Date()
    println dateCreated
    dateModified = new Date()
}

Even though println prints updated dateCreated value, when data inserted to database, dateCreated field gets the value of current timestamp every time. Any help appreciated :)

Answer 1

The reason why dateCreated is being automatically set for you is because of the default behavior of autoTimestamp. By default, when a property dateCreated exists on a domain class Grails will set this value for you.

You can disable this default behavior as such:

class Book {
    …
    static mapping = {
        autoTimestamp false
    }
}

You may want to check out the documentation as well.