Automating timestamps

For instance, we have a simple blog application. As in any blog, it has posts, comments, and so on. We would like to populate the timestamps during the create/update events for posts. Let us assume that our post model is named BlogPost model.

Getting ready

1. Create a new application using the Composer package manager, as described in the official guide at http://www.yiiframework.com/doc-2.0/guide-start-installation.html.

2. Set up the database connection and create a table named blog_post, as follows:

   DROP TABLE IF EXISTS 'blog_post';
   CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS 'blog_post' (
       'id' INT(10) UNSIGNED NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
       'title' VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
       'text' TEXT NOT NULL,
       'created_date' INTEGER,
       'modified_date'INTEGER,
        PRIMARY KEY  ('id')
   );

3. Use Gii to create a model for the blog_post table.

How to do it...

1. Add the following method to models/BlogPost.php:

   /**
   * @return array
   */
   public function behaviors()
   {
       return [
           'timestamp'=> [
        ...