ActiveRecord before_save callback not working with update_attributes method

I'm sorry, the patch I submitted was wrong.

I can't reproduce the error in a fresh application.

The main difference between the fresh application from which I created the patch and the one is failing is that in the one that fails I'm using RSpec2 instead of TestUnit, I don't know if that may be related to the issue.

What I actually have in my code is:

before_save :copy_first_release_info

private 

def copy_first_release_info
  if original_release?
    self.first_release_editor = editor
    self.first_release_year = year
    self.first_release_country = country
  end
end

in my model, and

it "should copy edition info into first release info before save if original release is set to true" do
  album = Album.create(:artist => "Lovin' Spoonful", :title => "Do you believe in magic",
    :editor => "Kama Sutra",
    :year => 1965,
    :country => "USA",
    :original_release => true
  )
  
  album.reload
  album.first_release_editor.should == "Kama Sutra"
  album.first_release_year.should == 1965
  album.first_release_country.should == "USA"
  
  album.update_attribute(:country, "United States of America")
  album.reload
  album.first_release_country.should == "United States of America"
end

in my spec. The last should fails and I can't see why, because if I change the update_attribute call by an assignation and a save call it works fine.

Sorry again.

I found out my mistake. The method that fails is update_attribute. So my previous diff didn't fail because I was using update_attributes.

I attach the right patch now.

After a quick look at the AR source code it seems that skipping callbacks in this method is intentional:

# Updates a single attribute and saves the record.  
# This is especially useful for boolean flags on existing records. Also note that
#
# * validation is skipped
# * No callbacks are invoked 
# * updated_at/updated_on column is updated if that column is available
# * does not work on associations
# * does not work on attr_accessor attributes. The attribute that is being updated must be column name.