after_update is called when the object is only created

Question

I have two classes and a belongs_to association:

class User < ActiveRecord::Base
  belongs_to :foo

  before_update do |user|
    self.foo = Foo.create
    self.foo.save
  end
end

class Foo < ActiveRecord::Base
  after_update do |foo|
    puts "after update is called"
  end
end

When a user is updated, i create a foo and save it. But when i do that the after_update callback in the Foo is being called, which as far as i know is only called when the record is updated not created. What am i doing wrong?

Answer 1

Foo#after_update is being called because you are calling save on foo after creating it. So you are creating foo and then updating it after. Remove the call to self.foo.save

before_update do |user|
  self.foo = Foo.create  # this creates foo
  self.foo.save          # this updates foo
end