How to use timestamps to automatically update "created_at" and "updated_at" columns in Eloquent in Laravel?

In Laravel, you can use timestamps to automatically update the "created_at" and "updated_at" columns in your Eloquent models by utilizing the $timestamps property and the touch() method.

Add the $timestamps property to your Eloquent model:

public $timestamps = true;

Make sure that the corresponding columns (created_at and updated_at) exist in the table associated with your model. If they don't already exist, you can create them by running a migration:

php artisan make:migration add_timestamps_to_table_name --table=table_name

In the generated migration file, add the following code to create the required columns:

public function up()
{
    Schema::table('table_name', function (Blueprint $table) {
        $table->timestamps();
    });
}

Now, whenever you create or update a record using your model, the "created_at" and "updated_at" columns will be automatically maintained.

For example, to create a new model instance and save it:

$model = new Model;
$model->name = 'John Doe';
$model->save();

This will automatically update both the "created_at" and "updated_at" columns.

If you want to update only the "updated_at" timestamp without modifying any other attributes, you can call the touch() method on the model:

$model->touch();

This will update the "updated_at" column to the current timestamp.

Note: When working with timestamps, ensure that the corresponding columns have the correct data types (usually TIMESTAMP or equivalent) in your database schema.