Why doesn't MySQL support millisecond / microsecond precision?

doctrine, mysql, php

Solution

I found a workaround! It is very clean and doesn't require any application code changes. This works for Doctrine, and can be applied to other ORM's as well.

Basically, store the timestamp as a string.

Comparisons and sorting works if the date string is formatted correctly. MySQL time functions will truncate the microsecond portion when passed a date string. This is okay if microsecond precision isn't needed for `date_diff` etc.

SELECT DATEDIFF('2010-04-04 17:24:42.000000','2010-04-04 17:24:42.999999');
> 0

SELECT microsecond('2010-04-04 17:24:42.021343');
> 21343

I ended up writing a `MicroTimestampable` class that will implement this. I just annotate my fields as `actAs:MicroTimestampable` and voila, microtime precision with MySQL and Doctrine.

Doctrine_Template_MicroTimestampable

class Doctrine_Template_MicroTimestampable extends Doctrine_Template_Timestampable
{
    /**
     * Array of Timestampable options
     *
     * @var string
     */
    protected $_options = array('created' =>  array('name'          =>  'created_at',
                                                    'alias'         =>  null,
                                                    'type'          =>  'string(30)',
                                                    'format'        =>  'Y-m-d H:i:s',
                                                    'disabled'      =>  false,
                                                    'expression'    =>  false,
                                                    'options'       =>  array('notnull' => true)),
                                'updated' =>  array('name'          =>  'updated_at',
                                                    'alias'         =>  null,
                                                    'type'          =>  'string(30)',
                                                    'format'        =>  'Y-m-d H:i:s',
                                                    'disabled'      =>  false,
                                                    'expression'    =>  false,
                                                    'onInsert'      =>  true,
                                                    'options'       =>  array('notnull' => true)));

    /**
     * Set table definition for Timestampable behavior
     *
     * @return void
     */
    public function setTableDefinition()
    {
        if ( ! $this->_options['created']['disabled']) {
            $name = $this->_options['created']['name'];
            if ($this->_options['created']['alias']) {
                $name .= ' as ' . $this->_options['created']['alias'];
            }
            $this->hasColumn($name, $this->_options['created']['type'], null, $this->_options['created']['options']);
        }

        if ( ! $this->_options['updated']['disabled']) {
            $name = $this->_options['updated']['name'];
            if ($this->_options['updated']['alias']) {
                $name .= ' as ' . $this->_options['updated']['alias'];
            }
            $this->hasColumn($name, $this->_options['updated']['type'], null, $this->_options['updated']['options']);
        }

        $this->addListener(new Doctrine_Template_Listener_MicroTimestampable($this->_options));
    }
}

Doctrine_Template_Listener_MicroTimestampable

class Doctrine_Template_Listener_MicroTimestampable extends Doctrine_Template_Listener_Timestampable
{
    protected $_options = array();

    /**
     * __construct
     *
     * @param string $options 
     * @return void
     */
    public function __construct(array $options)
    {
        $this->_options = $options;
    }

    /**
     * Gets the timestamp in the correct format based on the way the behavior is configured
     *
     * @param string $type 
     * @return void
     */
    public function getTimestamp($type, $conn = null)
    {
        $options = $this->_options[$type];

        if ($options['expression'] !== false && is_string($options['expression'])) {
            return new Doctrine_Expression($options['expression'], $conn);
        } else {
            if ($options['type'] == 'date') {
                return date($options['format'], time().".".microtime());
            } else if ($options['type'] == 'timestamp') {
                return date($options['format'], time().".".microtime());
            } else {
                return time().".".microtime();
            }
        }
    }
}

Problem

So I just found the most frustrating bug ever in MySQL. Apparently the `TIMESTAMP` field, and supporting functions do not support any greater precision than seconds!? So I am using PHP and Doctrine, and I really need those microseconds (I am using the `actAs: [Timestampable]` property). I found a that I can use a `BIGINT` field to store the values. But will doctrine add the milliseconds? I think it just assigns NOW() to the field. I am also worried the date manipulation functions (in SQL) sprinkled through the code will break. I also saw something about compiling a UDF extension. This is not an acceptable because I or a future maintainer will upgrade and poof, change gone. Has anyone found a suitable workaround?

Original source