Method: ActiveRecord::Relation#delete_all

Defined in:

activerecord/lib/active_record/relation.rb

#delete_all ⇒ Object

Deletes the records without instantiating the records first, and hence not calling the #destroy method nor invoking callbacks. This is a single SQL DELETE statement that goes straight to the database, much more efficient than #destroy_all. Be careful with relations though, in particular :dependent rules defined on associations are not honored. Returns the number of rows affected.

Post.where(person_id: 5).where(category: ['Something', 'Else']).delete_all

Both calls delete the affected posts all at once with a single DELETE statement. If you need to destroy dependent associations or call your before_* or after_destroy callbacks, use the #destroy_all method instead.

If an invalid method is supplied, #delete_all raises an ActiveRecordError:

Post.distinct.delete_all
# => ActiveRecord::ActiveRecordError: delete_all doesn't support distinct

# File 'activerecord/lib/active_record/relation.rb', line 1011

def delete_all
  return 0 if @none

  invalid_methods = INVALID_METHODS_FOR_DELETE_ALL.select do |method|
    value = @values[method]
    method == :distinct ? value : value&.any?
  end
  if invalid_methods.any?
    raise ActiveRecordError.new("delete_all doesn't support #{invalid_methods.join(', ')}")
  end

  model.with_connection do |c|
    arel = eager_loading? ? apply_join_dependency.arel : build_arel(c)
    arel.source.left = table

    group_values_arel_columns = arel_columns(group_values.uniq)
    having_clause_ast = having_clause.ast unless having_clause.empty?
    key = if model.composite_primary_key?
      primary_key.map { |pk| table[pk] }
    else
      table[primary_key]
    end
    stmt = arel.compile_delete(key, having_clause_ast, group_values_arel_columns)

    c.delete(stmt, "#{model} Delete All").tap { reset }
  end
end