When two people attempt to update the same record near the same time, one of the updates will likely be overwritten. You can solve this problem with optimistic locking.
# migrations/011_add_products_lock_version.rb
add_column :products, :lock_version, :integer, :default => 0, :null => false
# products_controller.rb
def update
@product = Product.find(params[:id])
if @product.update_attributes(params[:product])
flash[:notice] = "Successfully updated product."
redirect_to product_path(@product)
else
render :action => 'edit'
end
rescue ActiveRecord::StaleObjectError
@product.reload
render :action => 'conflict'
end
<!-- _form.rhtml -->
<%= f.hidden_field :lock_version %>
<!-- conflict.rhtml -->
<% title "Edit Product Conflict" %>
Someone edited the product the same time you did. Please re-apply your changes to the product.
<h2>Your Submission:</h2>
<pre>
<% params[:product].each do |name, value| %>
<%=h name.humanize %>: <%=h value %>
<% end %>
</pre>
<h2>Edit Product:</h2>
<% form_for :product, :url => product_path(@product), :html => { :method => :put } do |f| %>
<%= render :partial => 'form', :locals => { :f => f } %>
<%= submit_tag 'Resolve' %>
<% end %>