WP_REST_Meta_Fields::update_meta_value( int $object_id, string $meta_key, string $name, mixed $value ): true|WP_Error

Compatibility

Present in every tracked release (6.7.7 to 7.1.0), and compiles on PHP 7.4 through 8.6-dev.

Parameters

$object_idint

Object ID to update.

$meta_keystring

Key for the custom field.

$namestring

Name for the field that is exposed in the REST API.

$valuemixed

Updated value.

Return value

true|WP_Error

True if the meta field was updated, WP_Error otherwise.

Performance profile

How much work a call to WP_REST_Meta_Fields::update_meta_value() does, and what it touches: the algorithmic scaling, the Zend instruction count per call across PHP versions, the hooks it hands control to, and the core code that calls it. Measured from the compiled opcodes, not a stopwatch, so every number is identical on any machine running the same PHP version, and every function in core is ranked by cost.

Cost class

Heavy

Reaches the database via get_term().

Scaling

Constant

No loop in the body: the same number of instructions runs whatever you pass in.

Instructions

33–70

Executed per call on PHP 8.5, depending on the branch taken. The body compiles to 89.

Plugin surface

None

Nothing here hands control to plugin code.

Called by

1

1 place in core call this, so the cost is paid more often than your own code shows.

What it touches

• hookthird-party callbacksapply_filters()one call below WP_REST_Meta_Fields::update_meta_value()
• cacheobject cachewp_cache_get()one call below WP_REST_Meta_Fields::update_meta_value()
• serializeserialisationmaybe_unserialize()one call below WP_REST_Meta_Fields::update_meta_value()
• querycontent queryget_term()one call below WP_REST_Meta_Fields::update_meta_value()

Further down the call graph this can also reach option and transient. Those are the worst case, several calls deep and usually down an error path, not what a normal call pays.

What one call costs · 7 distinct outcomes

One number would be a lie: the work depends on which branch runs. These are every distinct cost WP_REST_Meta_Fields::update_meta_value() can have, taken from its control-flow graph on PHP 8.5.

Uses · 10

• get_metadata_raw()Retrieves raw metadata value for the specified object.
• get_object_subtype()Returns the object subtype for a given object ID of a specific type.
• current_user_can()Returns whether the current user has the specified capability.
• __()Retrieves the translation of $text.
• rest_authorization_required_code()Returns a contextual HTTP error code for authorization failure.
• update_metadata()Updates metadata for the specified object. If no value already exists for the specified object ID and metadata key, the metadata will be added.
• wp_slash()Adds slashes to a string or recursively adds slashes to strings within an array.
• WP_REST_Meta_Fields::get_meta_type()Retrieves the object meta type.
• WP_REST_Meta_Fields::is_meta_value_same_as_stored_value()Checks if the user provided value is equivalent to a stored value for the given meta key.
• WP_Error::__construct()Initializes the error.

Used by · 1

• WP_REST_Meta_Fields::update_value()Updates meta values.

Source code

View on Trac ↗View on GitHub ↗

379	protected function update_meta_value( $object_id, $meta_key, $name, $value ) {380		$meta_type = $this->get_meta_type();381 382		// Do the exact same check for a duplicate value as in update_metadata() to avoid update_metadata() returning false.383		$old_value = get_metadata_raw( $meta_type, $object_id, $meta_key );384		$subtype   = get_object_subtype( $meta_type, $object_id );385 386		if ( is_array( $old_value ) && 1 === count( $old_value )387			&& $this->is_meta_value_same_as_stored_value( $meta_key, $subtype, $old_value[0], $value )388		) {389			return true;390		}391 392		if ( ! current_user_can( "edit_{$meta_type}_meta", $object_id, $meta_key ) ) {393			return new WP_Error(394				'rest_cannot_update',395				/* translators: %s: Custom field key. */396				sprintf( __( 'Sorry, you are not allowed to edit the %s custom field.' ), $name ),397				array(398					'key'    => $name,399					'status' => rest_authorization_required_code(),400				)401			);402		}403 404		if ( ! update_metadata( $meta_type, $object_id, wp_slash( $meta_key ), wp_slash( $value ) ) ) {405			return new WP_Error(406				'rest_meta_database_error',407				/* translators: %s: Custom field key. */408				sprintf( __( 'Could not update the meta value of %s in database.' ), $meta_key ),409				array(410					'key'    => $name,411					'status' => WP_Http::INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR,412				)413			);414		}415 416		return true;417	}

Changelog

Introduced in 4.7.0. Unchanged from 6.7.7 through 7.1.0.

1. 6.7.7
2. 6.8.8
3. 6.9.7
4. 7.0.4
5. 7.1.0

Signature, return type and hooks compared across 5 parsed releases.

About this page

Parsed data

Generated from the wordpress-develop 7.1.0 tag, from src/wp-includes/rest-api/fields/class-wp-rest-meta-fields.php, and regenerated for each WordPress release so it tracks the code rather than a snapshot of it.

Corrections

Something wrong on this page? Report it and it gets fixed in the next regeneration.