wp_update_attachment_metadata( int $attachment_id, array $data ): int|bool
- Since
- 2.1.0
- Source
wp-includes/post.php:7156
Compatibility
- WordPress
- since 2.1.0
- PHP
- 7.4–8.6-dev
- 6.7.7
- 6.8.8
- 6.9.7
- 7.0.4
- 7.1.0
Present in every tracked release (6.7.7 to 7.1.0), and compiles on PHP 7.4 through 8.6-dev.
Parameters
$attachment_idint- Attachment post ID.
$dataarray- Attachment meta data.
Return value
int|bool- Whether the metadata was successfully updated.
True on success, the Meta ID if the key didn't exist.
False if $post is invalid, on failure, or if $data is the same as the existing metadata.
Performance profile
How much work a call to wp_update_attachment_metadata() 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
- Scaling
- Constant
- Instructions
- 10–26
- Plugin surface
- 1 hook
- Called by
- 21
Reaches the database via get_post().
No loop in the body: the same number of instructions runs whatever you pass in.
Executed per call on PHP 8.5, depending on the branch taken. The body compiles to 34.
Third-party callbacks on 'wp_update_attachment_metadata' run inside this call, and their cost is not bounded by anything here.
21 places in core call this, so the cost is paid more often than your own code shows.
What it touches
- querycontent query
get_post()called directly - hookthird-party callbacks
apply_filters()called directly
Further down the call graph this can also reach serialize, cache, 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 · 3 distinct outcomes
One number would be a lie: the work depends on which branch runs. These are every distinct cost wp_update_attachment_metadata() can have, taken from its control-flow graph on PHP 8.5.
| When | Instructions | Calls it makes |
|---|---|---|
| always | 10 | get_post() |
| always | 25 | get_post(), apply_filters(), delete_post_meta() |
| always | 26 | get_post(), apply_filters(), update_post_meta() |
Across PHP versions
Compiles the same on PHP 7.4, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, 8.5 and 8.6-dev: 34 instructions, 10–26 executed per call, 2 branches. The work does not change between versions.
An instruction is not a fixed amount of time, so a matching count is not necessarily the same speed; what it rules out is a difference in the work itself.
Hooks and filters fired · 1
One hook fires while wp_update_attachment_metadata() runs, in this order:
- apply_filters( wp_update_attachment_metadata )filterline 7173 (+17 into the body)
Filters the updated attachment meta data.
Uses · 4
- get_post()Retrieves post data given a post ID or post object.
- apply_filters()Calls the callback functions that have been added to a filter hook.
- update_post_meta()Updates a post meta field based on the given post ID.
- delete_post_meta()Deletes a post meta field for the given post ID.
Used by · 21
- Custom_Background::handle_upload()Handles an Image upload for the background image.
- Custom_Image_Header::insert_attachment()Inserts an attachment and its metadata.
- Custom_Image_Header::step_2()Displays second step of custom header image page.
- WP_Customize_Manager::import_theme_starter_content()Imports theme starter content into the customized state.
- WP_REST_Attachments_Controller::create_item()Creates a single attachment.
- WP_REST_Attachments_Controller::edit_media_item()Applies edits to a media item and creates a new attachment record.
- WP_REST_Attachments_Controller::finalize_item()Finalizes an attachment after client-side media processing.
- WP_Site_Icon::insert_attachment()Inserts an attachment.
- _wp_make_subsizes()Low-level function to create image sub-sizes.
- edit_post()Updates an existing post with values provided in `$_POST`.
- media_handle_sideload()Handles a side-loaded file in the same way as an uploaded file is handled by media_handle_upload().
- media_handle_upload()Saves a file submitted from a POST request and create an attachment post for it.
Show all 21
- wp_ajax_crop_image()Handles cropping an image via AJAX.
- wp_ajax_save_attachment()Handles updating attachment attributes via AJAX.
- wp_create_image_subsizes()Creates image sub-sizes, adds the new data to the image meta `sizes` array, and updates the image metadata.
- wp_generate_attachment_metadata()Generates attachment meta data and create image sub-sizes for images.
- wp_maybe_generate_attachment_metadata()Maybe attempts to generate attachment metadata, if missing.
- wp_restore_image()Restores the metadata for a given attachment.
- wp_save_image()Saves image to post, along with enqueued changes in `$_REQUEST['history']`.
- wp_update_image_subsizes()If any of the currently registered image sub-sizes are missing, create them and update the image meta data.
- wp_xmlrpc_server::mw_newMediaObject()Uploads a file, following your settings.
Source code
function wp_update_attachment_metadata( $attachment_id, $data ) { $attachment_id = (int) $attachment_id; $post = get_post( $attachment_id ); if ( ! $post ) { return false; } /** * Filters the updated attachment meta data. * * @since 2.1.0 * * @param array $data Array of updated attachment meta data. * @param int $attachment_id Attachment post ID. */ $data = apply_filters( 'wp_update_attachment_metadata', $data, $post->ID ); if ( $data ) { return update_post_meta( $post->ID, '_wp_attachment_metadata', $data ); } else { return delete_post_meta( $post->ID, '_wp_attachment_metadata' ); }}Changelog
Introduced in 2.1.0. One change between 6.7.7 and 7.1.0.
Signature, return type and hooks compared across 5 parsed releases.
int|false to int|bool.verified against sourceAbout this page
- Parsed data
- Generated from the wordpress-develop 7.1.0 tag, from
src/wp-includes/post.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.