What is record_info used for when creating a Mnesia table?

record_info(fields, RecordName) is a compiler built-in that expands, at compile time, to the literal list of field names declared in a -record definition — it's the standard way to feed a table's attributes option without retyping the field list by hand.

-record(person, {id, name, age}).

mnesia:create_table(person,
    [{attributes, record_info(fields, person)}]).
%% expands to: {attributes, [id, name, age]}

Using record_info/2 instead of a hardcoded list keeps the table definition and the record definition from silently drifting apart — if you add a field to the -record, the attributes list picks it up automatically the next time the module compiles, rather than requiring you to remember to update two separate places by hand.

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