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<div>
<h2 class="title"><a id="txnconcurrency"></a>Chapter 4. Concurrency</h2>
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<div class="toc">
<p>
<b>Table of Contents</b>
</p>
<dl>
<dt>
<span class="sect1">
<a href="txnconcurrency.html#concurrenthandles">Which DB Handles are Free-Threaded</a>
</span>
</dt>
<dt>
<span class="sect1">
<a href="blocking_deadlocks.html">Locks, Blocks, and Deadlocks</a>
</span>
</dt>
<dd>
<dl>
<dt>
<span class="sect2">
<a href="blocking_deadlocks.html#locks">Locks</a>
</span>
</dt>
<dt>
<span class="sect2">
<a href="blocking_deadlocks.html#blocks">Blocks</a>
</span>
</dt>
<dt>
<span class="sect2">
<a href="blocking_deadlocks.html#deadlocks">Deadlocks</a>
</span>
</dt>
</dl>
</dd>
<dt>
<span class="sect1">
<a href="lockingsubsystem.html">The Locking Subsystem</a>
</span>
</dt>
<dd>
<dl>
<dt>
<span class="sect2">
<a href="lockingsubsystem.html#configuringlock">Configuring the Locking Subsystem</a>
</span>
</dt>
<dt>
<span class="sect2">
<a href="lockingsubsystem.html#configdeadlkdetect">Configuring Deadlock Detection</a>
</span>
</dt>
<dt>
<span class="sect2">
<a href="lockingsubsystem.html#deadlockresolve">Resolving Deadlocks</a>
</span>
</dt>
</dl>
</dd>
<dt>
<span class="sect1">
<a href="isolation.html">Isolation</a>
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</dt>
<dd>
<dl>
<dt>
<span class="sect2">
<a href="isolation.html#degreesofisolation">Supported Degrees of Isolation</a>
</span>
</dt>
<dt>
<span class="sect2">
<a href="isolation.html#dirtyreads">Reading Uncommitted Data</a>
</span>
</dt>
<dt>
<span class="sect2">
<a href="isolation.html#readcommitted">Committed Reads</a>
</span>
</dt>
<dt>
<span class="sect2">
<a href="isolation.html#snapshot_isolation">Using Snapshot Isolation</a>
</span>
</dt>
</dl>
</dd>
<dt>
<span class="sect1">
<a href="txn_ccursor.html">Transactional Cursors and Concurrent Applications</a>
</span>
</dt>
<dd>
<dl>
<dt>
<span class="sect2">
<a href="txn_ccursor.html#cursordirtyreads">Using Cursors with Uncommitted Data</a>
</span>
</dt>
</dl>
</dd>
<dt>
<span class="sect1">
<a href="readmodifywrite.html">Read/Modify/Write</a>
</span>
</dt>
<dt>
<span class="sect1">
<a href="txnnowait.html">No Wait on Blocks</a>
</span>
</dt>
<dt>
<span class="sect1">
<a href="reversesplit.html">Reverse BTree Splits</a>
</span>
</dt>
</dl>
</div>
<p>
DB offers a great deal of support for multi-threaded
<span>
and multi-process
</span>
applications even when transactions are not in use. Many of DB's
handles are
thread-safe<span>, or
can be made thread-safe by providing the appropriate flag at handle creation time,</span>
and DB provides a
flexible locking subsystem for managing databases in a concurrent
application. Further, DB provides a robust mechanism for
detecting and responding to deadlocks. All of these concepts are
explored in this chapter.
</p>
<p>
Before continuing, it is useful to define a few terms that will appear
throughout this chapter:
</p>
<div class="itemizedlist">
<ul type="disc">
<li>
<p>
<span class="emphasis"><em>Thread of control</em></span>
</p>
<p>
Refers to a thread that is performing work in your application.
Typically, in this book that thread will be performing DB
operations.
</p>
<p>
Note that this term can also be taken to mean a separate process
that is performing work — DB supports multi-process
operations on your databases.
</p>
<p>
Also, DB is agnostic with regard to the type or style of
threads in use in your application. So if you are using
multiple threads
(as opposed to multiple processes) to perform concurrent
database access, you are free to use whatever thread package is
best for your platform and application. That said, this manual
will use pthreads for its threading examples because those have
the best chance of being supported across a large range of
platforms.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
<span class="emphasis"><em>Locking</em></span>
</p>
<p>
When a thread of control obtains
access to a shared resource, it is said to be
<span class="emphasis"><em>locking</em></span> that resource. Note that
DB supports both exclusive and non-exclusive locks. See
<a href="blocking_deadlocks.html#locks">Locks</a> for more information.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
<span class="emphasis"><em>Free-threaded</em></span>
</p>
<p>
Data structures and objects are free-threaded if they can be
shared across threads of control without any explicit locking on
the part of the application. Some books, libraries, and
programming languages may use the term
<span class="emphasis"><em>thread-safe</em></span> for data structures or objects
that have this characteristic. The two terms mean the
same thing.
</p>
<p>
For a description of free-threaded DB objects, see
<a href="txnconcurrency.html#concurrenthandles">Which DB Handles are Free-Threaded</a>.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
<span class="emphasis"><em>Blocked</em></span>
</p>
<p>
When a thread cannot obtain a lock because some other
thread already holds a lock on that object, the lock
attempt is said to be <span class="emphasis"><em>blocked</em></span>. See
<a href="blocking_deadlocks.html#blocks">Blocks</a> for more information.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
<span class="emphasis"><em>Deadlock</em></span>
</p>
<p>
Occurs when two or more threads of control attempt to access conflicting resource in such a way as none
of the threads can any longer may further progress.
</p>
<p>
For example, if Thread A is blocked waiting for a resource held by Thread
B, while at the same time Thread B is blocked waiting for a
resource held by Thread A, then neither thread can make any
forward progress. In this situation, Thread A and Thread B
are said to be <span class="emphasis"><em>deadlocked.</em></span>
</p>
<p>
For more information, see <a href="blocking_deadlocks.html#deadlocks">Deadlocks</a>.
</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="sect1" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
<div class="titlepage">
<div>
<div>
<h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="concurrenthandles"></a>Which DB Handles are Free-Threaded</h2>
</div>
</div>
<div></div>
</div>
<p>
The following describes to what extent and under what conditions
individual handles are free-threaded.
</p>
<div class="itemizedlist">
<ul type="disc">
<li>
<p>
<tt class="classname">DbEnv</tt>
</p>
<p>
Free-threaded so long as
<span>
the <tt class="literal">DB_THREAD</tt> flag is provided to
the environment <tt class="methodname">open()</tt>
method.
</span>
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
<tt class="classname">Db</tt>
</p>
<p>
Free-threaded so long as
<span>
the <tt class="literal">DB_THREAD</tt> flag is provided to
the database <tt class="methodname">open()</tt>
method, or if the database is opened using a
free-threaded environment handle.
</span>
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
<tt class="classname">Dbc</tt>
</p>
<p>
Cursors are not free-threaded. However, they
can be used by multiple threads of control so
long as the application serializes access to the handle.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
<tt class="classname">DbTxn</tt>
</p>
<p>
Access must be serialized by the application across threads of control.
</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
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