Synchronize access to JPA EntityManager - spring

I am using Spring, Hibernate and JPA Entity Manager. When fetching different regions of the UI concurrently (via jquery/ajax) , I would like to synchronise access to JPA Entity Manager, as otherwise it results in shared references to collections exception. How do I achieve this ? I have a controller that calls service methods in the backend which are responsible for calling get/save etc on entitymanager.

You can apply lock on the object with specific mode.
Entity Manager : entityManager.lock(entity, LockModeType.OPTIMISTIC);
Query : query.setLockMode(LockModeType.OPTIMISTIC);
NamedQuery : lockMode element
Lock mode OPTIMISTIC is synonymous to READ & OPTIMISTIC_FORCE_INCREMENT to WRITE.
Edit : From Documentation
If transaction T1 calls for a lock of type LockModeType.OPTIMISTIC on
a versioned object, the entity manager must ensure that neither of the
following phenomena can occur:
P1 (Dirty read): Transaction T1 modifies a row. Another transaction T2 then reads that row and obtains the modified value, before T1 has
committed or rolled back. Transaction T2 eventually commits
successfully; it does not matter whether T1 commits or rolls back and
whether it does so before or after T2 commits.
P2 (Non-repeatable read): Transaction T1 reads a row. Another transaction T2 then modifies or deletes that row, before T1 has
committed. Both transactions eventually commit successfully.
Lock modes must always prevent the phenomena P1 and P2.

Related

Why Update using #Query in Spring Data Jpa requires #Transactional

I am new to spring boot. I use spring data jpa to deal with database. I have a method to update a table in the database using #Query. But when I try to update I get an exception of invalidDataAccessApiUsageException. when I tried it with #Transactional it gets updated successfully. Aren't updates a single operation so wouldn't it get committed automatically.
There are 2 ways in which transaction execute in SQL
Implicit -> One that means database, while running the write query(UPDATE, INSERT ....), create an isolation and then execute. If an error occurs, the isolation is discarded and no change will be written.
Explicit -> In this you explicitly specify the isolation start using BEGIN , discarding by ROLLBACK and finally writing by COMMIT
Initial versions of postgres (<7.4) had a configuration to called AUTOCOMMIT which when set off, will DISABLE implicit transactions. But this was disabled in 2003 since the databases were smart enough to discard isolations and not create inconsistencies.
In a nutshell at any point running following queries
UPDATE table_name WHERE id IN (....)
or
BEGIN
UPDATE table_name WHERE id IN (....)
COMMIT
are EXACTLY the same.
In JPA autocommit is now just a runtime validation for write queries.

Many paralllel transactions vs transaction isolation level in Oracle DB

My app retrieves requests using Weblogic Server, EJB, EclipseLink as a ORM.
The business logic looks as follows.
Select all records from table A where A.col = 'ABC' (ABS is a value from request)
If none of them satisfy some condition, create new one.
Now suppose that 10 parallel requests have been sent with the same payload.
I have a default isolation level in my Oracle DB (READ_COMMITED). In this case, many transactions are performed in parallel:
Req1 start T1
Req2 start T2
T1 select rows
T2 select rows
T1 insert new one (no rows with col = 'ABC')
T1 COMMIT
T2 insert new one (no rows with col = 'ABC')
T2 COMMIT
As a result, 1-10 rows are created instead of 1.
Oracle doesn't have REPEATABLE_READS isolation level. SERIALIZABLE has a negative impact to throughput.
PESSIMISTIC_WRITE lock mode is the solution.
PESSIMISTIC_WRITE acquire exclusive lock on selected row using FOR UPDATE (Oracle). JPA takes LockModeType as a one of method argument, e.g. in find method.
Of course, consistency at the expense of throughput.

Database read locking

I have a use case where I need to do the following things in one transaction:
start the transaction
INSERT an item into a table
SELECT all the items in the table
dump the selected items into a file (this file is versioned and another program always uses the latest version)
If all the above things succeed, commit the transaction, if not, rollback.
If two transactions begin almost simultaneously, it is possible that before the first transaction A commits what it has inserted into the table (step 4), the second transaction B has already performed the SELECT operation(step 2) whose result doesn't contain yet the inserted item by the first transaction(as it is not yet committed by A, so not visible to B). In this case, when A finishes, it will have correctly dumped a file File1 containing its inserted item. Later, B finishes, it will have dumped another file File2 containing only its inserted item but not the one inserted by A. Since File2 is more recent, we will use File2. The problem is that File2 doesn't contain the item inserted by A even though this item is well in the DB.
I would like to know if it is feasible to solve this problem by locking the read(SELECT) of the table when a transaction inserts something into the table until its commit or rollback and if yes, how this locking can be implemented in Spring with Oracle as DB.
You need some sort of synchronization between the transactions:
start the transaction
Obtain a lock to prevent the transaction in another session to proceed or wait until the transaction in the other session finishes
INSERT an item into a table
SELECT ......
......
Commit and release the lock
The easiest way is to use LOCK TABLE command, at least in SHARE mode (SHARE ROW EXCLUSIVE or EXCLUSIVE modes can also be used, but they are too restrictve for this case).
The advantage of this approach is that the lock is automatically released at commit or rollback.
The disadvantage is a fact, that this lock can interfere with other transactions in the system that update this table at the same time, and could reduce an overall performance.
Another approach is to use DBMS_LOCK package. This lock doesn't affect other transactions that don't explicitely use that lock. The drawaback is that this package is difficult to use, the lock is not released on commit nor rollback, you must explicitelly release the lock at the end of the transaction, and thus all exceptions must be carefully handled, othervise a deadlock easily could occur.
One more solution is to create a "dummy" table with a single row in it, for example:
CREATE TABLE my_special_lock_table(
int x
);
INSERT INTO my_special_lock_table VALUES(1);
COMMIT:
and then use SELECT x FROM my_special_lock_table FOR UPDATE
or - even easier - simple UPDATE my_special_lock_table SET x=x in your transaction.
This will place an exclusive lock on a row in this table and synchronize only this one transaction.
A drawback is that another "dummy" table must be created.
But this solution doesn't affect the other transactions in the system, the lock is automatically released upon commit or rollback, and it is portable - it should work in all other databases, not only in Oracle.
Use spring's REPEATABLE_READ or SERIALIZABLE isolation levels:
REPEATABLE_READ A constant indicating that dirty reads and
non-repeatable reads are prevented; phantom reads can occur. This
level prohibits a transaction from reading a row with uncommitted
changes in it, and it also prohibits the situation where one
transaction reads a row, a second transaction alters the row, and the
first transaction rereads the row, getting different values the second
time (a "non-repeatable read").
SERIALIZABLE A constant indicating that dirty reads, non-repeatable
reads and phantom reads are prevented. This level includes the
prohibitions in ISOLATION_REPEATABLE_READ and further prohibits the
situation where one transaction reads all rows that satisfy a WHERE
condition, a second transaction inserts a row that satisfies that
WHERE condition, and the first transaction rereads for the same
condition, retrieving the additional "phantom" row in the second read.
with serializable or repeatable read, the group will be protected from non-repeatable reads:
connection 1: connection 2:
set transaction isolation level
repeatable read
begin transaction
select name from users where id = 1
update user set name = 'Bill' where id = 1
select name from users where id = 1 |
commit transaction |
|--> executed here
In this scenario, the update will block until the first transaction is complete.
Higher isolation levels are rarely used because they lower the number of people that can work in the database at the same time. At the highest level, serializable, a reporting query halts any update activity.
I think you need to serialize the whole transaction. While a SELECT ... FOR UPDATE could work, it does not really buy you anything, since you would be selecting all rows. You may as well just take and release a lock, using DBMS_LOCK()

How to make MERGE serializable

When doing concurrent MERGEs while every session uses a different value (shown as *** in the snippet below) for the primary key column id, everything is fine if I do it manually in 2 terminal sessions.
MERGE
INTO x
USING (SELECT *** as id FROM DUAL) MERGE_SRC
ON (x.id = MERGE_SRC.id)
WHEN MATCHED THEN UPDATE SET val = val + 1 WHERE id = ***
WHEN NOT MATCHED THEN INSERT VALUES (***, 99);
COMMIT;
However, running a multi-threaded load test with 3 or more threads, I will relatively quickly run into ORA-08177 with locked table. Why is that? (And why is it non-deterministic in that it does not always happen when transactions overlap?)
The table was created using
create table x (id int primary key, val int);
SQL Server btw never throws exceptions with an equivalent MERGE statement, running the same experiment. That is even true when working on the same row simultaneously.
Is it because perhaps MERGE is not atomic, and the serializable mode runs optimistically, so that the race might only show with sufficient contention? Still, why does it happen even when not working on the same row concurrently?
Btw, my attempts to fix this using the strictest lock available were unsuccessful. So any ideas on how to make this atomic are very much appreciated. It looks like relaxing the isolation level would rid me of the exception, but risk inconsistencies in case there turn out to be 2 updates on the same row (otherwise why would it balk in serializable mode in the first place).
The exception you're seeing is a direct consequence of using strict serialization. If you have more than one transaction active simultaneously, each started with SET TRANSACTION ISOLATION LEVEL SERIALIZABLE, when any one of them commits the others will get an ORA-08177. That's how strict serialization is enforced - the database throws an ORA-08177 in any session started with ISOLATION LEVEL SERIALIZABLE if another transaction commits into a table which the serializable session needs. So, basically, if you really need strict serialization you have to handle the ORA-08177's intelligently, as in the following:
DECLARE
bSerializable_trans_complete BOOLEAN := FALSE;
excpSerializable EXCEPTION;
PRAGMA EXCEPTION_INIT(excpSerializable, -08177);
BEGIN
<<SERIALIZABLE_LOOP>>
WHILE NOT bSerializable_trans_complete
LOOP
BEGIN
SET TRANSACTION ISOLATION LEVEL SERIALIZABLE;
MERGE ...; -- or whatever
COMMIT;
bSerializable_trans_complete := TRUE; -- allow SERIALIZABLE_LOOP to exit
EXCEPTION
WHEN excpSerializable THEN
ROLLBACK;
CONTINUE SERIALIZABLE_LOOP;
END;
END LOOP; -- SERIALIZABLE_LOOP
END;
Serialization is not magic, and it's not "free" (where "free" means "I as the developer don't have to do anything to make it work properly"). It requires more planning and work on the part of the developer to have it function properly, not less. Share and enjoy.
In Oracle, the SERIALIZABLE mode works optimistically, in contrast to e.g. SQL Server, which does pessimistic locking in that mode. Which means that in the latter case you can even concurrently change the same row without running into exceptions.
Despite the docs:
Oracle Database permits a serializable transaction to modify a row only if changes to the row made by other transactions were already committed when the serializable transaction began. The database generates an error when a serializable transaction tries to update or delete data changed by a different transaction that committed after the serializable transaction began:
load testing showed that exceptions may also get thrown when not working on the same row simultaneously, although that is not guaranteed, in contrast to when working on the same row, which will always result in an ORA-08177.

Will a rollback in a #Transactional(REQUIRES_NEW) be propagated to the outer transaction?

I have a #Transactional(REQUIRED) method that invokes a #Transactional(REQUIRES_NEW). The default behaviour I am seeing is the inner transaction is being rolled back, but the outer is being committed. Is this the expected behaviour?
Yes, it is the expected behavior. The outer transaction is suspended while the inner transaction is executed. Once the inner transaction ends (whether it's a commit or rollback), the outer transaction resumes.
BTW, the documentation says it:
PROPAGATION_REQUIRES_NEW, in contrast to PROPAGATION_REQUIRED, uses a
completely independent transaction for each affected transaction
scope. In that case, the underlying physical transactions are
different and hence can commit or roll back independently, with an
outer transaction not affected by an inner transaction's rollback
status.

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