Derived transaction termination dependencies: an algorithm for computing transitivity rules

Complex applications consist of a large set of transcations which are interrelated. There are different kinds of dependencies among transactions of a complex application, e.g. termination dependencies which are constraints on the occurrence of significant transaction events. Often, it is very difficult for the application/transaction designer to get a grasp of the transitive relationships among the transactions of a complex application. In this paper, we introduce the notion of transaction closure as a generalization of nested transactions. A transaction closure comprises all transactions which are transitively initiated by one (root) transaction. The relationships among transactions of a transaction closure are specified by different kinds of dependencies. We identify transcation termination dependencies which determine reasonable termination event combinations of two related transactions. These basic termination dependencies are further refined considering the aspect of compensatable transactions. In particular, we consider the transitivity property for all kinds of transaction termination dependencies discussed in this paper and present a set of rules for reasoning about the transitivity of these dependencies. Thus, we are able to conclude how two arbitrary transcations are transitively interrelated. This issue is essential for understanding the entire semantics of a complex application. (orig.)Available from TIB Hannover: RR 4485(1998,7) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman