Locking in JPA

JPA 2 supports both optimistic locking and pessimistic locking. Locking is essential to avoid update collisions resulting from simultaneous updates to the same data by two concurrent users. Locking in ObjectDB (and in JPA) is always at the database object level, i.e. each database object is locked separately.

Optimistic locking is applied on transaction commit. Any database object that has to be updated or deleted is checked. An exception is thrown if it is found out that an update is being performed on an old version of a database object, for which another update has already been committed by another transaction.

When using ObjectDB, optimistic locking is enabled by default and fully automatic. Optimistic locking should be the first choice for most applications, since compared to pessimistic locking it is easier to use and more efficient.

In the rare cases in which update collision must be revealed earlier (before transaction commit) pessimistic locking can be used. When using pessimistic locking, database objects are locked during the transaction and lock conflicts, if they happen, are detected earlier.

Optimistic Locking

ObjectDB maintains a version number for every entity object. The initial version of a new entity object (when it is stored in the database for the first time) is 1. In every transaction in which an entity object is modified its version number is automatically increased by one. Version numbers are managed internally but can be exposed by defining a version field.

During commitcommit()EntityTransaction's methodCommit the current resource transaction, writing any unflushed changes to the database.See JavaDoc Reference Page... (and flushflush()EntityManager's methodSynchronize the persistence context to the underlying database.See JavaDoc Reference Page...), ObjectDB checks every database object that has to be updated or deleted, and compares the version number of that object in the database to the version number of the in-memory object being updated. The transaction fails and an OptimisticLockExceptionjavax.persistence.OptimisticLockExceptionJPA exceptionThrown by the persistence provider when an optimistic locking conflict occurs.See JavaDoc Reference Page... is thrown if the version numbers do not match, indicating that the object has been modified by another user (using another EntityManagerjavax.persistence.EntityManagerJPA interfaceInterface used to interact with the persistence context.See JavaDoc Reference Page...) since it was retrieved by the current updater.

Optimistic locking is completely automatic and enabled by default in ObjectDB, regardless if a version field (which is required by some ORM JPA providers) is defined in the entity class or not.

Pessimistic Locking

The main supported pessimistic lock modes are:

• PESSIMISTIC_READLockModeType.PESSIMISTIC_READenum constantPessimistic read lock.See JavaDoc Reference Page... - which represents a shared lock.
• PESSIMISTIC_WRITELockModeType.PESSIMISTIC_WRITEenum constantPessimistic write lock.See JavaDoc Reference Page... - which represents an exclusive lock.

Setting a Pessimistic Lock

An entity object can be locked explicitly by the locklock(entity, lockMode)EntityManager's methodLock an entity instance that is contained in the persistence context with the specified lock mode type.See JavaDoc Reference Page... method:

  em.locklock(entity, lockMode)EntityManager's methodLock an entity instance that is contained in the persistence
 context with the specified lock mode type.See JavaDoc Reference Page...(employee, LockModeTypejavax.persistence.LockModeTypeJPA enumLock modes can be specified by means of passing a LockModeType
 argument to one of the javax.persistence.EntityManager methods that take locks
 (lock, find, or refresh) or
 to the Query.setLockMode() or
 TypedQuery.setLockMode() method.See JavaDoc Reference Page....PESSIMISTIC_WRITELockModeType.PESSIMISTIC_WRITEenum constantPessimistic write lock.See JavaDoc Reference Page...);

The first argument is an entity object. The second argument is the requested lock mode.

A TransactionRequiredExceptionjavax.persistence.TransactionRequiredExceptionJPA exceptionThrown by the persistence provider when a transaction is required but is not active.See JavaDoc Reference Page... is thrown if there is no active transaction when locklock(entity, lockMode)EntityManager's methodLock an entity instance that is contained in the persistence context with the specified lock mode type.See JavaDoc Reference Page... is called because explicit locking requires an active transaction.

A LockTimeoutExceptionjavax.persistence.LockTimeoutExceptionJPA exceptionThrown by the persistence provider when an pessimistic locking conflict occurs that does not result in transaction rollback.See JavaDoc Reference Page... is thrown if the requested pessimistic lock cannot be granted:

• A PESSIMISTIC_READ lock request fails if another user (which is represented by another EntityManager instance) currently holds a PESSIMISTIC_WRITE lock on that database object.
• A PESSIMISTIC_WRITE lock request fails if another user currently holds either a PESSIMISTIC_WRITE lock or a PESSIMISTIC_READ lock on that database object.

For example, consider the following code fragment:

  em1.locklock(entity, lockMode)EntityManager's methodLock an entity instance that is contained in the persistence
 context with the specified lock mode type.See JavaDoc Reference Page...(e1, lockMode1);
  em2.locklock(entity, lockMode)EntityManager's methodLock an entity instance that is contained in the persistence
 context with the specified lock mode type.See JavaDoc Reference Page...(e2, lockMode2);

em1 and em2 are two EntityManager instances that manage the same Employee database object, which is referenced as e1 by em1 and as e2 by em2 (notice that e1 and e2 are two in-memory entity objects that represent one database object).

If both lockMode1 and lockMode2 are PESSIMISTIC_READ - these lock requests should succeed. Any other combination of pessimistic lock modes, which also includes PESSIMISTIC_WRITE, will cause a LockTimeoutExceptionjavax.persistence.LockTimeoutExceptionJPA exceptionThrown by the persistence provider when an pessimistic locking conflict occurs that does not result in transaction rollback.See JavaDoc Reference Page... (on the second lock request).

Pessimistic Lock Timeout

By default, when a pessimistic lock conflict occurs a LockTimeoutExceptionjavax.persistence.LockTimeoutExceptionJPA exceptionThrown by the persistence provider when an pessimistic locking conflict occurs that does not result in transaction rollback.See JavaDoc Reference Page... is thrown immediately. The "javax.persistence.lock.timeout" hint can be set to allow waiting for a pessimistic lock for a specified number of milliseconds. The hint can be set in several scopes:

For the entire persistence unit - using a persistence.xml property:

    <properties>
       <property name="javax.persistence.lock.timeout" value="1000"/>
    </properties>

For an EntityManagerFactoryjavax.persistence.EntityManagerFactoryJPA interfaceInterface used to interact with the entity manager factory for the persistence unit.See JavaDoc Reference Page... - using the createEntityManagerFacotorycreateEntityManagerFactory(persistenceUnitName, properties)Persistence's static methodCreate and return an EntityManagerFactory for the named persistence unit using the given properties.See JavaDoc Reference Page... method:

  Map<String,Object> properties = new HashMap();
  properties.put("javax.persistence.lock.timeout", 2000);
  EntityManagerFactory emf =
      Persistence.createEntityManagerFactorycreateEntityManagerFactory(persistenceUnitName, properties)Persistence's static methodCreate and return an EntityManagerFactory for the named persistence unit
 using the given properties.See JavaDoc Reference Page...("pu", properties);

For an EntityManagerjavax.persistence.EntityManagerJPA interfaceInterface used to interact with the persistence context.See JavaDoc Reference Page... - using the createEntityManagercreateEntityManager(map)EntityManagerFactory's methodCreate a new application-managed EntityManager with the specified Map of properties.See JavaDoc Reference Page... method:

  Map<String,Object> properties = new HashMap();
  properties.put("javax.persistence.lock.timeout", 3000);
  EntityManager em = emf.createEntityManagercreateEntityManager(map)EntityManagerFactory's methodCreate a new application-managed EntityManager with the 
 specified Map of properties.See JavaDoc Reference Page...(properties);

or using the setPropertysetProperty(propertyName, value)EntityManager's methodSet an entity manager property or hint.See JavaDoc Reference Page... method:

  em.setPropertysetProperty(propertyName, value)EntityManager's methodSet an entity manager property or hint.See JavaDoc Reference Page...("javax.persistence.lock.timeout", 4000);

In addition, the hint can be set for a specific retrieval operation or query.

Releasing a Pessimistic Lock

Pessimistic locks are automatically released at the end of the transaction (using either commitcommit()EntityTransaction's methodCommit the current resource transaction, writing any unflushed changes to the database.See JavaDoc Reference Page... or rollbackrollback()EntityTransaction's methodRoll back the current resource transaction.See JavaDoc Reference Page...).

ObjectDB supports also releasing a lock explicitly while the transaction is active, as so:

  em.locklock(entity, lockMode)EntityManager's methodLock an entity instance that is contained in the persistence
 context with the specified lock mode type.See JavaDoc Reference Page...(employee, LockModeTypejavax.persistence.LockModeTypeJPA enumLock modes can be specified by means of passing a LockModeType
 argument to one of the javax.persistence.EntityManager methods that take locks
 (lock, find, or refresh) or
 to the Query.setLockMode() or
 TypedQuery.setLockMode() method.See JavaDoc Reference Page....NONELockModeType.NONEenum constantNo lock.See JavaDoc Reference Page...);

Other Explicit Lock Modes

In addition to the two main pessimistic modes (PESSIMISTIC_WRITE and PESSIMISTIC_READ, which are discussed above), JPA defines additional lock modes that can also be specified as arguments for the locklock(entity, lockMode)EntityManager's methodLock an entity instance that is contained in the persistence context with the specified lock mode type.See JavaDoc Reference Page... method to obtain special effects:

• OPTIMISTICLockModeType.OPTIMISTICenum constantOptimistic lock.See JavaDoc Reference Page... (formerly READLockModeType.READenum constantSynonymous with OPTIMISTIC.See JavaDoc Reference Page...)
• OPTIMISTIC_FORCE_INCREMENTLockModeType.OPTIMISTIC_FORCE_INCREMENTenum constantOptimistic lock, with version update.See JavaDoc Reference Page... (formerly WRITELockModeType.WRITEenum constantSynonymous with OPTIMISTIC_FORCE_INCREMENT.See JavaDoc Reference Page...)
• PESSIMISTIC_FORCE_INCREMENTLockModeType.PESSIMISTIC_FORCE_INCREMENTenum constantPessimistic write lock, with version update.See JavaDoc Reference Page...

Since optimistic locking is applied automatically by ObjectDB to every entity object, the OPTIMISTIC lock mode has no effect and, if specified, is silently ignored by ObjectDB.

The OPTIMISTIC_FORCE_INCREMENT mode affects only clean (non dirty) entity objects. Explicit lock at that mode marks the clean entity object as modified (dirty) and increases its version number by 1.

The PESSIMISTIC_FORCE_INCREMENT mode is equivalent to the PESSIMISTIC_WRITE mode with the addition that it marks a clean entity object as dirty and increases its version number by one (i.e. it combines PESSIMISTIC_WRITE with OPTIMISTIC_FORCE_INCREMENT).

Locking during Retrieval

JPA 2 provides various methods for locking entity objects when they are retrieved from the database. In addition to improving efficiency (relative to a retrieval followed by a separate lock), these methods perform retrieval and locking as one atomic operation.

For example, the findfind(entityClass, primaryKey, lockMode)EntityManager's methodFind by primary key and lock.See JavaDoc Reference Page... method has a form that accepts a lock mode:

  Employee employee = em.findfind(entityClass, primaryKey, lockMode)EntityManager's methodFind by primary key and lock.See JavaDoc Reference Page...(
      Employee.class, 1, LockModeTypejavax.persistence.LockModeTypeJPA enumLock modes can be specified by means of passing a LockModeType
 argument to one of the javax.persistence.EntityManager methods that take locks
 (lock, find, or refresh) or
 to the Query.setLockMode() or
 TypedQuery.setLockMode() method.See JavaDoc Reference Page....PESSIMISTIC_WRITELockModeType.PESSIMISTIC_WRITEenum constantPessimistic write lock.See JavaDoc Reference Page...);

Similarly, the refreshrefresh(entity, lockMode)EntityManager's methodRefresh the state of the instance from the database, overwriting changes made to the entity, if any, and lock it with respect to given lock mode type.See JavaDoc Reference Page... method can also receive a lock mode:

  em.refreshrefresh(entity, lockMode)EntityManager's methodRefresh the state of the instance from the database, 
 overwriting changes made to the entity, if any, and 
 lock it with respect to given lock mode type.See JavaDoc Reference Page...(employee, LockModeTypejavax.persistence.LockModeTypeJPA enumLock modes can be specified by means of passing a LockModeType
 argument to one of the javax.persistence.EntityManager methods that take locks
 (lock, find, or refresh) or
 to the Query.setLockMode() or
 TypedQuery.setLockMode() method.See JavaDoc Reference Page....PESSIMISTIC_WRITELockModeType.PESSIMISTIC_WRITEenum constantPessimistic write lock.See JavaDoc Reference Page...);

A lock mode can also be set for a query in order to lock all the query result objects.

When a retrieval operation includes pessimistic locking, timeout can be specified as a property. For example:

  Map<String,Object> properties = new HashMap();
  properties.put("javax.persistence.lock.timeout", 2000);

  Employee employee = em.findLockModeType.PESSIMISTIC_WRITEenum constantPessimistic write lock.See JavaDoc Reference Page...(
      Employee.class, 1, LockModeTypejavax.persistence.LockModeTypeJPA enumLock modes can be specified by means of passing a LockModeType
 argument to one of the javax.persistence.EntityManager methods that take locks
 (lock, find, or refresh) or
 to the Query.setLockMode() or
 TypedQuery.setLockMode() method.See JavaDoc Reference Page....PESSIMISTIC_WRITELockModeType.PESSIMISTIC_WRITEenum constantPessimistic write lock.See JavaDoc Reference Page..., properties);

  ...

  em.refreshLockModeType.PESSIMISTIC_WRITEenum constantPessimistic write lock.See JavaDoc Reference Page...(employee, LockModeTypejavax.persistence.LockModeTypeJPA enumLock modes can be specified by means of passing a LockModeType
 argument to one of the javax.persistence.EntityManager methods that take locks
 (lock, find, or refresh) or
 to the Query.setLockMode() or
 TypedQuery.setLockMode() method.See JavaDoc Reference Page....PESSIMISTIC_WRITELockModeType.PESSIMISTIC_WRITEenum constantPessimistic write lock.See JavaDoc Reference Page..., properties);

Setting timeout at the operation level overrides setting in higher scopes.