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'\" t
.\" Title: BEGIN
.\" Author: The PostgreSQL Global Development Group
.\" Generator: DocBook XSL Stylesheets vsnapshot <http://docbook.sf.net/>
.\" Date: 2024
.\" Manual: PostgreSQL 16.2 Documentation
.\" Source: PostgreSQL 16.2
.\" Language: English
.\"
.TH "BEGIN" "7" "2024" "PostgreSQL 16.2" "PostgreSQL 16.2 Documentation"
.\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
.\" * Define some portability stuff
.\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
.\" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
.\" http://bugs.debian.org/507673
.\" http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/groff/2009-02/msg00013.html
.\" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
.ie \n(.g .ds Aq \(aq
.el .ds Aq '
.\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
.\" * set default formatting
.\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
.\" disable hyphenation
.nh
.\" disable justification (adjust text to left margin only)
.ad l
.\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
.\" * MAIN CONTENT STARTS HERE *
.\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
.SH "NAME"
BEGIN \- start a transaction block
.SH "SYNOPSIS"
.sp
.nf
BEGIN [ WORK | TRANSACTION ] [ \fItransaction_mode\fR [, \&.\&.\&.] ]
where \fItransaction_mode\fR is one of:
ISOLATION LEVEL { SERIALIZABLE | REPEATABLE READ | READ COMMITTED | READ UNCOMMITTED }
READ WRITE | READ ONLY
[ NOT ] DEFERRABLE
.fi
.SH "DESCRIPTION"
.PP
\fBBEGIN\fR
initiates a transaction block, that is, all statements after a
\fBBEGIN\fR
command will be executed in a single transaction until an explicit
\fBCOMMIT\fR
or
\fBROLLBACK\fR
is given\&. By default (without
\fBBEGIN\fR),
PostgreSQL
executes transactions in
\(lqautocommit\(rq
mode, that is, each statement is executed in its own transaction and a commit is implicitly performed at the end of the statement (if execution was successful, otherwise a rollback is done)\&.
.PP
Statements are executed more quickly in a transaction block, because transaction start/commit requires significant CPU and disk activity\&. Execution of multiple statements inside a transaction is also useful to ensure consistency when making several related changes: other sessions will be unable to see the intermediate states wherein not all the related updates have been done\&.
.PP
If the isolation level, read/write mode, or deferrable mode is specified, the new transaction has those characteristics, as if
\fBSET TRANSACTION\fR
was executed\&.
.SH "PARAMETERS"
.PP
WORK
.br
TRANSACTION
.RS 4
Optional key words\&. They have no effect\&.
.RE
.PP
Refer to
SET TRANSACTION (\fBSET_TRANSACTION\fR(7))
for information on the meaning of the other parameters to this statement\&.
.SH "NOTES"
.PP
\fBSTART TRANSACTION\fR
has the same functionality as
\fBBEGIN\fR\&.
.PP
Use
\fBCOMMIT\fR
or
\fBROLLBACK\fR
to terminate a transaction block\&.
.PP
Issuing
\fBBEGIN\fR
when already inside a transaction block will provoke a warning message\&. The state of the transaction is not affected\&. To nest transactions within a transaction block, use savepoints (see
\fBSAVEPOINT\fR(7))\&.
.PP
For reasons of backwards compatibility, the commas between successive
\fItransaction_modes\fR
can be omitted\&.
.SH "EXAMPLES"
.PP
To begin a transaction block:
.sp
.if n \{\
.RS 4
.\}
.nf
BEGIN;
.fi
.if n \{\
.RE
.\}
.SH "COMPATIBILITY"
.PP
\fBBEGIN\fR
is a
PostgreSQL
language extension\&. It is equivalent to the SQL\-standard command
\fBSTART TRANSACTION\fR, whose reference page contains additional compatibility information\&.
.PP
The
DEFERRABLE
\fItransaction_mode\fR
is a
PostgreSQL
language extension\&.
.PP
Incidentally, the
BEGIN
key word is used for a different purpose in embedded SQL\&. You are advised to be careful about the transaction semantics when porting database applications\&.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
\fBCOMMIT\fR(7), \fBROLLBACK\fR(7), START TRANSACTION (\fBSTART_TRANSACTION\fR(7)), \fBSAVEPOINT\fR(7)
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