| PostgreSQL 8.0.26 Documentation | ||||
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BEGIN [ WORK | TRANSACTION ] [ transaction_mode [, ...] ]
where transaction_mode is one of:
ISOLATION LEVEL { SERIALIZABLE | REPEATABLE READ | READ COMMITTED | READ UNCOMMITTED }
READ WRITE | READ ONLY
BEGIN initiates a transaction block, that is, all statements after a BEGIN command will be executed in a single transaction until an explicit COMMIT or ROLLBACK is given. By default (without BEGIN), PostgreSQL executes transactions in "autocommit" 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).
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.
If the isolation level or read/write mode is specified, the new transaction has those characteristics, as if SET TRANSACTION was executed.
Optional key words. They have no effect.
Refer to SET TRANSACTION for information on the meaning of the other parameters to this statement.