Transaction Isolation Level

In this article I want to tell you about Transaction Isolation Level in
SQL Server 6.5 and SQL Server 7.0, what kind of Transaction Isolation Level
exists, and how you can set the appropriate Transaction Isolation Level.

There are four isolation levels:

  • READ UNCOMMITTED

  • READ COMMITTED

  • REPEATABLE READ

  • SERIALIZABLE
  • SQL Server 6.5 supports all of these Transaction Isolation Levels, but has
    only three different behaviors, because in SQL Server 6.5 REPEATABLE READ
    and SERIALIZABLE are synonyms. It because SQL Server 6.5 supports only
    page locking (there is no full support of row locking as in SQL Server 7.0)
    and if REPEATABLE READ isolation level was set, then another transaction
    cannot insert the row before the first transaction was finished, because
    page will be locked. So there are no phantoms in SQL Server 6.5, if
    REPEATABLE READ isolation level was set.

    SQL Server 7.0 supports all of these Transaction Isolation Levels and can
    separate REPEATABLE READ and SERIALIZABLE.
    Let me to describe each isolation level.

    READ UNCOMMITTED

    When it’s used, SQL Server not issue shared locks while reading data. So,
    you
    can read an uncommitted transaction that might get rolled back later. This
    isolation level is also called dirty read. This is the lowest isolation
    level.

    It ensures only that a physically corrupt data will not be read.

    READ COMMITTED

    This is the default isolation level in SQL Server. When it’s used, SQL
    Server
    will use shared locks while reading data. It ensures that a physically
    corrupt
    data will not be read and will never read data that another application has
    changed and not yet committed, but it not ensures that the data will not be
    changed before the end of the transaction.

    REPEATABLE READ

    When it’s used, then dirty reads and nonrepeatable reads cannot occur.
    It means that locks will be placed on all data that is used in a query,
    and another transactions cannot update the data.

    This is the definition of nonrepeatable read from SQL Server Books Online:


    nonrepeatable read
    When a transaction reads the same row more than one time, and between the
    two (or more) reads, a separate transaction modifies that row. Because the
    row was modified between reads within the same transaction, each read
    produces different values, which introduces inconsistency.

    SERIALIZABLE

    Most restrictive isolation level. When it’s used, then phantom values cannot
    occur. It prevents other users from updating or inserting rows into the data
    set until the transaction is complete.

    This is the definition of phantom from SQL Server Books Online:


    phantom
    Phantom behavior occurs when a transaction attempts to select a row that
    does not exist and a second transaction inserts the row before the first
    transaction finishes. If the row is inserted, the row appears as a phantom
    to the first transaction, inconsistently appearing and disappearing.

    You can set the appropriate isolation level for an entire SQL Server session
    with the SET TRANSACTION ISOLATION LEVEL statement.
    This is the syntax from SQL Server Books Online:


    SET TRANSACTION ISOLATION LEVEL
    {
    READ COMMITTED
    | READ UNCOMMITTED
    | REPEATABLE READ
    | SERIALIZABLE
    }

    You can use DBCC USEROPTIONS command to determine the Transaction Isolation
    Level currently set. This command returns the set options that are active
    for the current connection. This is the example:


    SET TRANSACTION ISOLATION LEVEL READ UNCOMMITTED
    GO
    DBCC USEROPTIONS
    GO

    These are the results:


    Set Option Value
    —————————— ————————————
    textsize 64512
    language us_english
    dateformat mdy
    datefirst 7
    isolation level read uncommitted


    »


    See All Articles by Columnist
    Alexander Chigrik

    Alexander Chigrik
    Alexander Chigrik
    I am the owner of MSSQLCity.Com - a site dedicated to providing useful information for IT professionals using Microsoft SQL Server. This site contains SQL Server Articles, FAQs, Scripts, Tips and Test Exams.

    Get the Free Newsletter!

    Subscribe to Cloud Insider for top news, trends & analysis

    Latest Articles