[Dbix-class] is it safe use find_or_create in "read committed" transaction level

Peter Rabbitson rabbit+dbic at rabbit.us
Mon Sep 20 09:43:14 GMT 2010


Wei Gui wrote:
> I start use DBIx in my project. and I read this from
> DBIx::Class::ResultSet document
> 
>>> Note: Because find_or_create() reads from the database and then possibly inserts based on the result, this method is subject to a race condition. Another process could create a record in the table after the find has completed and before the create has started. To avoid this problem, use find_or_create() inside a transaction.
> 
> IMO, put find_or_create inside a transaction only works if the
> transaction level is serializable. But for Oracle whose default
> transaction level is "read committed", which means race condition in
> find_or_create may still happen even in a transaction.
> 
> Can someone confirm it. if it is true, how use DBIx handle it
> thanks,
> 

find_or_create is just a convenience method, so you don't have to
write one yourself. It is not (and can not be made) race-proof.

Consider the possibilities:

1) We use a transaction the way we do now - depending on the isolation
you use the 2nd racing select will either block, or will continue
and then fail on insert. We can not mandate a certain isolation level
so eventually it may fail (but it will fail immediatelly)

2) We issue the select with a read-lock. This however means that the
lock will persist until the end of the current transaction, which
may be coming *thousands* of statements later, which will effectively
lock most of your database. So instead of an exception *now*, the user
sees a locked database for... a while.

3) We try to create the row first, going in blind. This is a good idea
in theory, however it has a nasty side effect that it makes the current
transaction no-longer-commitable. So using transactions in a race-prone
environment is out as well (the user sees random transactions failing
for no apparent reason)

Thus DBIC implements 1) which is the most predictable way to guard
against races.



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