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Transaction processing system
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A Transaction Processing System or Transaction Processing Monitor is a set of information which

processes a data transaction in a database system that monitors transaction programs (a special kind
of program). The essence of a transaction program is that it manages data that must be left in a
consistent state. E.g. if an electronic payment is made, the amount must be both withdrawn from one
account and added to the other; it cannot complete only one of those steps. Either both must occur, or
neither. In case of a failure preventing transaction completion, the partially executed transaction must
be 'rolled back' by the TPS. While this type of integrity must be provided also for batch transaction
processing, it is particularly important for online processing: if e.g. an airline seat reservation system is
accessed by multiple operators, after an empty seat inquiry, the seat reservation data must be locked
until the reservation is made, otherwise another user may get the impression a seat is still free while it
is actually being booked at the time. Without proper transaction monitoring, double bookings may
occur. Other transaction monitor functions include deadlock detection and resolution (deadlocks may
be inevitable in certain cases of cross-dependence on data), and transaction logging (in 'journals') for
'forward recovery' in case of massive failures.

Transaction Processing is not limited to application programs. The 'journaled file system' provided with
IBMs AIX Unix operating system employs similar techniques to maintain file system integrity, including
a journal.

Contents
[hide]

• 1 Types

o 1.1 Contrasted with batch processing

o 1.2 Real-time and batch processing

• 2 Features

o 2.1 Rapid response

o 2.2 Reliability

o 2.3 Inflexibility

o 2.4 Controlled processing

 • 3 ACID test properties: first definition

o 3.1 Atomicity

o 3.2 Consistency

o 3.3 Isolation

o 3.4 Durability

o 3.5 Concurrency

• 4 Storing and retrieving

o 4.1 Databases and files

o 4.2 Data warehouse

o 4.3 Backup procedures

 4.3.1 Recovery process

 4.3.2 Types of back-up procedures

 4.3.2.1 Grandfather-father-son

 4.3.2.2 Partial backups

 4.3.3 Updating in a batch

 4.3.4 Updating in real-time

• 5 References

• 6 See also

• 7 Further reading

[edit]Types

[edit]Contrasted with batch processing

Batch processing is not transaction processing. Batch processing involves processing several
transactions at the same time, and the results of each transaction are not immediately available when
the transaction is being entered;[1] there is a time delay. transactions are accumulated for a certain
period (say for day) where updates are made especially after work.

[edit]Real-time and batch processing

There are a number of differences between real-time and batch processing. These are outlined
below:

Each transaction in real-time processing is unique. It is not part of a group of transactions, even
though those transactions are processed in the same manner. Transactions in real-time processing
are stand-alone both in the entry to the system and also in the handling of output.
Real-time processing requires the master file to be available more often for updating and reference
than batch processing. The database is not accessible all of the time for batch processing.

Real-time processing has fewer errors than batch processing, as transaction data is validated and
entered immediately. With batch processing, the data is organised and stored before the master file is
updated. Errors can occur during these steps.

Infrequent errors may occur in real-time processing; however, they are often tolerated. It is not
practical to shut down the system for infrequent errors.

More computer operators are required in real-time processing, as the operations are not centralised. It
is more difficult to maintain a real-time processing system than a batch processing system.

[edit]Features

[edit]Rapid response
Fast performance with a rapid response time is critical. Businesses cannot afford to have customers
waiting for a TPS to respond, the turnaround time from the input of the transaction to the production for
the output must be a few seconds or less.

[edit]Reliability

Many organizations rely heavily on their TPS; a breakdown will disrupt operations or even stop the
business. For a TPS to be effective its failure rate must be very low. If a TPS does fail, then quick and
accurate recovery must be possible. This makes well–designed backup and recovery procedures
essential.

[edit]Inflexibility

A TPS wants every transaction to be processed in the same way regardless of the user, the customer
or the time for day. If a TPS were flexible, there would be too many opportunities for non-standard
operations, for example, a commercial airline needs to consistently accept airline reservations from a
range of travel agents, accepting different transactions data from different travel agents would be a
problem.

[edit]Controlled processing
The processing in a TPS must support an organization's operations. For example if an organization
allocates roles and responsibilities to particular employees, then the TPS should enforce and maintain
this requirement.

Example : ATM Transaction

[edit]ACID test properties: first definition
[edit]Atomicity

Main article: Atomicity (database systems)

A transaction’s changes to the state are atomic: either all happen or none happen. These changes
include database changes, messages, and actions on transducers.[2]

[edit]Consistency

A transaction is a correct transformation of the state. The actions taken as a group do not violate any
of the integrity constraints associated with the state. This requires that the transaction be a correct
program![2]

[edit]Isolation

Even though transactions execute concurrently, it appears to each transaction T, that others executed
either before T or after T, but not both.[2]

[edit]Durability

Once a transaction completes successfully (commits), its changes to the state survive failures.[2]

[edit]Concurrency

Ensures that two users cannot change the same data at the same time. That is, one user cannot
change a piece of data before another user has finished with it. For example, if an airline ticket agent
starts to reserve the last seat on a flight, then another agent cannot tell another passenger that a seat
is available.

[edit]Storing and retrieving

Storing and retrieving information from a TPS must be efficient and effective. The data are stored in
warehouses or other databases, the system must be well designed for its backup and recovery
procedures.

[edit]Databases and files

The storage and retrieval of data must be accurate as it is used many times throughout the day.
A database is a collection of data neatly organized, which stores the accounting and operational
records in the database. Databases are always protective of their delicate data, so they usually have a
restricted view of certain data. Databases are designed using hierarchical, network or relational
structures; each structure is effective in its own sense.
  Hierarchical structure: organizes data in a series of levels, hence why it is called hierarchal. Its
top to bottom like structure consists ofnodes and branches; each child node has branches and is
only linked to one higher level parent node.

 Network structure: Similar to hierarchical, network structures also organizes data using nodes
and branches. But, unlike hierarchical, each child node can be linked to multiple, higher parent
nodes.

 Relational structure: Unlike network and hierarchical, a relational database organizes its data
in a series of related tables. This gives flexibility as relationships between the tables are built.

A relational structure.

A hierarchical structure.
A network structure.

The following features are included in real time transaction processing systems:

 Good data placement: The database should be designed to access patterns of data from
many simultaneous users.

 Short transactions: Short transactions enables quick processing. This avoids concurrency
and paces the systems.

 Real-time backup: Backup should be scheduled between low times of activity to prevent lag
of the server.

 High normalization: This lowers redundant information to increase the speed and improve
concurrency, this also improves backups.

 Archiving of historical data: Uncommonly used data are moved into other databases or
backed up tables. This keeps tables small and also improves backup times.
  Good hardware configuration: Hardware must be able to handle many users and provide
quick response times.

In a TPS, there are 5 different types of files. The TPS uses the files to store and organize its
transaction data:

 Master file: Contains information about an organization’s business situation. Most

transactions and databases are stored in the master file.

 Transaction file: It is the collection of transaction records. It helps to update the master file
and also serves as audit trails and transaction history.

 Report file: Contains data that has been formatted for presentation to a user.

 Work file: Temporary files in the system used during the processing.

 Program file: Contains the instructions for the processing of data.

[edit]Data warehouse
Main article: Data warehouse

A data warehouse is a database that collects information from different sources. When it's gathered in
real-time transactions it can be used for analysis efficiently if it's stored in a data warehouse. It
provides data that are consolidated, subject-oriented, historical and read-only:

 Consolidated: Data are organised with consistent naming conventions, measurements,

attributes and semantics. It allows data from a data warehouse from across the organization to be
effectively used in a consistent manner.

 Subject-oriented: Large amounts of data are stored across an organization, some data could
be irrelevant for reports and makesquerying the data difficult. It organizes only key business
information from operational sources so that it's available for analysis.

 Historical: Real-time TPS represent the current value at any time, an example could be stock
levels. If past data are kept, querying the database could return a different response. It stores
series of snapshots for an organisation's operational data generated over a period of time.

 Read-only: Once data are moved into a data warehouse, it becomes read-only, unless it was
incorrect. Since it represents a snapshot of a certain time, it must never be updated. Only
operations which occur in a data warehouse are loading and querying data.

[edit]Backup procedures
A Dataflow Diagram of backup and recovery procedures.

Since business organizations have become very dependent on TPSs, a breakdown in their TPS may
stop the business' regular routines and thus stopping its operation for a certain amount of time. In
order to prevent data loss and minimize disruptions when a TPS breaks down a well-
designed backupand recovery procedure is put into use. The recovery process can rebuild the system
when it goes down.

[edit]Recovery process

A TPS may fail for many reasons. These reasons could include a system failure, human
errors,hardware failure, incorrect or invalid data, computer viruses, software application errors or
natural or man-made disasters. As it's not possible to prevent all TPS failures, a TPS must be able to
cope with failures. The TPS must be able to detect and correct errors when they occur. A TPS will go
through a recovery of the database to cope when the system fails, it involves the backup, journal,
checkpoint, and recovery manager:

 Journal: A journal maintains an audit trail of transactions and database changes. Transaction
logs and Database change logs are used, a transaction log records all the essential data for each
transactions, including data values, time of transaction and terminal number. A database change
log contains before and after copies of records that have been modified by transactions.

 Checkpoint: A checkpoint record contains necessary information to restart the system. These
should be taken frequently, such as several times an hour. It is possible to resume processing
from the most-recent checkpoint when a failure occurs with only a few minutes of processing work
that needs to be repeated.

 Recovery Manager: A recovery manager is a program which restores the database to a

correct condition which can restart the transaction processing.
Depending on how the system failed, there can be two different recovery procedures used. Generally,
the procedures involves restoring data that has been collected from a backup device and then running
the transaction processing again. Two types of recovery are backward recovery and forward recovery:

 Backward recovery: used to undo unwanted changes to the database. It reverses the changes
made by transactions which have been aborted. It involves the logic of reprocessing each
transaction, which is very time-consuming.

 Forward recovery: it starts with a backup copy of the database. The transaction will then
reprocess according to the transaction journal that occurred between the time the backup was
made and the present time. It's much faster and more accurate.

See also: Checkpoint restart

[edit]Types of back-up procedures

There are two main types of Back-up Procedures: Grandfather-father-son and Partial backups:

[edit]Grandfather-father-son

This procedure refers to at least three generations of backup master files. thus, the most recent
backup is the son, the oldest backup is the grandfather. It's commonly used for a batch transaction
processing system with a magnetic tape. If the system fails during a batch run, the master file is
recreated by using the son backup and then restarting the batch. However if the son backup fails, is
corrupted or destroyed, then the next generation up backup (father) is required. Likewise, if that fails,
then the next generation up backup (grandfather) is required. Of course the older the generation, the
more the data may be out of date. Organizations can have up to twenty generations of backup.

[edit]Partial backups

This only occurs when parts of the master file are backed up. The master file is usually backed up
to magnetic tape at regular times, this could be daily, weekly or monthly. Completed transactions since
the last backup are stored separately and are called journals, or journal files. The master file can be
recreated from the journal files on the backup tape if the system is to fail.

[edit]Updating in a batch

This is used when transactions are recorded on paper (such as bills and invoices) or when it's being
stored on a magnetic tape. Transactions will be collected and updated as a batch at when it's
convenient or economical to process them. Historically, this was the most common method as
the information technology did not exist to allow real-time processing.

The two stages in batch processing are:

  Collecting and storage of the transaction data into a transaction file - this involves sorting the
data into sequential order.

 Processing the data by updating the master file - which can be difficult, this may involve data
additions, updates and deletions that may require to happen in a certain order. If an error occurs,
then the entire batch fails.

Updating in batch requires sequential access - since it uses a magnetic tape this is the only way to
access data. A batch will start at the beginning of the tape, then reading it from the order it was stored;
it's very time-consuming to locate specific transactions.

The information technology used includes a secondary storage medium which can store large
quantities of data inexpensively (thus the common choice of a magnetic tape). The software used to
collect data does not have to be online - it doesn't even need a user interface.

[edit]Updating in real-time

This is the immediate processing of data. It provides instant confirmation of a transaction. This involves
a large amount of users who are simultaneously performing transactions to change data. Because of
advances in technology (such as the increase in the speed of data transmission and larger bandwidth),
real-time updating is now possible.

Steps in a real-time update involve the sending of a transaction data to an online database in a master
file. The person providing information is usually able to help with error correction and receives
confirmation of the transaction completion.

Updating in real-time uses direct access of data. This occurs when data are accessed without
accessing previous data items. The storage device stores data in a particular location based on a
mathematical procedure. This will then be calculated to find an approximate location of the data. If
data are not found at this location, it will search through successive locations until it's found.

The information technology used could be a secondary storage medium that can store large amounts
of data and provide quick access (thus the common choice of a magnetic disk). It requires a user-
friendly interface as it's important for rapid response time.

Reservation Systems Reservation systems are used for any type of business where a service or a
product is set aside for a customer to use for a future time.