Transaction states in DBMS Theory - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

🧠 Conceptual

intermediate

Understanding the Active state in transactions

Which of the following best describes the Active state of a transaction in a database management system?

A The transaction has completed all its operations and is waiting to be committed or rolled back.

B The transaction has been aborted and all its changes have been undone.

C The transaction has been committed and its changes are permanent.

D The transaction is currently executing and has not yet completed all its operations.

💡 Hint

Think about what the transaction is doing before it finishes.

The Active state means the transaction is currently running and performing operations. It has not yet finished or decided to commit or abort.

📋 Factual

intermediate

Identifying the Partially Committed state

What does the Partially Committed state indicate in a transaction lifecycle?

A The transaction has started but not yet executed any operations.

B The transaction has executed all operations but the changes are not yet permanent.

C The transaction has been rolled back due to an error.

D The transaction is waiting for user input to proceed.

💡 Hint

Consider what happens right after all operations finish but before final confirmation.

The Partially Committed state means the transaction has finished all its operations but the changes are not yet saved permanently until commit.

🔍 Analysis

advanced

Analyzing the Failed state impact

If a transaction enters the Failed state, what is the immediate next step the DBMS must take?

A Commit the transaction to save partial changes.

B Keep the transaction active until user decides.

C Rollback the transaction to undo all changes.

D Move the transaction to the Partially Committed state.

💡 Hint

Think about data consistency and what happens when a transaction fails.

When a transaction fails, the DBMS must rollback to undo any changes to keep the database consistent.

❓ Comparison

advanced

Comparing Committed and Terminated states

Which statement correctly distinguishes the Committed state from the Terminated state in transaction processing?

A Committed means changes are permanent; Terminated means transaction is complete and resources are released.

B Committed means transaction is active; Terminated means transaction is waiting to commit.

C Committed means transaction failed; Terminated means transaction is partially committed.

D Committed means rollback is done; Terminated means rollback is pending.

💡 Hint

Consider what happens after a transaction is saved permanently versus when it fully ends.

Committed means the transaction's changes are saved permanently. Terminated means the transaction has finished and all resources are freed.

❓ Reasoning

expert

Determining the number of transaction states

How many distinct states does a typical transaction go through in a DBMS lifecycle, including all intermediate and final states?

A 6

B 3

C 5

D 4

💡 Hint

Count all states: Active, Partially Committed, Committed, Failed, Aborted, Terminated.

A typical transaction lifecycle includes six states: Active, Partially Committed, Committed, Failed, Aborted, and Terminated.