Hint

This article is generated by AI translation.

Transaction Propagation

When multiple transactional methods call each other in the same thread, propagation behavior determines how transactions propagate between these methods.

Join Existing Transaction (REQUIRED)

Try to join an existing transaction; if none exists, start a new one.

• Constant: Propagation.REQUIRED

Time	Transaction A	Transaction B	Effect
T1	begin		Start Transaction A
T2	insert data1
T3		begin	Join Transaction A (no-op)
T4		insert data2
T5		commit/rollback	No-op (decided by outer)
T6	insert data3
T7	commit/rollback		Commit/rollback Transaction A

Independent Transaction (REQUIRES_NEW)

Suspend the current transaction (if any) and start a brand new independent transaction. The new transaction is unrelated to the old one.

• Constant: Propagation.REQUIRES_NEW

info

• Suspension means the Connection bound to the current thread becomes temporarily unavailable.
• After suspension, the transaction manager creates a new Connection for the current thread's database connection.

Time	Transaction A	Transaction B	Effect
T1	begin		Start Transaction A
T2	insert data1
T3		begin	Suspend A → new Connection B → start Transaction B
T4		insert data2
T5		commit/rollback	Commit/rollback B → resume A
T6	insert data3
T7	commit/rollback		Commit/rollback Transaction A

Nested Transaction (NESTED)

Create a subtransaction inside the current one using a Savepoint. Rolling back the subtransaction does not affect the outer transaction, but rolling back the outer transaction also rolls back the subtransaction.

• Constant: Propagation.NESTED

Time	Transaction A	Transaction B	Effect
T1	begin		Start Transaction A
T2	insert data1
T3		begin	Create Savepoint B
T4		insert data2
T5		commit/rollback	Release/rollback Savepoint B
T6	insert data3
T7	commit/rollback		Commit/rollback Transaction A

Follow Current Context (SUPPORTS)

If no transaction exists, run non-transactionally; if one exists, join the current transaction (same effect as REQUIRED).

• Constant: Propagation.SUPPORTS

info

SUPPORTS essentially means do nothing — it will not actively start nor prevent a transaction.

Non-Transactional (NOT_SUPPORTED)

If no transaction exists, run non-transactionally; if one exists, suspend the current transaction and run non-transactionally.

• Constant: Propagation.NOT_SUPPORTED

Time	Transaction A	Transaction B	Effect
T1	begin		Start Transaction A
T2	insert data1
T3		begin	Suspend Transaction A
T4		insert data2	Run non-transactionally
T5		commit/rollback	Resume Transaction A
T6	insert data3
T7	commit/rollback		Commit/rollback Transaction A

Exclude Transaction (NEVER)

If no transaction exists, run non-transactionally; if one exists, throw an exception.

• Constant: Propagation.NEVER

Require Transaction (MANDATORY)

If a transaction exists, join it; if none exists, throw an exception.

• Constant: Propagation.MANDATORY

Propagation Behavior Comparison

Propagation	No Transaction	Has Transaction
REQUIRED	Start new	Join existing
REQUIRES_NEW	Start new	Suspend existing → start new
NESTED	Start new	Savepoint subtransaction
SUPPORTS	Run non-transactionally	Join existing
NOT_SUPPORTED	Run non-transactionally	Suspend existing → run non-transactionally
NEVER	Run non-transactionally	Throw exception
MANDATORY	Throw exception	Join existing