MySQL get a lock to update certain rows and prevent other sessions to read that row

lockingMySQL

my question is:
How can I get a certain row to update and on the other side, block that row to be selected by other sessions. I don't want a simple SELECT .. FOR UPDATE or SELECT .. LOCK IN SHARE MODE. I want the second session not to be able to select the row at all. Maybe some isolation level, I tried them all but nothing.
Thanks

Best Answer

Unless you set the transaction level to read uncommitted, a transaction will see the unmodified row. The second session only has to acknowledge the existence of the first session when both sessions want to lock that row, otherwise they will act as if the other transaction doesn't exist (as that session could rollback at any time) - which is the whole point of using transactions.

In MySQL, you can get a locking read by either explicitly using SELECT .. FOR UPDATE or SELECT .. LOCK IN SHARE MODE, or by using the "serializable"-isolation level for the second transaction, which implicitly adds the LOCK IN SHARE MODE for you to every select in that transaction:

This level is like REPEATABLE READ, but InnoDB implicitly converts all plain SELECT statements to SELECT ... LOCK IN SHARE MODE if autocommit is disabled. If autocommit is enabled, the SELECT is its own transaction. It therefore is known to be read only and can be serialized if performed as a consistent (nonlocking) read and need not block for other transactions. (To force a plain SELECT to block if other transactions have modified the selected rows, disable autocommit.)

So if you can force the second transaction to use that transaction level and to not enable autocommit, you can lock that row for this session; but keep in mind that this mode can slow down concurrent queries, as every read locks, so you might want to use this mode only when you need it.

This behaviour complies with the requirements of the sql standard. The exact implementation is a design choice, and other databases will do this differently. E.g. the MSSQL Server will not read your modified, uncommitted row (unless the isolation level is read uncommitted).

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OMG I spent hours thinking through this issue.

I answered three very tough questions addressing this exact issue.

SELECT queries can perform locks on the gen_clust_index, aka the Clustered Index.

Here are three DBA Stack Exchanges questions I agressively looked over with @RedBlueThing, the person who asked these questions. @RedBlueThing found work arounds for his questions.

Jun 14, 2011 : Reasons for occasionally slow queries?
Jun 08, 2011 : Will these two queries result in a deadlock if executed in sequence?
Jun 06, 2011 : Trouble deciphering a deadlock in an innodb status log

Please read them carefully so you can relive my episode of philosophical InnoDB, right or wrong.

Mysql – Does MySQL guarantee atomic upgrade from read lock to write lock

Indeed, the part of the manual you quoted does just what it says:

-- Connection #1
LOCK TABLE mytable READ; -- lock is acquired

-- Connection #2
LOCK TABLE mytable WRITE; -- execution is suspended, lock is NOT acquired

-- Connection #1
LOCK TABLE mytable WRITE; -- execution is suspended
-- READ lock was released, allowing Connection #2 to acquire the WRITE lock
-- Connection #2 resumes

Solution: do switch to InnoDB and use transactions. Performance of the InnoDB engine improved a lot in the recent versions.

-- Connection #1
BEGIN;
SELECT * FROM mytable LOCK IN SHARE MODE; -- lock is acquired

-- Connection #2
BEGIN;
SELECT * FROM mytable FOR UPDATE; -- execution is suspended, lock is NOT acquired

-- Connection #1
SELECT * FROM mytable FOR UPDATE;
-- deadlock is detected, Connection #2 is rolled back

Best Answer

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