Transaction
A Transaction is a specialized sub-process with all-or-nothing semantics. All activities within must complete successfully, or the entire transaction rolls back via compensation handlers.
What is a Transaction?
A Transaction is a sub-process with transactional semantics-either all contained activities complete successfully, or compensations roll everything back. It implements the saga pattern for distributed consistency.
Visual Representation
A Transaction displays as a rounded rectangle with double borders. The double border distinguishes it from regular sub-processes and indicates its transactional nature.
Key Characteristics
- All-or-nothing: Either all activities succeed, or all are compensated
- Compensation handlers: Each activity can have associated undo logic
- Cancel boundary event: Catches transaction cancellation for alternative flows
- ACID-like behavior: Provides consistency guarantees across multiple steps
Common Use Cases
Travel Booking
Book flight, hotel, and car as a transaction-if any fails, compensate all previous bookings.
Financial Transfer
Debit and credit accounts as a transaction ensuring funds are never lost or doubled.
Multi-System Update
Update multiple systems atomically, rolling back all if any system update fails.
Frequently Asked Questions
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