Re: Is Spring transaction management worthusing?

Brandon,
 
I think it's pretty clear from our docs and samples that Spring's 
JtaTransactionManager itself works just nicely in a container-independent 
fashion - in typical usage scenarios where you could use a plain JTA 
javax.transaction.UserTransaction too. 
We have always clarified this when a corresponding question has popped up on 
the forums.
 
As Dmitriy has outlined, you just need container-specific configuration for 
more advanced usage, namely transaction suspension and Hibernate cache 
completion callbacks. The simple reason for this is that you need the JTA 
javax.transaction.TransactionManager to suspend/resume transactions and 
register transaction synchronizations; the UserTransaction interface does not 
support that functionality.
 
Unfortunately, J2EE does not specify how to access the JTA TransactionManager, 
just the common JNDI location of the JTA UserTransaction - so the lookup of the 
JTA TransactionManager has to be container-specific. This is the case with 
Hibernate (see TransactionManagerLookup), this is the case with Spring, this is 
the case with any such tool.
 
So for typical usages, simple declare Spring's JtaTransactionManager without 
any properties. Just for transaction suspension, specify a 
"transactionManagerName" (JNDI location of the JTA TransactionManager) or a 
"transactionManager" reference (from JndiObjectFactoryBean, to centrally define 
the JNDI location; or from a special lookup strategy, like JotmFactoryBean or 
WebSphereTransactionManagerFactoryBean).
 
-----
 
For Hibernate cache completion callbacks with JTA, you need to specify a 
corresponding TransactionManagerLookup in the Hibernate properties. As an 
alternative, Spring allows you to pass a JTA TransactionManager into 
LocalSessionFactoryBean's "jtaTransactionManager" property, to reuse a 
centrally defined TransactionManager reference that can be shared with 
JtaTransactionManager's "transactionManager" property.
 
Note that you'll also get proper Hibernate cache completion callbacks without 
such a container-specific TransactionManagerLookup, as long as you use Spring's 
transaction management - because Spring has its own transaction synchronization 
mechanism. So even for proper Hibernate callbacks with Spring, there is 
typically no need for container-specific JTA configuration; a plain 
JtaTransactionManager definition is fine.
 
That said, there is an issue with WebLogic/WebSphere and Hibernate, which is 
also what keeps popping up on our forums: Those containers have very rigid JTA 
implementations that don't allow any access to a transactional JDBC Connection 
after transaction completion. Because of this, Spring's standard Hibernate 
cache completion callback causes a warning in the logs; an additional 
container-specific Hibernate TransactionManagerLookup avoids this.
 
-----
 
All things considered, to the best of my knowledge, Spring's JTA support is as 
strong as can be. It even includes special support for Hibernate/JTA 
integration, which addresses typical Hibernate issues. Spring cannot offer more 
than it does already, as JTA simply doesn't specify more functionality. It 
cannot simplify JTA configuration either, as the remaining limits are caused by 
JTA itself.
 
In particular, Spring's transaction management offers all 6 propagation 
behavior types that EJB CMT defines (REQUIRED, REQUIRES_NEW, etc). In the case 
of JTA, REQUIRES_NEW and NOT_SUPPORTED can just be offered if the 
javax.transaction.TransactionManager is accessible, which requires a 
container-specific lookup - a J2EE/JTA issue that is not caused by Spring, and 
faced by all tools that work with JTA in a J2EE environment.
 
Side note: Spring's other transaction strategies, namely 
DataSourceTransactionManager, HibernateTransactionManager and 
JdoTransactionManager, offer all 6 propagation behavior types too - without any 
container-specific configuration. Furthermore, the former two also offer 
per-transaction isolation levels, which is a concept not supported by JTA in 
the first place. Some transaction strategies support "read-only transactions" 
too, for example HibernateTransactionManager.
 
-----
 
Please, before you quote anonymous sources that say that "JTA support is poor" 
and speculate about problems "when containers upgrade" - without specific 
problems, and on a public user forum of the product that you're questioning -, 
spend a few minutes checking your facts. A look into the docs/javadocs - or a 
detailed read of answers to those forum questions you referred to - would have 
revealed that those assumptions are obviously wrong.
 
So, now that we've removed that obstacle: If you've got any further questions 
regarding Spring's transaction support (*after* a look at the docs), feel free 
to ask me: be it about usage patterns, implementation internals, issues with 
specific persistence tools, or issues with specific J2EE containers. I'll also 
be happy to clarify any issues regarding Spring's support for iBATIS SQL Maps, 
which is obviously of interest to you :-)
 
Juergen
 

________________________________

Von: springframework-user-admin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx im Auftrag von Dmitriy 
Kopylenko
Gesendet: Sa 29.05.2004 05:44
An: springframework-user@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Betreff: Re: [Springframework-user] Is Spring transaction management worthusing?


Brandon, thanks for your reply.

Let me briefly say that Spring provides completely generic implementation of 
PlatformTransactionManager namely JtaTransactionManager which handles most of 
the use cases for generic J2EE global transactions such as distributed 
transactions and managing transactions on J2EE connector (JCA resource adapter).

In order to support transaction suspension (REQUIRES_NEW, NOT_SUPPORTED), 
Spring needs to get hold of JTA TransactionManager which is an internal JTA 
object and its location is not specified by J2EE spec. and is individual for 
each J2EE container. 

Spring provides two FactoryBean implementations for JOTM and WebSphere to 
obtain the JtaTransactionManager for respective JTA implementations, as static 
accessor methods are required to get hold of TransactionManager for both JOTM 
and WebSphere...

I'm not sure about a potential problem with containers upgrade. I'll let 
Juergen, Rod and others comment on this.

Regards,
Dmitriy.


Brandon Goodin wrote:


        I'm just trying to find out if there are any serious problems with 
Transaction Management. Looking into the archives it seems the chief complaint 
is that spring has to provide specific container support for JTA Transaction 
Management. That could pose a problem as containers upgrade. Projects using 
spring would need to make sure that Spring has support for their container 
before proceeding with a point upgrade. This is in line with what I heard from 
another source. Is this an accurate portrayal?

         

        Brandon Goodin

         

        
________________________________


        From: springframework-user-admin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
[mailto:springframework-user-admin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Dmitriy 
Kopylenko
        Sent: Friday, May 28, 2004 8:04 PM
        To: springframework-user@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
        Subject: Re: [Springframework-user] Is Spring transaction management 
worthusing?

         

        Brandon, I'm sorry, but from your email it's not clear what you mean. 
You said: "in general I've heard that the JTA support is poor" I just what to 
find out from whom you heard that statement? In general I could tell you one 
thing - Spring's JTA support is not poor at all ;-)
        
        Regards,
        Dmitriy.
        
        Brandon Goodin wrote:
        
        

        Why are you asking me a question that I have already answered? Read my 
email and you may find the answer to your question. ;-)

         

        Brandon

         

        
________________________________


        From: springframework-user-admin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
[mailto:springframework-user-admin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Dmitriy 
Kopylenko
        Sent: Friday, May 28, 2004 7:34 PM
        To: springframework-user@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
        Subject: Re: [Springframework-user] Is Spring transaction management 
worthusing?

         

        I'm just curious - where did you hear that "the JTA support is poor" 
and what are the specific areas of this "poor support"?
        
        Dmitriy.
        
        Brandon Goodin wrote:
        
        
        

        Specifically, I have nothing. But, in general I've heard that the JTA
        support is poor. I'm just curious if anyone can give me a clear blow for
        blow on where the Transaction capabilities are strong and where they 
need
        some work.
         
        Brandon Goodin
         
          

                -----Original Message-----
                From: springframework-user-admin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
                [mailto:springframework-user-admin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On 
Behalf Of
                Nadeem Bitar
                Sent: Friday, May 28, 2004 5:30 PM
                To: springframework-user@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
                Subject: Re: [Springframework-user] Is Spring transaction 
management
                worthusing?
                 
                On ?, 2004-05-28 at 18:11 -0700, Brandon Goodin wrote:
                    

                        I've heard that there are issues with the Spring 
transaction
                        management. Can someone explain to me the pros and cons 
of Spring's
                        management of transactions?
                         
                              

                Which issues? because I having been using it for a year without 
any
                problem.
                 
                 
                    

                        Brandon Goodin
                         
                         
                              

                 
                 
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