Re: a SELECT FOR UPDATE question

Michael Fuhr <mike@fuhr.org> writes:
> xactA: updates row
> xactB: attempts to update same row, blocks until xactA completes
> xactC: query finds xactA in row's xmax
> xactA: commits
> xactB: unblocks and acquires a lock on the row
> xactC: query to pg_locks doesn't find xactA, so assumes row not locked

> Does that sound like what you're talking about?

Right.  Furthermore, xactC's query result could have been stale when it
was obtained, nevermind the separate query to pg_locks:

xactA: updates row
xactC: starts, sets snapshot
xactB: attempts to update same row, blocks until xactA completes
xactA: commits
xactB: unblocks and acquires a lock on the row
xactC: query finds xactA in row's xmax because of MVCC rules

            regards, tom lane