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This paper presents database applications of the recently proposed Transaction Logic—an extension of classical predicate logic that accounts in a clean and declarative fashion for the phenomenon of state changes in logic programs and databases. It has a natural model theory and a sound and complete proof theory, but, unlike many other logics, it allows users to program transactions. In addition, the semantics leads naturally to features whose amalgamation in a single logic has proved elusive in the past. Finally, Transaction Logic holds promise as a logical model of hitherto non-logical phenomena, including so-called procedural knowledge in AI, and the behavior of object-oriented databases, especially methods with side effects. This paper focuses on the applications of T r to database systems, including transaction definition and execution, nested transactions, view updates, consistency maintenance, bulk updates, non-determinism, sampling, active databases, dynamic integrity-constraints, hypothetical reasoning, and imperative-style programming.

This paper is an informal account of Transaction Logic—a new logic recently introduced in [4]. Transaction Logic was devised to deal with the phenomena of state changes in logic programming, databases, and AI. Transaction Logic has a natural model theory and a sound and complete proof theory. Unlike many other logics, however, it is suitable for programming transactions, transactions that accomplish state transitions in a logically correct manner. Transaction logic amalgamates such features as hypothetical and committed updates, dynamic constraints on transaction execution, nondeterminism, and bulk updates. Transaction Logic also appears to be suitable as a logical model of hitherto non-logical phenomena, including so-called procedural knowledge in AI, and the behavior of object-oriented databases, especially methods with side effects.