The Begin Transaction statement declares the beginning of a multi-statement transaction (MST). MSTs contain one or more SQL statements to be processed as a single, indivisible database action. Many SQL statements are allowed within an MST; others, however, are not. The phrase, within an MST, is strictly defined to indicate statements appearing between an initial begin transaction statement and a final end transaction statement.

After beginning an MST with begin transaction, the MST can be terminated by either committing or aborting the transaction. Use the end transaction statement to commit the MST and the abort statement to undo the MST. Ingres automatically aborts the MST in cases of deadlock.

This statement has the following format:

Transactions (see page Transactions)