Issue 055 - WS-AT: User Commit and User Rollback should not return Aborted in None state

["Ram Jeyaraman" <Ram.Jeyaraman@microsoft.com>]

This is identified as WS-TX issue 055.

Please ensure follow-ups have a subject line starting "Issue 055 -
WS-AT: User Commit and User Rollback should not return Aborted in None
state".

-----Original Message-----
From: Alastair Green [mailto:alastair.green@choreology.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2006 5:14 PM
To: ws-tx@lists.oasis-open.org
Subject: [ws-tx] New Issue: WS-AT: User Commit and User Rollback should
not return Aborted in None state

Issue name -- WS-AT: User Commit and User Rollback should not return 
Aborted in None state

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Target document and draft:

Protocol:  WS-AT

Artifact:  spec

Draft:

WS-AT CD 0.1 uploaded

Link to the document referenced:

http://www.oasis-open.org/apps/org/workgroup/ws-tx/download.php/17325/ws
tx-wsat-1.1-spec-cd-01.pdf

Section and PDF line number:

Section 10, "State Tables", Coordinator View table, between ll. 503 and
504


Issue type:

Design


Related issues:

New Issue: WS-AT: User Commit and User Rollback row of CV state table 
contradicts resolution of 010


Issue Description:

If transaction in state None, and event User Commit or User Rollback 
arises, then action is to Return Aborted (aka tell application that the 
transaction was aborted). In fact transaction may just have been 
forgotten, and may either have been aborted or committed. Return value 
possibly contradicts reality, therefore.


Issue Details:

All Forgotten event arises when all participants have done action 
Forget. If this happens when transaction as a whole is in Aborting or 
Committting state then the state flips to None.

User Commit or User Rollback event may then arise. (Replay of Completion

protocol Commit, API replay). Response of coordinator state machine is 
to process action "Return Aborted". See WS-AT Coordinator View state 
table, rows (Internal Events) User Commit and User Rollback, which read 
as follows:

User Commit/None: Return Aborted --> None
User Rollback/None: Return Aborted --> None

Clearly this information may be false. It is possible that we got to 
None via Committing, or via Aborting. The result was either Committed or

Aborted. Naturally, if we have gone "All Forgotten" we have literally 
... forgotten which it was.
 
 
Proposed Resolution:

a) Amend state table cells referred to in problem description to read:

User Commit/None: Return Unknown --> None
User Rollback/None: Return Unknown --> None

b) Define new fault for use by Completion protocol, called 
UnknownOutcome, which can be returned if this happens.