Hi, I've got a problem with a PG client that I'm not sure how to fix. Essentially, I have two processes connecting to a single PG database and simultaneously issuing the following statements: BEGIN; SET TRANSACTION ISOLATION LEVEL SERIALIZABLE; DELETE FROM licence_properties WHERE key = xxx; INSERT INTO licence_properties ... values with key = xxx; COMMIT One of these processes is getting to the INSERT and failing with duplicate key error. ERROR: duplicate key value violates unique constraint The DELETE should prevent this duplicate key error from occurring. I thought that the ISOLATION LEVEL SERIALIZABLE would fix this problem (being that the second process can see the INSERT from the first process after it has done the DELETE), but it doesn't. I am obviously going about this the wrong way. The database layer is implemented for a number of different servers and so I was trying to keep it simple. However, perhaps this is something that I can't simplify. Should I do SELECT FOR UPDATE and then either an INSERT or UPDATE? I would be very appreciative if someone more knowledgeable would point me to the correct way of doing this? The full PG log of the two processes follows (in case it is useful). Regards, Brodie log_line_prefix = '%m %p %x %v ' (timestamp, process ID, transaction ID, virtual transaction ID) logs are stable sorted by process ID then timestamp. Process 1: 2009-07-29 23:01:01.218 JST 6108 0 3/65 LOG: statement: BEGIN;SET TRANSACTION ISOLATION LEVEL SERIALIZABLE; 2009-07-29 23:01:01.218 JST 6108 0 3/65 LOG: statement: SAVEPOINT _EXEC_SVP_03741378 2009-07-29 23:01:01.218 JST 6108 0 3/65 LOG: statement: SELECT lid FROM licences WHERE groupid = E'' AND userid = E'test'; 2009-07-29 23:01:01.218 JST 6108 0 3/65 LOG: statement: RELEASE _EXEC_SVP_03741378 2009-07-29 23:01:01.218 JST 6108 0 3/65 LOG: statement: SAVEPOINT _EXEC_SVP_03740350 2009-07-29 23:01:01.218 JST 6108 0 3/65 LOG: statement: DELETE FROM licence_properties WHERE lid = '114' AND pkey = E'mytestprop' AND sessionid IN (0, '0') AND readonly IN (0, 0); 2009-07-29 23:01:01.218 JST 6108 0 3/65 LOG: statement: RELEASE _EXEC_SVP_03740350 2009-07-29 23:01:01.218 JST 6108 0 3/65 LOG: statement: SAVEPOINT _EXEC_SVP_03742768 2009-07-29 23:01:01.218 JST 6108 0 3/65 LOG: statement: INSERT INTO licence_properties (lid, sessionid, pkey, value, readonly) VALUES ('114', '0', E'mytestprop', E'update2', 0); 2009-07-29 23:01:01.218 JST 6108 453328 3/65 LOG: statement: RELEASE _EXEC_SVP_03742768 2009-07-29 23:01:01.218 JST 6108 453328 3/65 LOG: statement: SAVEPOINT _EXEC_SVP_03740868 2009-07-29 23:01:01.218 JST 6108 453328 3/65 LOG: statement: UPDATE licences SET revision = revision + 1 WHERE groupid = E'' AND userid = E'test'; 2009-07-29 23:01:01.218 JST 6108 453328 3/65 LOG: statement: RELEASE _EXEC_SVP_03740868 2009-07-29 23:01:01.218 JST 6108 453328 3/65 LOG: statement: COMMIT Process 2: 2009-07-29 23:01:01.218 JST 5460 0 2/47 LOG: statement: BEGIN;SET TRANSACTION ISOLATION LEVEL SERIALIZABLE; 2009-07-29 23:01:01.218 JST 5460 0 2/47 LOG: statement: SAVEPOINT _EXEC_SVP_03741378 2009-07-29 23:01:01.218 JST 5460 0 2/47 LOG: statement: SELECT lid FROM licences WHERE groupid = E'' AND userid = E'test'; 2009-07-29 23:01:01.218 JST 5460 0 2/47 LOG: statement: RELEASE _EXEC_SVP_03741378 2009-07-29 23:01:01.218 JST 5460 0 2/47 LOG: statement: SAVEPOINT _EXEC_SVP_03740350 2009-07-29 23:01:01.218 JST 5460 0 2/47 LOG: statement: DELETE FROM licence_properties WHERE lid = '114' AND pkey = E'mytestprop' AND sessionid IN (0, '0') AND readonly IN (0, 0); 2009-07-29 23:01:01.218 JST 5460 0 2/47 LOG: statement: RELEASE _EXEC_SVP_03740350 2009-07-29 23:01:01.218 JST 5460 0 2/47 LOG: statement: SAVEPOINT _EXEC_SVP_03742768 2009-07-29 23:01:01.218 JST 5460 0 2/47 LOG: statement: INSERT INTO licence_properties (lid, sessionid, pkey, value, readonly) VALUES ('114', '0', E'mytestprop', E'update2', 0); 2009-07-29 23:01:01.218 JST 5460 453330 2/47 ERROR: duplicate key value violates unique constraint "pk_lic_prop" 2009-07-29 23:01:01.218 JST 5460 453330 2/47 STATEMENT: INSERT INTO licence_properties (lid, sessionid, pkey, value, readonly) VALUES ('114', '0', E'mytestprop', E'update2', 0); 2009-07-29 23:01:01.218 JST 5460 453330 2/47 LOG: statement: ROLLBACK to _EXEC_SVP_03742768 2009-07-29 23:01:01.218 JST 5460 453330 2/47 LOG: statement: RELEASE _EXEC_SVP_03742768 2009-07-29 23:01:01.218 JST 5460 453330 2/47 LOG: statement: ROLLBACK -- Sent via pgsql-general mailing list (pgsql-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx) To make changes to your subscription: http://www.postgresql.org/mailpref/pgsql-general