Transaction Processing (TP) systems form a core software component in database management systems, making sharing of information and concurrent processing in multi-user, distributed environments possible. However, the currently used Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, and Durability (ACID) properties of transactions have limited the use of TP systems in new applications such as engineering design and long activities, due to their inflexibility. This project strengthens the ACID properties to support a spectrum of choices. For example, Epsilon Serializability gives application designers fine-grained choices in the specification of bounded inconsistency tolerance. This work complements theoretical results such as the ACTA framework. This project maps strengthened atomicity, isolation, and durability properties onto existing proven software systems, in particular, TP monitors such as Transarc Encina. Combining theory with practice, the results from this research will make strengthened production TP systems available to the designers and implementors of advanced applications such as cooperative long tra nsactions and autonomous TP on the Internet
