User's Guide Part III. Using SQL Anywhere Chapter 19. Using Transactions and LocksWithin a transaction, SQL Anywhere supports savepoints. Before Watcom SQL 4.0, a savepoint was referred to as a subtransaction.
A SAVEPOINT statement defines a point in a transaction where all changes after the point can be undone by a ROLLBACK TO SAVEPOINT statement. Once a RELEASE SAVEPOINT statement has been executed, the savepoint can no longer be used.
No locks are released by the RELEASE SAVEPOINT or ROLLBACK TO SAVEPOINT commands: locks are released only at the end of a transaction.
Savepoints can be named and they can be nested. By using named, nested savepoints, you can have many active savepoints within a transaction. Changes between a SAVEPOINT and a RELEASE SAVEPOINT can still be canceled by rolling back to a previous savepoint or rolling back the transaction itself. Changes within a transaction are not a permanent part of the database until the transaction is committed. All savepoints are released when a transaction ends.
Savepoints make use of the rollback log. They cannot be used in bulk operations mode. There is very little additional overhead in using savepoints.