[IxDA Discuss] Committing changes to a database

[Abbett, Jonathan]

> In some places, changes are "committed" as soon as you enter them, a
> bit like how Microsoft Access operates. In other places, the user has
> to specifically "save" to commit changes, like MYOB.

The MYOB styles sounds like a case of the technology forcing the
interface into something unintuitive; that is, because the underlying
database uses transactions, with explicit commits, the UI also batches
user operations and requires explicit commits.

I sense that the emerging trend is to continuously store a user's
changes but make it very easy for him to "undo" if he makes a mistake.
The user doesn't need to think about saving or committing or being
careful about his actions -- the data is always safe, and there's always
a way out.  From an implementation perspective, it's the hardest, but
from a usability perspective, it's ideal.

-Jonathan