17.3 Synchronizing the Database

When your application knows that the state of the database is consistent (i.e., all relevant application-level invariants hold), you may call gdbm_sync. For example, if your application manages bank accounts, transferring money from one account to another should maintain the invariant that the sum of the two accounts is the same before and after the transfer: It is correct to decrement account ‘A’ by $7, increment account ‘B’ by $7, and then call gdbm_sync. However it is not correct to call gdbm_sync between the decrement of ‘A’ and the increment of ‘B’, because a crash immediately after that call would destroy money. The general rule is simple, sensible, and memorable: Call gdbm_sync only when the database is in a state from which you are willing and able to recover following a crash. (If you think about it you’ll realize that there’s never any other moment when you’d really want to call gdbm_sync, regardless of whether crash-tolerance is enabled. Why on earth would you push the state of an inconsistent unrecoverable database down to durable media?).