Based on the Books Online documentation of SET XACT_ABORT ON, i get the impression that if a T-SQL statement raises a run-time error, the entire transaction is terminated and rolled back:
Remarks
When SET XACT_ABORT is ON, if a Transact-SQL statement raises a run-time error, the entire transaction is terminated and rolled back.
Testing this in SQL Server 2008 R2:
SET XACT_ABORT ON;
BEGIN TRANSACTION;
PRINT 'TranCount befor an error = '+CAST(@@Trancount AS varchar(50))
DROP TABLE QuertyAsdf
PRINT 'TranCount after an error = '+CAST(@@Trancount AS varchar(50))
Gives the output:
TranCount befor an error = 1
Msg 3701, Level 11, State 5, Line 6
Cannot drop the table 'QwertyAsdf', because it does not exist or you do not have permission.
TranCount after an error = 1
i was also under the impression that SET XACT_ABORT ON terminates the batch if there's an error:
SET XACT_ABORT ON instructs SQL Server to rollback the entire transaction and abort the batch when a run-time error occurs.
That sounds handy. How can i make it do that too?