Schema Lock Wait Queue(-schlockwq)
- Last Updated: February 11, 2026
- 2 minute read
- OpenEdge
- Version 13.0
- Documentation
Schema Lock Wait Queue(-schlockwq)
| Operating system and syntax | UNIX / Windows |
|
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Use with | Maximum value | Minimum value | Single-user default | Multi-user default |
| DBS | 1 | 0 | – | 0 |
Schema Lock Wait Queue (-schlockwq)
alters the schema locking algorithm.
When the database broker
is started with -schlockwq specified, the schema
lock scheduler forces a shared schema lock request to wait when
an exclusive schema lock request is queued. Once an exclusive schema
lock request is queued, it appears to all subsequent schema lock
requests that an exclusive schema lock has been granted (meaning
all subsequent schema lock requests will queue). Without -schlockwq,
shared locks continue to be granted, even though an exclusive lock
is queued.
With -schlockwq, wake up of users
waiting for a schema lock is performed in the order they were received.
Without -schlockwq, all users are awoken whenever
any schema lock conflict is resolved, causing a race to see which
user gets the available lock. When running with -schlockwq enabled
at broker startup, only those users allowed to get the schema lock
will be awoken.
All existing lock strength conflicts and properties are unchanged, as follows:
- Exclusive locks conflict with shared and exclusive locks for other users.
- Share locks may coexist with other share locks but conflict with exclusive locks of other users.
- An individual user may possess at most one shared lock and one exclusive lock concurrently.
- An individual user may never possess more than one lock of the same lock strength (i.e. two concurrent share locks for the same user is prohibited).
- An individual user may only ever have one entry on the wait queue.
- These behaviors are inherently supported by each of the language engines and enforced by the storage engine.
The -schlockwq parameter has no impact
when the database is started in single-user mode.
The Schema Lock Wait Queue (-schlockwq)
parameter may be modified while your database is online using PROMON or through the
_DbParams VST.
You can use this parameter to support continuous operation of the database. For more information, see Change database parameters while the database is running.