[Springframework-developer] Significance of 'readonly'?

[James C. <jim...@do...>]

When using the following bean definition:

<bean id="petStore" class=
"org.springframework.transaction.interceptor.TransactionProxyFactoryBean">
  <property name="transactionManager">
    <ref bean="transactionManager"/>
  </property>
  <property name="target">
    <ref bean="petStoreTarget"/>
  </property>
  <property name="transactionAttributes">
    <props>
      <prop key="insert*">PROPAGATION_REQUIRED,-MyCheckedException</prop>
      <prop key="update*">PROPAGATION_REQUIRED</prop>
      <prop key="*">PROPAGATION_REQUIRED,readOnly</prop>
    </props>
  </property>
</bean>

What is the significance of the readOnly attribute in the property list? Is
this just a "hint" passed to certain transaction managers that may be able
to optimize these methods, or does it result in a specific, repeatable
behavior?