The paper shows how transaction management protocols can be designed u
sing discrete-event system control theory. It outlines designs for som
e well-known protocols: serialization graph testing, two-phase locking
, and timestamp ordering. These protocols can be obtained as solutions
(centralized, fully decentralized, or maximal decentralized) of stand
ard control problems, The results serve to unify the problems consider
ed and suggest the possibility of computer-aided design.