> what is the difference between the two?

The only difference is the behavior of the IBO datasets. SavePoint simple
does an isc_commitretaining() API call and doesn't care if all of its
associated datasets are posted. A call to CommitRetaining method does the
same thing only it makes sure all datasets are posted first so that the
entire transaction context is resolved and no datasets are left in an edit
state. (Didn't I just say this a couple days ago?)

> my another question is that if I did this
> ib_transaction.commitretaining this means to commit all the
> transaction I have made, right? what if I did this
> ib_query1.ib_transaction.commitretaining? does this mean that only
> the transaction I have made with ib_query1 will be commited and none
> of the other ib_querys .... right?

It only affects the queries associated to it via their IB_Transaction
property.

Jason