Final answer:
A transaction enters the active state after starting execution where it can perform READ and WRITE operations, followed by potentially moving to partially committed and committed states, or to failed and aborted states if issues arise.
Step-by-step explanation:
A transaction goes into an active state immediately after it starts execution, where it can execute its READ and WRITE operations. In the active state, the transaction is in the process of carrying out the sequence of operations that make up the transaction. If a transaction executes all its operations without any issues, it then moves to the partially committed state.
After reaching the partially committed state, if the final operation is successful, the transaction moves to the committed state, indicating that all changes have been permanently recorded. However, if any problem occurs during the active or partially committed states, the transaction may need to be rolled back to the failed state, eventually leading to the aborted state, from which the transaction may be restarted or completely abandoned. These are critical concepts in the area known as transaction processing in database management systems (DBMS).