What happens to a data page when it is marked stale?

When a data page is marked stale, it indicates that the data it contains may no longer be valid or up-to-date. The correct outcome in this situation is that the data page will reload upon the next access. This mechanism ensures that the application retrieves the most current data instead of relying on potentially outdated information.

In practical terms, marking a data page as stale triggers a refresh the next time the system attempts to access that data. This design allows for efficiency, as it avoids unnecessary reloads while still ensuring that users access accurate and relevant information when needed. The state of being outdated prompts the framework to fetch fresh data from the source, thereby keeping the information reliable.

This automatic refresh behavior is particularly useful in dynamic environments where the underlying data can change frequently, ensuring that users always work with the latest information without manual intervention.