Event recording in a service database system

A method for performing event recordings in a service database system, the database comprising measurement tables (MT) which comprise consecutive rows (Ri), whereby a single row comprises data related to a single measurement object and the measurement objects of one measurement table are of the same type so that they form a measurement group, the method comprising the steps of

• receiving service requests (SR) into the system during whose processing it is necessary to count the number of events occurring per each measurement object,
• activating the provision of the service as a response to the service request,
• performing the recording of events by incrementing the measurement object-specific counters for each different event during the processing of the service request for a time determined by a certain, predefined recording interval, and
• performing the recording of counter values by storing the measurement object-specific counter values after each recording interval,
• updating active/passive information associated with the measurement group as a response to the activation or deactivation of the measurement group by the user,
• starting the measurement in a measurement group by activating the measurement group and finishing the measurement by deactivating the measurement group, and
• characterized in that the method further comprises the steps of
• maintaining a single measurement counter copied to N copies on rows of the measurement table corresponding to each measurement object so that each of the N counters belongs to a different counter group in which case N counter groups are located on the row,
• dividing time domain into consecutive recording intervals (TP) so that only the values of a selected counter group located on the row are incremented during each recording interval, and the counter group to be incremented is changed from one recording interval to another,
• handling the recording and zeroing of counter values during a recording interval one measurement object at a time by processing the rows of the measurement table one at a time (a) so that the recording and zeroing of the counter values of a single counter group is performed during the recording intervals which are left between the recording intervals during which the counters of the counter group in question are incremented, and (b) in such a manner that during a single processing of a row the recording and zeroing of the counter group are performed consecutively, if necessary, and
• forcing the first processing of each counter group after the activation of the measurement group for each object of the measurement group to be such that the recording of the counter group is inhibited, but the zeroing of the counter group is allowed.