System and method for providing a transaction log

A computer-readable medium having computer executable instructions for maintaining a transaction log, the transaction log comprising a plurality of transaction entries organized as a chronological list superimposed on an indexed list, wherein the transaction entries are arranged in chronological order in the chronological list beginning with an oldest transaction entry and ending with a latest transaction entry and the transaction entries are arranged in the indexed list according to indexes corresponding to the transaction entries, comprising the steps of:

• maintaining a first chronological list pointer to identify the oldest transaction entry in the transaction log;
• maintaining a last chronological list pointer to identify the latest transaction entry in the transaction log;
• maintaining a plurality of indexed list entry pointers to identify transaction entries corresponding to the indexes;
• maintaining a plurality of indexed list pointers to identify additional transaction entries corresponding to the same index;
• and
• maintaining a plurality of chronological list pointers to identify transaction entries subsequent to the oldest transaction entry.

A method for creating a transaction log, comprising the steps of:

• providing a chronological list superimposed on an indexed list, the chronological list having a first chronological list pointer pointing to an oldest transaction entry and a last chronological list pointer pointing to a latest transaction entry, and the indexed list having a plurality of indexed list entry pointers, each indexed list entry pointer corresponding to an index and pointing to a transaction entry that corresponds to the index;
• entering a new transaction entry into the chronological list by:
• updating the last chronological list pointer to point to the new transaction entry;
• and
• entering the new transaction entry into the indexed list by:
• determining an index for the new transaction entry;
• and
• updating the indexed list entry pointer that corresponds to the index to point to the new transaction entry, so that the transaction entry is entered into both the chronological list and the indexed list.

A transaction log comprising:

• an indexed list having a plurality of indexed list entry pointers, each indexed list entry pointer corresponding to an index;
• a chronological list superimposed on the indexed list, the chronological list having a first chronological list pointer that points to an oldest transaction entry in the transaction log and a last chronological list pointer that points to a latest transaction entry in the transaction log;
• and
• a plurality of transaction entries, each transaction entry corresponding to an index in the indexed list and having a chronological list pointer field including a chronological list pointer for identifying a subsequent transaction entry and an indexed list pointer field containing an indexed list pointer for identifying a next transaction entry corresponding to the same index.