Patent ID: 7653664

Claim:
In a computing environment in which a destination database or data store ( 102 ) is synchronized with a source database ( 106 ) to apply modifications made to the source database to the destination database or data store, a method comprising: determining ( 414 , 710 ) a new anchor value, including determining an anchor value that excludes any modification or modifications corresponding to an uncommitted transaction, the new anchor value based on a datatype value comprising an increasing counter value ( 330 ) or a date and time value ( 630 ) stored with each modification; wherein determining the new anchor value comprises, obtaining ( 402 ) a first set of committed modifications that do not include uncommitted modifications, obtaining ( 406 ) a second set of modifications that includes committed modifications and uncommitted modifications, and establishing ( 412 ) the new anchor value based on a minimum value that exists in the second set but not in the first set; wherein determining the new anchor value comprises, accessing ( 702 ) data corresponding to one or more active transactions, in which the data includes a start date and time associated with each active transaction, and establishing ( 708 , 710 ) the new anchor value based on a minimum start date and time; and using ( 416 , 712 ) the new anchor value to enumerate modifications that were made to the source database.