diff --git a/pregelix/pregelix-dataflow-std/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/dataflow/std/BTreeSearchFunctionUpdateOperatorNodePushable.java b/pregelix/pregelix-dataflow-std/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/dataflow/std/BTreeSearchFunctionUpdateOperatorNodePushable.java
index ff95e52..1fb5aca 100644
--- a/pregelix/pregelix-dataflow-std/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/dataflow/std/BTreeSearchFunctionUpdateOperatorNodePushable.java
+++ b/pregelix/pregelix-dataflow-std/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/dataflow/std/BTreeSearchFunctionUpdateOperatorNodePushable.java
@@ -43,7 +43,9 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.pregelix.dataflow.std.base.IRecordDescriptorFactory;
 import edu.uci.ics.pregelix.dataflow.std.base.IRuntimeHookFactory;
 import edu.uci.ics.pregelix.dataflow.std.base.IUpdateFunctionFactory;
+import edu.uci.ics.pregelix.dataflow.util.CopyUpdateUtil;
 import edu.uci.ics.pregelix.dataflow.util.FunctionProxy;
+import edu.uci.ics.pregelix.dataflow.util.SearchKeyTupleReference;
 import edu.uci.ics.pregelix.dataflow.util.UpdateBuffer;
 
 public class BTreeSearchFunctionUpdateOperatorNodePushable extends AbstractUnaryInputOperatorNodePushable {
@@ -74,6 +76,7 @@
     private final FunctionProxy functionProxy;
     private ArrayTupleBuilder cloneUpdateTb;
     private final UpdateBuffer updateBuffer;
+    private final SearchKeyTupleReference tempTupleReference = new SearchKeyTupleReference();
 
     public BTreeSearchFunctionUpdateOperatorNodePushable(AbstractTreeIndexOperatorDescriptor opDesc,
             IHyracksTaskContext ctx, int partition, IRecordDescriptorProvider recordDescProvider, boolean isForward,
@@ -147,21 +150,8 @@
             functionProxy.functionCall(tuple, cloneUpdateTb);
 
             //doing clone update
-            if (cloneUpdateTb.getSize() > 0) {
-                if (!updateBuffer.appendTuple(cloneUpdateTb)) {
-                    //release the cursor/latch
-                    cursor.close();
-                    //batch update
-                    updateBuffer.updateBTree(indexAccessor);
-
-                    //search again
-                    cursor.reset();
-                    rangePred.setLowKey(tuple, true);
-                    rangePred.setHighKey(highKey, highKeyInclusive);
-                    indexAccessor.search(cursor, rangePred);
-                }
-            }
-            cloneUpdateTb.reset();
+            CopyUpdateUtil.copyUpdate(tempTupleReference, tuple, updateBuffer, cloneUpdateTb, indexAccessor, cursor,
+                    rangePred);
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/pregelix/pregelix-dataflow-std/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/dataflow/std/IndexNestedLoopJoinFunctionUpdateOperatorNodePushable.java b/pregelix/pregelix-dataflow-std/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/dataflow/std/IndexNestedLoopJoinFunctionUpdateOperatorNodePushable.java
index 61e4649..427ffe9 100644
--- a/pregelix/pregelix-dataflow-std/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/dataflow/std/IndexNestedLoopJoinFunctionUpdateOperatorNodePushable.java
+++ b/pregelix/pregelix-dataflow-std/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/dataflow/std/IndexNestedLoopJoinFunctionUpdateOperatorNodePushable.java
@@ -43,7 +43,9 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.pregelix.dataflow.std.base.IRecordDescriptorFactory;
 import edu.uci.ics.pregelix.dataflow.std.base.IRuntimeHookFactory;
 import edu.uci.ics.pregelix.dataflow.std.base.IUpdateFunctionFactory;
+import edu.uci.ics.pregelix.dataflow.util.CopyUpdateUtil;
 import edu.uci.ics.pregelix.dataflow.util.FunctionProxy;
+import edu.uci.ics.pregelix.dataflow.util.SearchKeyTupleReference;
 import edu.uci.ics.pregelix.dataflow.util.UpdateBuffer;
 
 public class IndexNestedLoopJoinFunctionUpdateOperatorNodePushable extends AbstractUnaryInputOperatorNodePushable {
@@ -69,6 +71,7 @@
     private final FunctionProxy functionProxy;
     private ArrayTupleBuilder cloneUpdateTb;
     private final UpdateBuffer updateBuffer;
+    private final SearchKeyTupleReference tempTupleReference = new SearchKeyTupleReference();
 
     public IndexNestedLoopJoinFunctionUpdateOperatorNodePushable(AbstractTreeIndexOperatorDescriptor opDesc,
             IHyracksTaskContext ctx, int partition, IRecordDescriptorProvider recordDescProvider, boolean isForward,
@@ -163,21 +166,9 @@
              */
             functionProxy.functionCall(leftAccessor, tIndex, tupleRef, cloneUpdateTb);
 
-            if (cloneUpdateTb.getSize() > 0) {
-                if (!updateBuffer.appendTuple(cloneUpdateTb)) {
-                    //release the cursor/latch
-                    cursor.close();
-                    //batch update
-                    updateBuffer.updateBTree(indexAccessor);
-
-                    //search again
-                    cursor.reset();
-                    rangePred.setLowKey(tupleRef, true);
-                    rangePred.setHighKey(highKey, highKeyInclusive);
-                    indexAccessor.search(cursor, rangePred);
-                }
-            }
-            cloneUpdateTb.reset();
+            //doing copy update
+            CopyUpdateUtil.copyUpdate(tempTupleReference, tupleRef, updateBuffer, cloneUpdateTb, indexAccessor, cursor,
+                    rangePred);
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/pregelix/pregelix-dataflow-std/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/dataflow/std/IndexNestedLoopRightOuterJoinFunctionUpdateOperatorNodePushable.java b/pregelix/pregelix-dataflow-std/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/dataflow/std/IndexNestedLoopRightOuterJoinFunctionUpdateOperatorNodePushable.java
index 5ca5382..0c13a09 100644
--- a/pregelix/pregelix-dataflow-std/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/dataflow/std/IndexNestedLoopRightOuterJoinFunctionUpdateOperatorNodePushable.java
+++ b/pregelix/pregelix-dataflow-std/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/dataflow/std/IndexNestedLoopRightOuterJoinFunctionUpdateOperatorNodePushable.java
@@ -45,7 +45,9 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.pregelix.dataflow.std.base.IRecordDescriptorFactory;
 import edu.uci.ics.pregelix.dataflow.std.base.IRuntimeHookFactory;
 import edu.uci.ics.pregelix.dataflow.std.base.IUpdateFunctionFactory;
+import edu.uci.ics.pregelix.dataflow.util.CopyUpdateUtil;
 import edu.uci.ics.pregelix.dataflow.util.FunctionProxy;
+import edu.uci.ics.pregelix.dataflow.util.SearchKeyTupleReference;
 import edu.uci.ics.pregelix.dataflow.util.UpdateBuffer;
 
 public class IndexNestedLoopRightOuterJoinFunctionUpdateOperatorNodePushable extends
@@ -79,7 +81,8 @@
     private final IFrameWriter[] writers;
     private final FunctionProxy functionProxy;
     private ArrayTupleBuilder cloneUpdateTb;
-    private UpdateBuffer updateBuffer;
+    private final UpdateBuffer updateBuffer;
+    private final SearchKeyTupleReference tempTupleReference = new SearchKeyTupleReference();
 
     public IndexNestedLoopRightOuterJoinFunctionUpdateOperatorNodePushable(AbstractTreeIndexOperatorDescriptor opDesc,
             IHyracksTaskContext ctx, int partition, IRecordDescriptorProvider recordDescProvider, boolean isForward,
@@ -184,32 +187,6 @@
         }
     }
 
-    //for the join match casesos
-    private void writeResults(IFrameTupleAccessor leftAccessor, int tIndex, ITupleReference frameTuple)
-            throws Exception {
-        /**
-         * function call
-         */
-        functionProxy.functionCall(leftAccessor, tIndex, frameTuple, cloneUpdateTb);
-
-        //doing clone update
-        if (cloneUpdateTb.getSize() > 0) {
-            if (!updateBuffer.appendTuple(cloneUpdateTb)) {
-                //release the cursor/latch
-                cursor.close();
-                //batch update
-                updateBuffer.updateBTree(indexAccessor);
-
-                //search again and recover the cursor
-                cursor.reset();
-                rangePred.setLowKey(frameTuple, true);
-                rangePred.setHighKey(null, true);
-                indexAccessor.search(cursor, rangePred);
-            }
-            cloneUpdateTb.reset();
-        }
-    }
-
     @Override
     public void nextFrame(ByteBuffer buffer) throws HyracksDataException {
         accessor.reset(buffer);
@@ -289,6 +266,19 @@
         return lowKeySearchCmp.compare(left, right);
     }
 
+    //for the join match casesos
+    private void writeResults(IFrameTupleAccessor leftAccessor, int tIndex, ITupleReference frameTuple)
+            throws Exception {
+        /**
+         * function call
+         */
+        functionProxy.functionCall(leftAccessor, tIndex, frameTuple, cloneUpdateTb);
+
+        //doing clone update
+        CopyUpdateUtil.copyUpdate(tempTupleReference, frameTuple, updateBuffer, cloneUpdateTb, indexAccessor, cursor,
+                rangePred);
+    }
+
     /** write result for outer case */
     private void writeResults(ITupleReference frameTuple) throws Exception {
         /**
@@ -297,21 +287,8 @@
         functionProxy.functionCall(nullTupleBuilder, frameTuple, cloneUpdateTb);
 
         //doing clone update
-        if (cloneUpdateTb.getSize() > 0) {
-            if (!updateBuffer.appendTuple(cloneUpdateTb)) {
-                //release the cursor/latch
-                cursor.close();
-                //batch update
-                updateBuffer.updateBTree(indexAccessor);
-
-                //search again and recover the cursor
-                cursor.reset();
-                rangePred.setLowKey(frameTuple, true);
-                rangePred.setHighKey(null, true);
-                indexAccessor.search(cursor, rangePred);
-            }
-            cloneUpdateTb.reset();
-        }
+        CopyUpdateUtil.copyUpdate(tempTupleReference, frameTuple, updateBuffer, cloneUpdateTb, indexAccessor, cursor,
+                rangePred);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/pregelix/pregelix-dataflow-std/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/dataflow/std/IndexNestedLoopSetUnionFunctionUpdateOperatorNodePushable.java b/pregelix/pregelix-dataflow-std/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/dataflow/std/IndexNestedLoopSetUnionFunctionUpdateOperatorNodePushable.java
index 160324e..1e5c2ea 100644
--- a/pregelix/pregelix-dataflow-std/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/dataflow/std/IndexNestedLoopSetUnionFunctionUpdateOperatorNodePushable.java
+++ b/pregelix/pregelix-dataflow-std/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/dataflow/std/IndexNestedLoopSetUnionFunctionUpdateOperatorNodePushable.java
@@ -43,7 +43,9 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.pregelix.dataflow.std.base.IRecordDescriptorFactory;
 import edu.uci.ics.pregelix.dataflow.std.base.IRuntimeHookFactory;
 import edu.uci.ics.pregelix.dataflow.std.base.IUpdateFunctionFactory;
+import edu.uci.ics.pregelix.dataflow.util.CopyUpdateUtil;
 import edu.uci.ics.pregelix.dataflow.util.FunctionProxy;
+import edu.uci.ics.pregelix.dataflow.util.SearchKeyTupleReference;
 import edu.uci.ics.pregelix.dataflow.util.UpdateBuffer;
 
 public class IndexNestedLoopSetUnionFunctionUpdateOperatorNodePushable extends AbstractUnaryInputOperatorNodePushable {
@@ -72,6 +74,7 @@
     private final FunctionProxy functionProxy;
     private ArrayTupleBuilder cloneUpdateTb;
     private UpdateBuffer updateBuffer;
+    private final SearchKeyTupleReference tempTupleReference = new SearchKeyTupleReference();
 
     public IndexNestedLoopSetUnionFunctionUpdateOperatorNodePushable(AbstractTreeIndexOperatorDescriptor opDesc,
             IHyracksTaskContext ctx, int partition, IRecordDescriptorProvider recordDescProvider, boolean isForward,
@@ -235,21 +238,8 @@
         functionProxy.functionCall(frameTuple, cloneUpdateTb);
 
         //doing clone update
-        if (cloneUpdateTb.getSize() > 0) {
-            if (!updateBuffer.appendTuple(cloneUpdateTb)) {
-                //release the cursor/latch
-                cursor.close();
-                //batch update
-                updateBuffer.updateBTree(indexAccessor);
-
-                //search again
-                cursor.reset();
-                rangePred.setLowKey(frameTuple, true);
-                rangePred.setHighKey(null, true);
-                indexAccessor.search(cursor, rangePred);
-            }
-            cloneUpdateTb.reset();
-        }
+        CopyUpdateUtil.copyUpdate(tempTupleReference, frameTuple, updateBuffer, cloneUpdateTb, indexAccessor, cursor,
+                rangePred);
     }
 
     /** write the left result */
@@ -258,21 +248,8 @@
         functionProxy.functionCall(leftAccessor, tIndex, frameTuple, cloneUpdateTb);
 
         //doing clone update
-        if (cloneUpdateTb.getSize() > 0) {
-            if (!updateBuffer.appendTuple(cloneUpdateTb)) {
-                //release the cursor/latch
-                cursor.close();
-                //batch update
-                updateBuffer.updateBTree(indexAccessor);
-
-                //search again
-                cursor.reset();
-                rangePred.setLowKey(frameTuple, true);
-                rangePred.setHighKey(null, true);
-                indexAccessor.search(cursor, rangePred);
-            }
-            cloneUpdateTb.reset();
-        }
+        CopyUpdateUtil.copyUpdate(tempTupleReference, frameTuple, updateBuffer, cloneUpdateTb, indexAccessor, cursor,
+                rangePred);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/pregelix/pregelix-dataflow-std/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/dataflow/util/CopyUpdateUtil.java b/pregelix/pregelix-dataflow-std/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/dataflow/util/CopyUpdateUtil.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3f89543
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pregelix/pregelix-dataflow-std/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/dataflow/util/CopyUpdateUtil.java
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2009-2010 by The Regents of the University of California
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * you may obtain a copy of the License from
+ * 
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ * 
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package edu.uci.ics.pregelix.dataflow.util;
+
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.dataflow.common.comm.io.ArrayTupleBuilder;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.accessors.ITupleReference;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.btree.impls.RangePredicate;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.ITreeIndexAccessor;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.ITreeIndexCursor;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IndexException;
+
+public class CopyUpdateUtil {
+
+    public static void copyUpdate(SearchKeyTupleReference tempTupleReference, ITupleReference frameTuple,
+            UpdateBuffer updateBuffer, ArrayTupleBuilder cloneUpdateTb, ITreeIndexAccessor indexAccessor,
+            ITreeIndexCursor cursor, RangePredicate rangePred) throws HyracksDataException, IndexException {
+        if (cloneUpdateTb.getSize() > 0) {
+            if (!updateBuffer.appendTuple(cloneUpdateTb)) {
+                tempTupleReference.reset(frameTuple.getFieldData(0), frameTuple.getFieldStart(0),
+                        frameTuple.getFieldLength(0));
+                //release the cursor/latch
+                cursor.close();
+                //batch update
+                updateBuffer.updateBTree(indexAccessor);
+                //try append the to-be-updated tuple again
+                if (!updateBuffer.appendTuple(cloneUpdateTb)) {
+                    throw new HyracksDataException("cannot append tuple builder!");
+                }
+                //search again and recover the cursor
+                cursor.reset();
+                rangePred.setLowKey(tempTupleReference, false);
+                rangePred.setHighKey(null, true);
+                indexAccessor.search(cursor, rangePred);
+            }
+            cloneUpdateTb.reset();
+        }
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/pregelix/pregelix-dataflow-std/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/dataflow/util/SearchKeyTupleReference.java b/pregelix/pregelix-dataflow-std/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/dataflow/util/SearchKeyTupleReference.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..86fa24a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pregelix/pregelix-dataflow-std/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/dataflow/util/SearchKeyTupleReference.java
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2009-2010 by The Regents of the University of California
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * you may obtain a copy of the License from
+ * 
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ * 
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package edu.uci.ics.pregelix.dataflow.util;
+
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.accessors.ITupleReference;
+
+public class SearchKeyTupleReference implements ITupleReference {
+
+    private byte[] copiedData;
+    private int length;
+
+    public void reset(byte[] data, int start, int len) {
+        if (copiedData == null) {
+            copiedData = new byte[len];
+        }
+        if (copiedData.length < len) {
+            copiedData = new byte[len];
+        }
+        System.arraycopy(data, start, copiedData, 0, len);
+        length = len;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public int getFieldCount() {
+        return 1;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public byte[] getFieldData(int fIdx) {
+        return copiedData;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public int getFieldStart(int fIdx) {
+        return 0;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public int getFieldLength(int fIdx) {
+        return length;
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/pregelix/pregelix-example/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/example/jobrun/RunJobTestSuite.java b/pregelix/pregelix-example/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/example/jobrun/RunJobTestSuite.java
index 87bc40d..0a444fa 100644
--- a/pregelix/pregelix-example/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/example/jobrun/RunJobTestSuite.java
+++ b/pregelix/pregelix-example/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/example/jobrun/RunJobTestSuite.java
@@ -51,7 +51,6 @@
     private static final String PATH_TO_JOBS = "src/test/resources/jobs/";
     private static final String PATH_TO_IGNORE = "src/test/resources/ignore.txt";
     private static final String PATH_TO_ONLY = "src/test/resources/only.txt";
-    private static final String FILE_EXTENSION_OF_RESULTS = "result";
 
     private static final String DATA_PATH = "data/webmap/webmap_link.txt";
     private static final String HDFS_PATH = "/webmap/";