diff --git a/asterix-algebra/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/optimizer/base/RuleCollections.java b/asterix-algebra/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/optimizer/base/RuleCollections.java
index 1f3801c..e13da67 100644
--- a/asterix-algebra/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/optimizer/base/RuleCollections.java
+++ b/asterix-algebra/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/optimizer/base/RuleCollections.java
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.optimizer.rules.IntroduceRapidFrameFlushProjectRule;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.optimizer.rules.IntroduceSecondaryIndexInsertDeleteRule;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.optimizer.rules.IntroduceStaticTypeCastForInsertRule;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.optimizer.rules.IntroduceUnnestForCollectionToSequenceRule;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.optimizer.rules.LoadRecordFieldsRule;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.optimizer.rules.NestGroupByRule;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.optimizer.rules.NestedSubplanToJoinRule;
@@ -110,6 +111,7 @@
 
     public final static List<IAlgebraicRewriteRule> buildNormalizationRuleCollection() {
         List<IAlgebraicRewriteRule> normalization = new LinkedList<IAlgebraicRewriteRule>();
+        normalization.add(new IntroduceUnnestForCollectionToSequenceRule());
         normalization.add(new EliminateSubplanRule());
         normalization.add(new EnforceOrderByAfterSubplan());
         normalization.add(new PushAggFuncIntoStandaloneAggregateRule());
diff --git a/asterix-algebra/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/optimizer/rules/IntroduceUnnestForCollectionToSequenceRule.java b/asterix-algebra/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/optimizer/rules/IntroduceUnnestForCollectionToSequenceRule.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..984f4dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-algebra/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/optimizer/rules/IntroduceUnnestForCollectionToSequenceRule.java
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2009-2013 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.asterix.optimizer.rules;
+
+import java.util.List;
+
+import org.apache.commons.lang3.mutable.Mutable;
+import org.apache.commons.lang3.mutable.MutableObject;
+
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.aql.util.FunctionUtils;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.functions.AsterixBuiltinFunctions;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.types.IAType;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.common.exceptions.AlgebricksException;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.core.algebra.base.ILogicalExpression;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.core.algebra.base.ILogicalOperator;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.core.algebra.base.IOptimizationContext;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.core.algebra.base.LogicalExpressionTag;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.core.algebra.base.LogicalOperatorTag;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.core.algebra.base.LogicalVariable;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.core.algebra.expressions.AbstractFunctionCallExpression;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.core.algebra.expressions.IVariableTypeEnvironment;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.core.algebra.expressions.UnnestingFunctionCallExpression;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.core.algebra.operators.logical.AbstractLogicalOperator;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.core.algebra.operators.logical.AssignOperator;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.core.algebra.operators.logical.UnnestOperator;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.core.rewriter.base.IAlgebraicRewriteRule;
+
+/**
+ * This rule introduces a unnest operator for the collection-to-sequence function (if the input to the function is a collection).
+ * 
+ * @author yingyib
+ */
+public class IntroduceUnnestForCollectionToSequenceRule implements IAlgebraicRewriteRule {
+
+    @Override
+    public boolean rewritePre(Mutable<ILogicalOperator> opRef, IOptimizationContext context) throws AlgebricksException {
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public boolean rewritePost(Mutable<ILogicalOperator> opRef, IOptimizationContext context)
+            throws AlgebricksException {
+        AbstractLogicalOperator op = (AbstractLogicalOperator) opRef.getValue();
+        if (op.getOperatorTag() != LogicalOperatorTag.ASSIGN) {
+            return false;
+        }
+        AssignOperator assign = (AssignOperator) op;
+        List<Mutable<ILogicalExpression>> exprs = assign.getExpressions();
+        if (exprs.size() != 1) {
+            return false;
+        }
+        ILogicalExpression expr = exprs.get(0).getValue();
+        if (expr.getExpressionTag() != LogicalExpressionTag.FUNCTION_CALL) {
+            return false;
+        }
+        AbstractFunctionCallExpression func = (AbstractFunctionCallExpression) expr;
+        if (func.getFunctionIdentifier() != AsterixBuiltinFunctions.COLLECTION_TO_SEQUENCE) {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        IVariableTypeEnvironment env = assign.computeInputTypeEnvironment(context);
+        ILogicalExpression argExpr = func.getArguments().get(0).getValue();
+        IAType outerExprType = (IAType) env.getType(expr);
+        IAType innerExprType = (IAType) env.getType(argExpr);
+        if (outerExprType.equals(innerExprType)) {
+            /** nothing is changed with the collection-to-sequence function, remove the collection-sequence function call */
+            assign.getExpressions().set(0, new MutableObject<ILogicalExpression>(argExpr));
+            return true;
+        }
+        /** change the assign operator to an unnest operator */
+        LogicalVariable var = assign.getVariables().get(0);
+        @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+        UnnestOperator unnest = new UnnestOperator(var, new MutableObject<ILogicalExpression>(
+                new UnnestingFunctionCallExpression(
+                        FunctionUtils.getFunctionInfo(AsterixBuiltinFunctions.SCAN_COLLECTION),
+                        new MutableObject<ILogicalExpression>(argExpr))));
+        unnest.getInputs().addAll(assign.getInputs());
+        opRef.setValue(unnest);
+        context.computeAndSetTypeEnvironmentForOperator(unnest);
+        return true;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/asterix-algebra/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/translator/AqlExpressionToPlanTranslator.java b/asterix-algebra/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/translator/AqlExpressionToPlanTranslator.java
index a2545ff..fc4bb03d7 100644
--- a/asterix-algebra/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/translator/AqlExpressionToPlanTranslator.java
+++ b/asterix-algebra/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/translator/AqlExpressionToPlanTranslator.java
@@ -187,13 +187,13 @@
         ILogicalOperator topOp = p.first;
         ProjectOperator project = (ProjectOperator) topOp;
         LogicalVariable resVar = project.getVariables().get(0);
+
         if (outputDatasetName == null) {
             FileSplit outputFileSplit = metadataProvider.getOutputFile();
             if (outputFileSplit == null) {
                 outputFileSplit = getDefaultOutputFileLocation();
             }
             metadataProvider.setOutputFile(outputFileSplit);
-            String resultNodeName = outputFileSplit.getNodeName();
 
             List<Mutable<ILogicalExpression>> writeExprList = new ArrayList<Mutable<ILogicalExpression>>(1);
             writeExprList.add(new MutableObject<ILogicalExpression>(new VariableReferenceExpression(resVar)));
@@ -202,6 +202,20 @@
             topOp = new DistributeResultOperator(writeExprList, sink);
             topOp.getInputs().add(new MutableObject<ILogicalOperator>(project));
         } else {
+            /** add the collection-to-sequence right before the final project, because dataset only accept non-collection records */
+            LogicalVariable seqVar = context.newVar();
+            @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+            /** This assign adds a marker function collection-to-sequence: if the input is a singleton collection, unnest it; otherwise do nothing. */
+            AssignOperator assignCollectionToSequence = new AssignOperator(seqVar,
+                    new MutableObject<ILogicalExpression>(
+                            new ScalarFunctionCallExpression(AsterixBuiltinFunctions
+                                    .getAsterixFunctionInfo(AsterixBuiltinFunctions.COLLECTION_TO_SEQUENCE),
+                                    new MutableObject<ILogicalExpression>(new VariableReferenceExpression(resVar)))));
+            assignCollectionToSequence.getInputs().add(
+                    new MutableObject<ILogicalOperator>(project.getInputs().get(0).getValue()));
+            project.getInputs().get(0).setValue(assignCollectionToSequence);
+            project.getVariables().set(0, seqVar);
+            resVar = seqVar;
 
             AqlDataSource targetDatasource = validateDatasetInfo(metadataProvider, stmt.getDataverseName(),
                     stmt.getDatasetName());
@@ -225,7 +239,6 @@
             }
             AssignOperator assign = new AssignOperator(vars, exprs);
             assign.getInputs().add(new MutableObject<ILogicalOperator>(project));
-
             Mutable<ILogicalExpression> varRef = new MutableObject<ILogicalExpression>(new VariableReferenceExpression(
                     resVar));
             ILogicalOperator leafOperator = null;
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/api/common/APIFramework.java b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/api/common/APIFramework.java
index d72ba6a..d5d7409 100644
--- a/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/api/common/APIFramework.java
+++ b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/api/common/APIFramework.java
@@ -136,12 +136,12 @@
         }
 
         @Override
-        public IOptimizationContext createOptimizationContext(int varCounter, int frameSize,
+        public IOptimizationContext createOptimizationContext(int varCounter,
                 IExpressionEvalSizeComputer expressionEvalSizeComputer,
                 IMergeAggregationExpressionFactory mergeAggregationExpressionFactory,
                 IExpressionTypeComputer expressionTypeComputer, INullableTypeComputer nullableTypeComputer,
                 PhysicalOptimizationConfig physicalOptimizationConfig) {
-            return new AlgebricksOptimizationContext(varCounter, frameSize, expressionEvalSizeComputer,
+            return new AlgebricksOptimizationContext(varCounter, expressionEvalSizeComputer,
                     mergeAggregationExpressionFactory, expressionTypeComputer, nullableTypeComputer,
                     physicalOptimizationConfig);
         }
@@ -260,22 +260,26 @@
 
         AsterixCompilerProperties compilerProperties = AsterixAppContextInfo.getInstance().getCompilerProperties();
         int frameSize = compilerProperties.getFrameSize();
+        int sortFrameLimit = (int) (compilerProperties.getSortMemorySize() / frameSize);
+        int joinFrameLimit = (int) (compilerProperties.getJoinMemorySize() / frameSize);
+        OptimizationConfUtil.getPhysicalOptimizationConfig().setFrameSize(frameSize);
+        OptimizationConfUtil.getPhysicalOptimizationConfig().setMaxFramesExternalSort(sortFrameLimit);
+        OptimizationConfUtil.getPhysicalOptimizationConfig().setMaxFramesHybridHash(joinFrameLimit);
+        
 
         HeuristicCompilerFactoryBuilder builder = new HeuristicCompilerFactoryBuilder(
                 AqlOptimizationContextFactory.INSTANCE);
+        builder.setPhysicalOptimizationConfig(OptimizationConfUtil.getPhysicalOptimizationConfig());
         builder.setLogicalRewrites(buildDefaultLogicalRewrites());
         builder.setPhysicalRewrites(buildDefaultPhysicalRewrites());
         IDataFormat format = queryMetadataProvider.getFormat();
         ICompilerFactory compilerFactory = builder.create();
-        builder.setFrameSize(frameSize);
         builder.setExpressionEvalSizeComputer(format.getExpressionEvalSizeComputer());
         builder.setIMergeAggregationExpressionFactory(new AqlMergeAggregationExpressionFactory());
         builder.setPartialAggregationTypeComputer(new AqlPartialAggregationTypeComputer());
         builder.setExpressionTypeComputer(AqlExpressionTypeComputer.INSTANCE);
         builder.setNullableTypeComputer(AqlNullableTypeComputer.INSTANCE);
 
-        OptimizationConfUtil.getPhysicalOptimizationConfig().setFrameSize(frameSize);
-        builder.setPhysicalOptimizationConfig(OptimizationConfUtil.getPhysicalOptimizationConfig());
 
         ICompiler compiler = compilerFactory.createCompiler(plan, queryMetadataProvider, t.getVarCounter());
         if (pc.isOptimize()) {
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/api/common/AsterixAppRuntimeContext.java b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/api/common/AsterixAppRuntimeContext.java
index d4d7ac6..4b3087d 100644
--- a/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/api/common/AsterixAppRuntimeContext.java
+++ b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/api/common/AsterixAppRuntimeContext.java
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@
 
         IAsterixAppRuntimeContextProvider asterixAppRuntimeContextProvider = new AsterixAppRuntimeContextProviderForRecovery(
                 this);
-        txnSubsystem = new TransactionSubsystem(ncApplicationContext.getNodeId(), asterixAppRuntimeContextProvider);
+        txnSubsystem = new TransactionSubsystem(ncApplicationContext.getNodeId(), asterixAppRuntimeContextProvider, txnProperties);
         isShuttingdown = false;
 
         // The order of registration is important. The buffer cache must registered before recovery and transaction managers.
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/main/resources/asterix-build-configuration.xml b/asterix-app/src/main/resources/asterix-build-configuration.xml
index 3e1b4b2..dc77a96 100644
--- a/asterix-app/src/main/resources/asterix-build-configuration.xml
+++ b/asterix-app/src/main/resources/asterix-build-configuration.xml
@@ -13,4 +13,9 @@
      <value>WARNING</value>
      <description>Log level for running tests/build</description>
   </property>
+  <property>
+     <name>txn.log.groupcommitinterval</name>
+     <value>1</value>
+     <description>The group commit wait time in milliseconds.</description>
+  </property>
 </asterixConfiguration>
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/main/resources/log.properties b/asterix-app/src/main/resources/log.properties
deleted file mode 100644
index ee8040a..0000000
--- a/asterix-app/src/main/resources/log.properties
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-group_commit_wait_period=1
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/optimizerts/results/scan-delete-all.plan b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/optimizerts/results/scan-delete-all.plan
index e969e5d..cba987c 100644
--- a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/optimizerts/results/scan-delete-all.plan
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/optimizerts/results/scan-delete-all.plan
@@ -3,8 +3,8 @@
     -- ONE_TO_ONE_EXCHANGE  |PARTITIONED|
       -- INSERT_DELETE  |PARTITIONED|
         -- ONE_TO_ONE_EXCHANGE  |PARTITIONED|
-          -- STABLE_SORT [$$19(ASC)]  |PARTITIONED|
-            -- HASH_PARTITION_EXCHANGE [$$19]  |PARTITIONED|
+          -- STABLE_SORT [$$20(ASC)]  |PARTITIONED|
+            -- HASH_PARTITION_EXCHANGE [$$20]  |PARTITIONED|
               -- ASSIGN  |PARTITIONED|
                 -- STREAM_PROJECT  |PARTITIONED|
                   -- ASSIGN  |PARTITIONED|
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/optimizerts/results/scan-delete-rtree-secondary-index.plan b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/optimizerts/results/scan-delete-rtree-secondary-index.plan
index 4f0d931..e1852af 100644
--- a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/optimizerts/results/scan-delete-rtree-secondary-index.plan
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/optimizerts/results/scan-delete-rtree-secondary-index.plan
@@ -10,8 +10,8 @@
                   -- ONE_TO_ONE_EXCHANGE  |PARTITIONED|
                     -- INSERT_DELETE  |PARTITIONED|
                       -- ONE_TO_ONE_EXCHANGE  |PARTITIONED|
-                        -- STABLE_SORT [$$14(ASC)]  |PARTITIONED|
-                          -- HASH_PARTITION_EXCHANGE [$$14]  |PARTITIONED|
+                        -- STABLE_SORT [$$15(ASC)]  |PARTITIONED|
+                          -- HASH_PARTITION_EXCHANGE [$$15]  |PARTITIONED|
                             -- ASSIGN  |PARTITIONED|
                               -- STREAM_PROJECT  |PARTITIONED|
                                 -- ASSIGN  |PARTITIONED|
@@ -20,4 +20,4 @@
                                       -- BTREE_SEARCH  |PARTITIONED|
                                         -- ONE_TO_ONE_EXCHANGE  |PARTITIONED|
                                           -- ASSIGN  |PARTITIONED|
-                                            -- EMPTY_TUPLE_SOURCE  |PARTITIONED|
\ No newline at end of file
+                                            -- EMPTY_TUPLE_SOURCE  |PARTITIONED|
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/optimizerts/results/scan-delete.plan b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/optimizerts/results/scan-delete.plan
index 0608f69..a5265c8 100644
--- a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/optimizerts/results/scan-delete.plan
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/optimizerts/results/scan-delete.plan
@@ -3,8 +3,8 @@
     -- ONE_TO_ONE_EXCHANGE  |PARTITIONED|
       -- INSERT_DELETE  |PARTITIONED|
         -- ONE_TO_ONE_EXCHANGE  |PARTITIONED|
-          -- STABLE_SORT [$$21(ASC)]  |PARTITIONED|
-            -- HASH_PARTITION_EXCHANGE [$$21]  |PARTITIONED|
+          -- STABLE_SORT [$$22(ASC)]  |PARTITIONED|
+            -- HASH_PARTITION_EXCHANGE [$$22]  |PARTITIONED|
               -- ASSIGN  |PARTITIONED|
                 -- STREAM_PROJECT  |PARTITIONED|
                   -- ASSIGN  |PARTITIONED|
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/optimizerts/results/scan-insert-secondary-index.plan b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/optimizerts/results/scan-insert-secondary-index.plan
index 1458c66..8057666 100644
--- a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/optimizerts/results/scan-insert-secondary-index.plan
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/optimizerts/results/scan-insert-secondary-index.plan
@@ -13,8 +13,8 @@
                         -- ONE_TO_ONE_EXCHANGE  |PARTITIONED|
                           -- INSERT_DELETE  |PARTITIONED|
                             -- ONE_TO_ONE_EXCHANGE  |PARTITIONED|
-                              -- STABLE_SORT [$$6(ASC)]  |PARTITIONED|
-                                -- HASH_PARTITION_EXCHANGE [$$6]  |PARTITIONED|
+                              -- STABLE_SORT [$$7(ASC)]  |PARTITIONED|
+                                -- HASH_PARTITION_EXCHANGE [$$7]  |PARTITIONED|
                                   -- ASSIGN  |PARTITIONED|
                                     -- STREAM_PROJECT  |PARTITIONED|
                                       -- ASSIGN  |PARTITIONED|
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/optimizerts/results/scan-insert.plan b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/optimizerts/results/scan-insert.plan
index 0b756d9..51d3060 100644
--- a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/optimizerts/results/scan-insert.plan
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/optimizerts/results/scan-insert.plan
@@ -3,8 +3,8 @@
     -- ONE_TO_ONE_EXCHANGE  |PARTITIONED|
       -- INSERT_DELETE  |PARTITIONED|
         -- ONE_TO_ONE_EXCHANGE  |PARTITIONED|
-          -- STABLE_SORT [$$6(ASC)]  |PARTITIONED|
-            -- HASH_PARTITION_EXCHANGE [$$6]  |PARTITIONED|
+          -- STABLE_SORT [$$7(ASC)]  |PARTITIONED|
+            -- HASH_PARTITION_EXCHANGE [$$7]  |PARTITIONED|
               -- ASSIGN  |PARTITIONED|
                 -- STREAM_PROJECT  |PARTITIONED|
                   -- ASSIGN  |PARTITIONED|
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/user-defined-functions/query-issue244/query-issue244.1.ddl.aql b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/user-defined-functions/query-issue244/query-issue244.1.ddl.aql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6f7b5e0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/user-defined-functions/query-issue244/query-issue244.1.ddl.aql
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+/*
+ * Description  : This test case is to verify the fix for issue244
+ 				: https://code.google.com/p/asterixdb/issues/detail?id=244
+ * Expected Res : Success
+ * Date         : 4th June 2013
+ */
+
+
+drop dataverse test if exists;
+create dataverse test;
+
+use dataverse test;
+
+create type TypeA as open {
+    id : int32,
+    name : string
+}
+
+create dataset t1(TypeA) primary key id;
+
+create dataset t2(TypeA) primary key id;
+
+create function f1(){
+for $m in dataset('t1') return $m
+};
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/user-defined-functions/query-issue244/query-issue244.2.update.aql b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/user-defined-functions/query-issue244/query-issue244.2.update.aql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a7b9500
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/user-defined-functions/query-issue244/query-issue244.2.update.aql
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+/*
+ * Description  : This test case is to verify the fix for issue244
+ 				: https://code.google.com/p/asterixdb/issues/detail?id=244
+ * Expected Res : Success
+ * Date         : 4th June 2013
+ */
+
+use dataverse test;
+ 
+insert into dataset t1({"id":21,"name":"John"});
+insert into dataset t1({"id":34,"name":"Bill"});
+insert into dataset t1({"id":41,"name":"Joy"});
+insert into dataset t1({"id":16,"name":"Sam"});
+insert into dataset t1({"id":67,"name":"Ravi"});
+
+insert into dataset t2(f1());
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/user-defined-functions/query-issue244/query-issue244.3.query.aql b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/user-defined-functions/query-issue244/query-issue244.3.query.aql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..68e4679
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/user-defined-functions/query-issue244/query-issue244.3.query.aql
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+/*
+ * Description  : This test case is to verify the fix for issue244
+ 				: https://code.google.com/p/asterixdb/issues/detail?id=244
+ * Expected Res : Success
+ * Date         : 4th June 2013
+ */
+ 
+use dataverse test;
+ 
+for $l in dataset('t2')
+order by $l.id
+return $l;
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/user-defined-functions/query-issue244/query-issue244.1.adm b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/user-defined-functions/query-issue244/query-issue244.1.adm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..92f6371
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/user-defined-functions/query-issue244/query-issue244.1.adm
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+{ "id": 16, "name": "Sam" }
+{ "id": 21, "name": "John" }
+{ "id": 34, "name": "Bill" }
+{ "id": 41, "name": "Joy" }
+{ "id": 67, "name": "Ravi" }
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/testsuite.xml b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/testsuite.xml
index bc47f57..c104f3b 100644
--- a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/testsuite.xml
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/testsuite.xml
@@ -4230,6 +4230,11 @@
         <output-dir compare="Text">issue289_query</output-dir>
       </compilation-unit>
     </test-case>
+     <test-case FilePath="user-defined-functions">
+      <compilation-unit name="query-issue244">
+        <output-dir compare="Text">query-issue244</output-dir>
+      </compilation-unit>
+    </test-case>
   </test-group>
   <test-group name="hints">
     <test-case FilePath="hints">
diff --git a/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/config/AsterixStorageProperties.java b/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/config/AsterixStorageProperties.java
index 91bdca6..870aae4 100644
--- a/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/config/AsterixStorageProperties.java
+++ b/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/config/AsterixStorageProperties.java
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@
     private static final String STORAGE_BUFFERCACHE_PAGESIZE_KEY = "storage.buffercache.pagesize";
     private static int STORAGE_BUFFERCACHE_PAGESIZE_DEFAULT = (32 << 10); // 32KB
 
-    private static final String STORAGE_BUFFERCACHE_NUMPAGES_KEY = "storage.buffercache.numpages";
-    private static final int STORAGE_BUFFERCACHE_NUMPAGES_DEFAULT = 1024;
+    private static final String STORAGE_BUFFERCACHE_SIZE_KEY = "storage.buffercache.size";
+    private static final long STORAGE_BUFFERCACHE_SIZE_DEFAULT = (32 << 20); // 32 MB
 
     private static final String STORAGE_BUFFERCACHE_MAXOPENFILES_KEY = "storage.buffercache.maxopenfiles";
     private static int STORAGE_BUFFERCACHE_MAXOPENFILES_DEFAULT = Integer.MAX_VALUE;
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
     private static final int STORAGE_MEMORYCOMPONENT_PAGESIZE_DEFAULT = (32 << 10); // 32KB
 
     private static final String STORAGE_MEMORYCOMPONENT_NUMPAGES_KEY = "storage.memorycomponent.numpages";
-    private static final int STORAGE_MEMORYCOMPONENT_NUMPAGES_DEFAULT = 2048; // ... so 64MB components
+    private static final int STORAGE_MEMORYCOMPONENT_NUMPAGES_DEFAULT = 1024; // ... so 32MB components
 
     private static final String STORAGE_MEMORYCOMPONENT_GLOBALBUDGET_KEY = "storage.memorycomponent.globalbudget";
     private static final long STORAGE_MEMORYCOMPONENT_GLOBALBUDGET_DEFAULT = (1 << 30); // 1GB
@@ -35,9 +35,13 @@
                 PropertyInterpreters.getIntegerPropertyInterpreter());
     }
 
+    public long getBufferCacheSize() {
+        return accessor.getProperty(STORAGE_BUFFERCACHE_SIZE_KEY, STORAGE_BUFFERCACHE_SIZE_DEFAULT,
+                PropertyInterpreters.getLongPropertyInterpreter());
+    }
+    
     public int getBufferCacheNumPages() {
-        return accessor.getProperty(STORAGE_BUFFERCACHE_NUMPAGES_KEY, STORAGE_BUFFERCACHE_NUMPAGES_DEFAULT,
-                PropertyInterpreters.getIntegerPropertyInterpreter());
+        return (int) (getBufferCacheSize() / getBufferCachePageSize());
     }
 
     public int getBufferCacheMaxOpenFiles() {
diff --git a/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/config/AsterixTransactionProperties.java b/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/config/AsterixTransactionProperties.java
index d97e53b..0b6ea85 100644
--- a/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/config/AsterixTransactionProperties.java
+++ b/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/config/AsterixTransactionProperties.java
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 package edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config;
 
 public class AsterixTransactionProperties extends AbstractAsterixProperties {
+    private static final String TXN_LOG_DIRECTORY_KEY = "txn.log.directory";
+    private static final String TXN_LOG_DIRECTORY_DEFAULT = "asterix_logs/";
+    
     private static final String TXN_LOG_BUFFER_NUMPAGES_KEY = "txn.log.buffer.numpages";
     private static int TXN_LOG_BUFFER_NUMPAGES_DEFAULT = 8;
 
@@ -9,25 +12,46 @@
 
     private static final String TXN_LOG_PARTITIONSIZE_KEY = "txn.log.partitionsize";
     private static final long TXN_LOG_PARTITIONSIZE_DEFAULT = (2 << 30); // 2GB
+    
+    private static final String TXN_LOG_DISKSECTORSIZE_KEY = "txn.log.disksectorsize";
+    private static final int TXN_LOG_DISKSECTORSIZE_DEFAULT = 4096;
 
     private static final String TXN_LOG_GROUPCOMMITINTERVAL_KEY = "txn.log.groupcommitinterval";
-    private static int TXN_LOG_GROUPCOMMITINTERVAL_DEFAULT = 200; // 200ms
+    private static int TXN_LOG_GROUPCOMMITINTERVAL_DEFAULT = 10; // 0.1ms
 
     private static final String TXN_LOG_CHECKPOINT_LSNTHRESHOLD_KEY = "txn.log.checkpoint.lsnthreshold";
     private static final int TXN_LOG_CHECKPOINT_LSNTHRESHOLD_DEFAULT = (64 << 20); // 64M
 
     private static final String TXN_LOG_CHECKPOINT_POLLFREQUENCY_KEY = "txn.log.checkpoint.pollfrequency";
     private static int TXN_LOG_CHECKPOINT_POLLFREQUENCY_DEFAULT = 120; // 120s
+    
+    private static final String TXN_LOG_CHECKPOINT_HISTORY_KEY = "txn.log.checkpoint.history";
+    private static int TXN_LOG_CHECKPOINT_HISTORY_DEFAULT = 0;
 
     private static final String TXN_LOCK_ESCALATIONTHRESHOLD_KEY = "txn.lock.escalationthreshold";
     private static int TXN_LOCK_ESCALATIONTHRESHOLD_DEFAULT = 1000;
 
     private static final String TXN_LOCK_SHRINKTIMER_KEY = "txn.lock.shrinktimer";
-    private static int TXN_LOCK_SHRINKTIMER_DEFAULT = 120000; // 2m
+    private static int TXN_LOCK_SHRINKTIMER_DEFAULT = 5000; // 5s
+    
+    private static final String TXN_LOCK_TIMEOUT_WAITTHRESHOLD_KEY = "txn.lock.timeout.waitthreshold";
+    private static final int TXN_LOCK_TIMEOUT_WAITTHRESHOLD_DEFAULT = 60000; // 60s
+    
+    private static final String TXN_LOCK_TIMEOUT_SWEEPTHRESHOLD_KEY = "txn.lock.timeout.sweepthreshold";
+    private static final int TXN_LOCK_TIMEOUT_SWEEPTHRESHOLD_DEFAULT = 10000; // 10s
 
     public AsterixTransactionProperties(AsterixPropertiesAccessor accessor) {
         super(accessor);
     }
+    
+    public String getLogDirectory() {
+        String logDirectory = accessor.getProperty(TXN_LOG_DIRECTORY_KEY, TXN_LOG_DIRECTORY_DEFAULT,
+                PropertyInterpreters.getStringPropertyInterpreter());
+        if (!logDirectory.endsWith("/")) {
+            logDirectory += "/";
+        }
+        return logDirectory;
+    }
 
     public int getLogBufferNumPages() {
         return accessor.getProperty(TXN_LOG_BUFFER_NUMPAGES_KEY, TXN_LOG_BUFFER_NUMPAGES_DEFAULT,
@@ -43,6 +67,11 @@
         return accessor.getProperty(TXN_LOG_PARTITIONSIZE_KEY, TXN_LOG_PARTITIONSIZE_DEFAULT,
                 PropertyInterpreters.getLongPropertyInterpreter());
     }
+    
+    public int getLogDiskSectorSize() {
+        return accessor.getProperty(TXN_LOG_DISKSECTORSIZE_KEY, TXN_LOG_DISKSECTORSIZE_DEFAULT,
+                PropertyInterpreters.getIntegerPropertyInterpreter());
+    }
 
     public int getGroupCommitInterval() {
         return accessor.getProperty(TXN_LOG_GROUPCOMMITINTERVAL_KEY, TXN_LOG_GROUPCOMMITINTERVAL_DEFAULT,
@@ -59,6 +88,11 @@
                 PropertyInterpreters.getIntegerPropertyInterpreter());
     }
 
+    public int getCheckpointHistory() {
+        return accessor.getProperty(TXN_LOG_CHECKPOINT_HISTORY_KEY, TXN_LOG_CHECKPOINT_HISTORY_DEFAULT,
+                PropertyInterpreters.getIntegerPropertyInterpreter());
+    }
+    
     public int getEntityToDatasetLockEscalationThreshold() {
         return accessor.getProperty(TXN_LOCK_ESCALATIONTHRESHOLD_KEY, TXN_LOCK_ESCALATIONTHRESHOLD_DEFAULT,
                 PropertyInterpreters.getIntegerPropertyInterpreter());
@@ -68,5 +102,15 @@
         return accessor.getProperty(TXN_LOCK_SHRINKTIMER_KEY, TXN_LOCK_SHRINKTIMER_DEFAULT,
                 PropertyInterpreters.getIntegerPropertyInterpreter());
     }
+    
+    public int getTimeoutWaitThreshold() {
+        return accessor.getProperty(TXN_LOCK_TIMEOUT_WAITTHRESHOLD_KEY, TXN_LOCK_TIMEOUT_WAITTHRESHOLD_DEFAULT,
+                PropertyInterpreters.getIntegerPropertyInterpreter());
+    }
+    
+    public int getTimeoutSweepThreshold() {
+        return accessor.getProperty(TXN_LOCK_TIMEOUT_SWEEPTHRESHOLD_KEY, TXN_LOCK_TIMEOUT_SWEEPTHRESHOLD_DEFAULT,
+                PropertyInterpreters.getIntegerPropertyInterpreter());
+    }
 
 }
diff --git a/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/transactions/LogManagerProperties.java b/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/transactions/LogManagerProperties.java
index 89816aa..9387687 100644
--- a/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/transactions/LogManagerProperties.java
+++ b/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/transactions/LogManagerProperties.java
@@ -15,28 +15,16 @@
 package edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions;
 
 import java.io.Serializable;
-import java.util.Properties;
+
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixTransactionProperties;
 
 public class LogManagerProperties implements Serializable {
 
     private static final long serialVersionUID = 2084227360840799662L;
 
     public static final int LOG_MAGIC_NUMBER = 123456789;
-    public static final String LOG_DIR_SUFFIX_KEY = ".txnLogDir";
-    public static final String LOG_PAGE_SIZE_KEY = "log_page_size";
-    public static final String LOG_PARTITION_SIZE_KEY = "log_partition_size";
-    public static final String NUM_LOG_PAGES_KEY = "num_log_pages";
-    public static final String LOG_FILE_PREFIX_KEY = "log_file_prefix";
-    public static final String GROUP_COMMIT_WAIT_PERIOD_KEY = "group_commit_wait_period";
-    public static final String DISK_SECTOR_SIZE_KEY = "disk_sector_size";
-
-    private static final int DEFAULT_LOG_PAGE_SIZE = 128 * 1024; //128KB
-    private static final int DEFAULT_NUM_LOG_PAGES = 8;
-    private static final long DEFAULT_LOG_PARTITION_SIZE = (long) 1024 * 1024 * 1024 * 2; //2GB 
-    private static final long DEFAULT_GROUP_COMMIT_WAIT_PERIOD = 200; // time in millisec.
+    public static final String LOG_DIR_SUFFIX = ".txnLogDir";
     private static final String DEFAULT_LOG_FILE_PREFIX = "asterix_transaction_log";
-    private static final String DEFAULT_LOG_DIRECTORY = "asterix_logs/";
-    private static final int DEFAULT_DISK_SECTOR_SIZE = 4096;
 
     // follow the naming convention <logFilePrefix>_<number> where number starts from 0
     private final String logFilePrefix;
@@ -56,22 +44,19 @@
     // default disk sector size
     private final int diskSectorSize;
 
-    public LogManagerProperties(Properties properties, String nodeId) {
-        this.logDirKey = new String(nodeId + LOG_DIR_SUFFIX_KEY);
-        this.logPageSize = Integer.parseInt(properties.getProperty(LOG_PAGE_SIZE_KEY, "" + DEFAULT_LOG_PAGE_SIZE));
-        this.numLogPages = Integer.parseInt(properties.getProperty(NUM_LOG_PAGES_KEY, "" + DEFAULT_NUM_LOG_PAGES));
-        long logPartitionSize = Long.parseLong(properties.getProperty(LOG_PARTITION_SIZE_KEY, ""
-                + DEFAULT_LOG_PARTITION_SIZE));
-        this.logDir = properties.getProperty(logDirKey, DEFAULT_LOG_DIRECTORY + nodeId);
-        this.logFilePrefix = properties.getProperty(LOG_FILE_PREFIX_KEY, DEFAULT_LOG_FILE_PREFIX);
-        this.groupCommitWaitPeriod = Long.parseLong(properties.getProperty(GROUP_COMMIT_WAIT_PERIOD_KEY, ""
-                + DEFAULT_GROUP_COMMIT_WAIT_PERIOD));
+    public LogManagerProperties(AsterixTransactionProperties txnProperties, String nodeId) {
+        this.logDirKey = new String(nodeId + LOG_DIR_SUFFIX);
+        this.logPageSize = txnProperties.getLogBufferPageSize();
+        this.numLogPages = txnProperties.getLogBufferNumPages();
+        long logPartitionSize = txnProperties.getLogPartitionSize();
+        this.logDir = txnProperties.getLogDirectory() + nodeId;
+        this.logFilePrefix = DEFAULT_LOG_FILE_PREFIX;
+        this.groupCommitWaitPeriod = txnProperties.getGroupCommitInterval();
 
         this.logBufferSize = logPageSize * numLogPages;
         //make sure that the log partition size is the multiple of log buffer size.
         this.logPartitionSize = (logPartitionSize / logBufferSize) * logBufferSize;
-        this.diskSectorSize = Integer.parseInt(properties.getProperty(DISK_SECTOR_SIZE_KEY, ""
-                + DEFAULT_DISK_SECTOR_SIZE));
+        this.diskSectorSize = txnProperties.getLogDiskSectorSize();
     }
 
     public long getLogPartitionSize() {
diff --git a/asterix-common/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/test/aql/TestsUtils.java b/asterix-common/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/test/aql/TestsUtils.java
index ac8a3bd..d13dd2e 100644
--- a/asterix-common/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/test/aql/TestsUtils.java
+++ b/asterix-common/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/test/aql/TestsUtils.java
@@ -236,7 +236,7 @@
             GlobalConfig.ASTERIX_LOGGER.log(Level.SEVERE, "Method failed: " + method.getStatusLine());
             String[] errors = handleError(method);
             GlobalConfig.ASTERIX_LOGGER.log(Level.SEVERE, errors[2]);
-            throw new Exception("DDL operation failed: " + errors[0]);
+            throw new Exception("DML operation failed: " + errors[0]);
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/asterix-doc/src/site/markdown/aql/manual.md b/asterix-doc/src/site/markdown/aql/manual.md
index eddc157..da51dee 100644
--- a/asterix-doc/src/site/markdown/aql/manual.md
+++ b/asterix-doc/src/site/markdown/aql/manual.md
@@ -16,6 +16,10 @@
 
 ## 2. Expressions
 
+    Query ::= Expression
+
+An AQL query can be any legal AQL expression.
+    
     Expression ::= ( OperatorExpr | IfThenElse | FLWOR | QuantifiedExpression )
 
 AQL is a fully composable expression language.
@@ -28,12 +32,6 @@
 or a QuantifiedExpression (which yields a boolean value).
 Each will be detailed as we explore the full AQL grammar.
 
-### Queries
-
-    Query ::= Expression
-
-An AQL query can be any legal AQL expression.
-    
 ### Primary Expressions
 
     PrimaryExpr ::= Literal
@@ -226,7 +224,7 @@
 
 AQL has the usual list of suspects, plus one, for comparing pairs of atomic values.
 The "plus one" is the last operator listed above, which is the "roughly equal" operator provided for similarity queries.
-(See the separate document on AsterixDB Similarity Queries for more details on similarity matching.)
+(See the separate document on [AsterixDB Similarity Queries](similarity.html) for more details on similarity matching.)
 
 An example comparison expression (which yields the boolean value true) is shown below.
 
@@ -266,24 +264,24 @@
 The heart of AQL is the FLWOR (for-let-where-orderby-return) expression.
 The roots of this expression were borrowed from the expression of the same name in XQuery.
 A FLWOR expression starts with one or more clauses that establish variable bindings.
-A for clause binds a variable incrementally to each element of its associated expression;
+A `for` clause binds a variable incrementally to each element of its associated expression;
 it includes an optional positional variable for counting/numbering the bindings.
-By default no ordering is implied or assumed by a for clause.
-A let clause binds a variable to the collection of elements computed by its associated expression.
+By default no ordering is implied or assumed by a `for` clause.
+A `let` clause binds a variable to the collection of elements computed by its associated expression.
 
-Following the initial for or let clause(s), a FLWOR expression may contain an arbitrary sequence of other clauses.
-The where clause in a FLWOR expression filters the preceding bindings via a boolean expression, much like a where clause does in a SQL query.
-The order by clause in a FLWOR expression induces an ordering on the data.
-The group by clause, discussed further below, forms groups based on its group by expressions,
+Following the initial `for` or `let` clause(s), a FLWOR expression may contain an arbitrary sequence of other clauses.
+The `where` clause in a FLWOR expression filters the preceding bindings via a boolean expression, much like a `where` clause does in a SQL query.
+The `order by` clause in a FLWOR expression induces an ordering on the data.
+The `group by` clause, discussed further below, forms groups based on its group by expressions,
 optionally naming the expressions' values (which together form the grouping key for the expression).
-The with subclause of a group by clause specifies the variable(s) whose values should be grouped based
+The `with` subclause of a `group by` clause specifies the variable(s) whose values should be grouped based
 on the grouping key(s); following the grouping clause, only the grouping key(s) and the variables named
 in the with subclause remain in scope, and the named grouping variables now contain lists formed from their input values.
-The limit clause caps the number of values returned, optionally starting its result count from a specified offset.
+The `limit` clause caps the number of values returned, optionally starting its result count from a specified offset.
 (Web applications can use this feature for doing pagination.)
-The distinct clause is similar to the group-by clause, but it forms no groups; it serves only to eliminate duplicate values.
+The `distinct` clause is similar to the `group-by` clause, but it forms no groups; it serves only to eliminate duplicate values.
 As indicated by the grammar, the clauses in an AQL query can appear in any order.
-To interpret a query, one can think of data as flowing down through the query from the first clause to the return clause.
+To interpret a query, one can think of data as flowing down through the query from the first clause to the `return` clause.
 
 The following example shows a FLWOR expression that selects and returns one user from the dataset FacebookUsers.
 
@@ -308,7 +306,7 @@
         "message": $message.message
       };
 
-In the next example, a let clause is used to bind a variable to all of a user's FacebookMessages.
+In the next example, a `let` clause is used to bind a variable to all of a user's FacebookMessages.
 The query returns one record per user, with result records containing the user's name and the set of all messages by that user.
 
 ##### Example
@@ -325,7 +323,7 @@
       };
 
 The following example returns all TwitterUsers ordered by their followers count (most followers first) and language.
-Null is treated as being smaller than any other value if nulls are encountered in the ordering key(s).
+When ordering `null` is treated as being smaller than any other value if `null`s are encountered in the ordering key(s).
 
 ##### Example
 
@@ -333,11 +331,11 @@
       order by $user.followers_count desc, $user.lang asc
       return $user
 
-The next example illustrates the use of the group by clause in AQL.
-After the group by clause in the query, only variables that are either in the group by list or in the with list are in scope.
-The variables in the clause's with list will each contain a collection of items following the group by clause;
+The next example illustrates the use of the `group by` clause in AQL.
+After the `group by` clause in the query, only variables that are either in the `group by` list or in the `with` list are in scope.
+The variables in the clause's `with` list will each contain a collection of items following the `group by` clause;
 the collected items are the values that the source variable was bound to in the tuples that formed the group.
-Null is handled as a single value for grouping.
+For grouping `null` is handled as a single value.
 
 ##### Example
 
@@ -350,7 +348,7 @@
           "message" : $messages
         }
 
-The use of the limit clause is illustrated in the next example.
+The use of the `limit` clause is illustrated in the next example.
 
 ##### Example
 
@@ -359,11 +357,11 @@
       limit 2
       return $user
 
-The final example shows how AQL's distinct by clause works.
-Each variable in scope before the distinct clause is also in scope after the distinct clause.
-This clause works similarly to group by, but for each variable that contains more than
-one value after the distinct by clause, one value is picked nondeterministically.
-(If the variable is in the distinct by list, then its value will be deterministic.)
+The final example shows how AQL's `distinct by` clause works.
+Each variable in scope before the distinct clause is also in scope after the `distinct by` clause.
+This clause works similarly to `group by`, but for each variable that contains more than
+one value after the `distinct by` clause, one value is picked nondeterministically.
+(If the variable is in the `distinct by` list, then its value will be deterministic.)
 Nulls are treated as a single value when they occur in a grouping field.
 
 ##### Example
@@ -381,8 +379,8 @@
     IfThenElse ::= "if" "(" Expression ")" "then" Expression "else" Expression
 
 A conditional expression is useful for choosing between two alternative values based on a
-boolean condition.  If its first (if) expression is true, its second (then) expression's
-value is returned, and otherwise its third (else) expression is returned.
+boolean condition.  If its first (`if`) expression is true, its second (`then`) expression's
+value is returned, and otherwise its third (`else`) expression is returned.
 
 The following example illustrates the form of a conditional expression.
 ##### Example
@@ -396,17 +394,17 @@
       
 Quantified expressions are used for expressing existential or universal predicates involving the elements of a collection.
 
-The following pair of examples, each of which returns true, illustrate the use of a quantified
-expression to test that every (or some) element in the set [1, 2, 3] of integers is less than three.
+The following pair of examples illustrate the use of a quantified expression to test that every (or some) element in the set [1, 2, 3] of integers is less than three. 
+The first example yields `false` and second example yields `true`.
 
-It is useful to note that if the set were instead the empty set, the first expression would yield true
-("every" value in an empty set satisfies the condition) while the second expression would yield false
+It is useful to note that if the set were instead the empty set, the first expression would yield `true`
+("every" value in an empty set satisfies the condition) while the second expression would yield `false`
 (since there isn't "some" value, as there are no values in the set, that satisfies the condition).
 
 ##### Examples
 
-    every $x in [ 1, 2, 3] satisfies $x < 3
-    some $x in [ 1, 2, 3] satisfies $x < 3
+    every $x in [ 1, 2, 3 ] satisfies $x < 3
+    some $x in [ 1, 2, 3 ] satisfies $x < 3
 
 ## 3. Statements
 
@@ -423,7 +421,8 @@
 
 In addition to expresssions for queries, AQL supports a variety of statements for data
 definition and manipulation purposes as well as controlling the context to be used in
-evaluating AQL  expressions.  This section details the statement side of the AQL language.
+evaluating AQL expressions. 
+This section details the statement side of the AQL language.
 
 ### Declarations
  
@@ -437,10 +436,10 @@
 ##### Example
 
     use dataverse TinySocial;
-
-    SetStatement         ::= "set" Identifier StringLiteral
-
+    
 The set statement in AQL is used to control aspects of the expression evalation context for queries.
+    
+    SetStatement ::= "set" Identifier StringLiteral
 
 As an example, the following set statements request that Jaccard similarity with a similarity threshold 0.6
 be used for set similarity matching when the ~= operator is used in a query expression.
@@ -450,13 +449,13 @@
     set simfunction "jaccard";
     set simthreshold "0.6f"; 
 
-    FunctionDeclaration  ::= "declare" "function" Identifier ParameterList "{" Expression "}"
-    ParameterList        ::= "(" ( <VARIABLE> ( "," <VARIABLE> )* )? ")"
-
 When writing a complex AQL query, it can sometimes be helpful to define one or more
 auxilliary functions that each address a sub-piece of the overall query.
 The declare function statement supports the creation of such helper functions.
 
+    FunctionDeclaration  ::= "declare" "function" Identifier ParameterList "{" Expression "}"
+    ParameterList        ::= "(" ( <VARIABLE> ( "," <VARIABLE> )* )? ")"
+
 The following is a very simple example of a temporary AQL function definition.
 
 ##### Example
@@ -487,7 +486,7 @@
 To ease the authoring of reusable AQL scripts, its optional IfNotExists clause allows creation
 to be requested either unconditionally or only if the the dataverse does not already exist.
 If this clause is absent, an error will be returned if the specified dataverse already exists.
-The with format clause is a placeholder for future functionality that can safely be ignored.
+The `with format` clause is a placeholder for future functionality that can safely be ignored.
 
 The following example creates a dataverse named TinySocial.
 
@@ -509,7 +508,7 @@
 
 The create type statement is used to create a new named ADM datatype.
 This type can then be used to create datasets or utilized when defining one or more other ADM datatypes.
-Much more information about the Asterix Data Model (ADM) is available in the data model reference guide to ADM.
+Much more information about the Asterix Data Model (ADM) is available in the [data model reference guide](datamodel.html) to ADM.
 A new type can be a record type, a renaming of another type, an ordered list type, or an unordered list type.
 A record type can be defined as being either open or closed.
 Instances of a closed record type are not permitted to contain fields other than those specified in the create type statement.
@@ -524,12 +523,12 @@
 ##### Example
 
     create type FacebookUserType as closed {
-      id: int32,
-      alias: string,
-      name: string,
+      id:         int32,
+      alias:      string,
+      name:       string,
       user-since: datetime,
       friend-ids: {{ int32 }},
-      employment: [EmploymentType]
+      employment: [ EmploymentType ]
     }
 
 #### Datasets
@@ -557,7 +556,7 @@
 External dataset support allows AQL queries to treat external data as though it were stored in AsterixDB,
 making it possible to query "legacy" file data (e.g., Hive data) without having to physically import it into AsterixDB.
 For an external dataset, an appropriate adaptor must be selected to handle the nature of the desired external data.
-(See the guide to external data for more information on the available adaptors.)
+(See the [guide to external data](externaldata.html) for more information on the available adaptors.)
 
 The following example creates an internal dataset for storing FacefookUserType records.
 It specifies that their id field is their primary key.
@@ -566,7 +565,7 @@
     create internal dataset FacebookUsers(FacebookUserType) primary key id;
 
 The next example creates an external dataset for storing LineitemType records.
-The choice of the localfs adaptor means that its data will reside in the local filesystem of the cluster nodes.
+The choice of the `localfs` adaptor means that its data will reside in the local filesystem of the cluster nodes.
 The create statement provides several parameters used by the localfs adaptor;
 e.g., the file format is delimited text with vertical bar being the field delimiter.
 
@@ -587,9 +586,8 @@
                          | "ngram" "(" <INTEGER_LITERAL> ")"
 
 The create index statement creates a secondary index on one or more fields of a specified dataset.
-Supported index types include btree for totally ordered datatypes,
-rtree for spatial data,
-and keyword and ngram for textual (string) data.
+Supported index types include `btree` for totally ordered datatypes,
+`rtree` for spatial data, and `keyword` and `ngram` for textual (string) data.
 AsterixDB currently requires indexed fields to be part of the named type associated with a dataset.
 (Future plans include support for indexing of open fields as well.)
 
@@ -601,7 +599,9 @@
     create index fbAuthorIdx on FacebookMessages(author-id) type btree;
 
 The following example creates an rtree index called fbSenderLocIdx on the sender-location field of the FacebookMessages dataset.
-This index can be useful for accelerating spatial searches involving the sender-loction field.
+This index can be useful for accelerating queries that use the
+[`spatial-intersect` function](functions.html#spatial-intersect) in a predicate involving the 
+sender-loction field.
 
 ##### Example
 
@@ -649,20 +649,12 @@
 
     drop dataset FacebookUsers if exists;
 
-##### Example
-
     drop index fbSenderLocIndex;
 
-##### Example
-
     drop type FacebookUserType;
     
-##### Example
-
     drop dataverse TinySocial;
 
-##### Example
-
     drop function add;
 
 ### Import/Export Statements
@@ -671,7 +663,7 @@
     
 The load statement is used to initially populate a dataset via bulk loading of data from an external file.
 An appropriate adaptor must be selected to handle the nature of the desired external data.
-(See the guide to external data for more information on the available adaptors.)
+(See the [guide to external data](externaldata.html) for more information on the available adaptors.)
 
 The following example shows how to bulk load the FacebookUsers dataset from an external file containing
 data that has been prepared in ADM format.
@@ -683,6 +675,8 @@
 
 ### Modification Statements
 
+#### Insert
+
     InsertStatement ::= "insert" "into" "dataset" QualifiedName Query
 
 The AQL insert statement is used to insert data into a dataset.
@@ -699,7 +693,9 @@
     
 ##### Example
 
-    insert into dataset UsersCopy (for $user in dataset FacebookUsers return $user)
+    insert into dataset UsersCopy (for $user in dataset FacebookUsers return $user
+
+#### Delete
 
     DeleteStatement ::= "delete" Variable "from" "dataset" QualifiedName ( "where" Expression )?
 
@@ -711,7 +707,7 @@
 If the boolean expression for a delete identifies a single object, then the delete statement itself
 will be a single, atomic transaction.
 If the expression identifies multiple objects, then each object deleted will be handled independently
-as a tranaction.
+as a transaction.
 
 The following example illustrates a single-object deletion.
 
diff --git a/asterix-doc/src/site/markdown/aql/primer.md b/asterix-doc/src/site/markdown/aql/primer.md
index 9046527..fc8ea9a 100644
--- a/asterix-doc/src/site/markdown/aql/primer.md
+++ b/asterix-doc/src/site/markdown/aql/primer.md
@@ -350,7 +350,7 @@
 in the not-too-distant future we will also provide a complete reference manual for the language.
 In the meantime, this will get you started down the path of using AsterixDB.
 A more complete list of the supported AsterixDB primitive types and built-in functions can be
-found at [AsterixDataTypesAndFunctions](functions.html).
+found at [Asterix Data Model (ADM)](datamodel.html) and [Asterix Functions](functions.html).
 
 AQL is an expression language.
 Even the expression 1+1 is a valid AQL query that evaluates to 2.
diff --git a/asterix-doc/src/site/markdown/index.md b/asterix-doc/src/site/markdown/index.md
index f14c1e9..4ee2a5f 100644
--- a/asterix-doc/src/site/markdown/index.md
+++ b/asterix-doc/src/site/markdown/index.md
@@ -32,23 +32,20 @@
 For the Beta release, we've got a start; for the Beta release a month or so from now, we will hopefully have much more.
 The following is a list of the wiki pages and supporting documents that we have available today:
 
-1. [InstallingAsterixUsingManagix](install.html) :
+1. [Installing AsterixDB using Managix](install.html) :
 This is our installation guide, and it is where you should start.
 This document will tell you how to obtain, install, and manage instances of [AsterixDB](https://asterixdb.googlecode.com/files/asterix-installer-0.0.4-binary-assembly.zip), including both single-machine setup (for developers) as well as cluster installations (for deployment in its intended form).
 
-2. [AdmAql101](aql/primer.html) :
+2. [AsterixDB 101: An ADM and AQL Primer](aql/primer.html) :
 This is a first-timers introduction to the user model of the AsterixDB BDMS, by which we mean the view of AsterixDB as seen from the perspective of an "average user" or Big Data application developer.
 The AsterixDB user model consists of its data modeling features (ADM) and its query capabilities (AQL).
 This document presents a tiny "social data warehousing" example and uses it as a backdrop for describing, by example, the key features of AsterixDB.
 By working through this document, you will learn how to define the artifacts needed to manage data in AsterixDB, how to load data into the system, how to use most of the basic features of its query language, and how to insert and delete data dynamically.
 
-3. [AsterixDataTypesAndFunctions](aql/functions.html) :
-This is a reference document that catalogs the primitive data types and built-in functions available for use in AsterixDB schemas (in ADM) and queries (in AQL).
+3. [Asterix Data Model (ADM)](aql/datamodel.html), [Asterix Functions](aql/functions.html), and [Asterix Query Language (AQL)](aql/manual.html) :
+These are reference documents that catalog the primitive data types and built-in functions available in AQL and the reference manual for AQL itself.
 
-4. [AQL Reference](aql/manual.html) :
-This is the AQL language reference manual.
-
-5. [AsterixDBRestAPI](api.html) :
+5. [REST API to AsterixDB](api.html) :
 Access to data in an AsterixDB instance is provided via a REST-based API.
 This is a short document that describes the REST API entry points and their URL syntax.
 
diff --git a/asterix-doc/src/site/resources/images/asterixlogo.png b/asterix-doc/src/site/resources/images/asterixlogo.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..45cd64f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-doc/src/site/resources/images/asterixlogo.png
Binary files differ
diff --git a/asterix-doc/src/site/site.xml b/asterix-doc/src/site/site.xml
index f24fb4e..b68941c 100644
--- a/asterix-doc/src/site/site.xml
+++ b/asterix-doc/src/site/site.xml
@@ -3,22 +3,33 @@
 <project name="AsterixDB" xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/DECORATION/1.0.0"
          xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
          xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/DECORATION/1.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/decoration-1.0.0.xsd">
-  <!--
   <bannerLeft>
-    <name>Asterix</name>
-    <src>http://asterix.ics.uci.edu/pic/img9.jpg</src>
-    <href>http://asterix.ics.uci.edu/</href>
+    <name>AsterixDB</name>
+    <src>images/asterixlogo.png</src>
+    <href>/index.html</href>
   </bannerLeft>
-  -->
+  
+  <version position="right"/>
+
+  <poweredBy><logo name="" img=""/></poweredBy>
 
   <skin>
     <groupId>org.apache.maven.skins</groupId>
     <artifactId>maven-fluido-skin</artifactId>
-    <version>1.2.1</version>
+    <version>1.3.0</version>
   </skin>
   <custom>
     <fluidoSkin>
-      <sideBarEnabled>true</sideBarEnabled>
+      <!-- <topBarEnabled>true</topBarEnabled>
+      <topBarIcon>
+        <name>AsterixDB</name>
+        <alt>AsterixDB</alt>
+        <src>images/asterixlogo.png</src>
+        <href>/index.html</href>
+      </topBarIcon>
+      <sideBarEnabled>false</sideBarEnabled> -->
+      <!-- <topBarContainerStyle>width: 90%;</topBarContainerStyle> -->
+      <sourceLineNumbersEnabled>true</sourceLineNumbersEnabled>
       <!-- <googlePlusOne /> -->
     </fluidoSkin>
   </custom>
@@ -29,16 +40,19 @@
     </links>
 
     <menu name="Documentation">
-      <item name="Installing Asterix using Managix" href="install.html"/>
+      <item name="Installing AsterixDB using Managix" href="install.html"/>
       <item name="AsterixDB 101: An ADM and AQL Primer" href="aql/primer.html"/>
       <item name="Asterix Data Model (ADM)" href="aql/datamodel.html"/>
-      <item name="AsterixDB Functions" href="aql/functions.html"/>
-      <item name="The Asterix Query Language" href="aql/manual.html"/>
-      <item name="AsterixDB Support of Similarity Queries" href="aql/similarity.html"/>
-      <item name="Accessing External Data in AsterixDB" href="aql/externaldata.html"/>
+      <item name="Asterix Functions" href="aql/functions.html"/>
+      <item name="Asterix Query Language (AQL)" href="aql/manual.html"/>
+      <item name="AQL Support of Similarity Queries" href="aql/similarity.html"/>
+      <item name="Accessing External Data" href="aql/externaldata.html"/>
       <item name="REST API to AsterixDB" href="api.html"/>
     </menu>
 
     <menu ref="reports"/>
+
+    <footer>&copy; Copyright 2013 University of California, Irvine</footer>
+
   </body>
 </project>
diff --git a/asterix-installer/src/main/resources/conf/asterix-configuration.xml b/asterix-installer/src/main/resources/conf/asterix-configuration.xml
index bfec2db..7ee7e88 100644
--- a/asterix-installer/src/main/resources/conf/asterix-configuration.xml
+++ b/asterix-installer/src/main/resources/conf/asterix-configuration.xml
@@ -22,10 +22,11 @@
 	</property>
 
 	<property>
-		<name>storage.buffercache.numpages</name>
-		<value>1024</value>
-		<description>The number of pages allocated to the disk buffer cache.
-			(Default = "1024")
+		<name>storage.buffercache.size</name>
+		<value>33554432</value>
+		<description>The size of memory allocated to the disk buffer cache.
+			The value should be a multiple of the buffer cache page size(Default
+			= "33554432" // 32MB)
 		</description>
 	</property>
 
@@ -47,15 +48,15 @@
 
 	<property>
 		<name>storage.memorycomponent.numpages</name>
-		<value>4096</value>
+		<value>1024</value>
 		<description>The number of pages to allocate for a memory component.
-			(Default = 4096)
+			(Default = 1024)
 		</description>
 	</property>
 
 	<property>
 		<name>storage.memorycomponent.globalbudget</name>
-		<value>263435456</value>
+		<value>1073741824</value>
 		<description>The total size of memory in bytes that the sum of all
 			open memory
 			components cannot exceed. (Default = "1073741824" // 1GB)
@@ -79,6 +80,14 @@
 	</property>
 
 	<property>
+		<name>txn.log.directory</name>
+		<value>asterix_logs/</value>
+		<description>The directory location for transaction logs. (Default =
+			"asterix_logs/")
+		</description>
+	</property>
+
+	<property>
 		<name>txn.log.buffer.numpages</name>
 		<value>8</value>
 		<description>The number of in-memory log buffer pages. (Default = "8")
@@ -103,10 +112,17 @@
 	</property>
 
 	<property>
+		<name>txn.log.disksectorsize</name>
+		<value>4096</value>
+		<description>The size of a disk sector. (Default = "4096")
+		</description>
+	</property>
+
+	<property>
 		<name>txn.log.groupcommitinterval</name>
-		<value>200</value>
+		<value>1</value>
 		<description>The group commit wait time in milliseconds. (Default =
-			"200" // 2ms)
+			"10" // 0.1ms)
 		</description>
 	</property>
 
@@ -127,6 +143,14 @@
 	</property>
 
 	<property>
+		<name>txn.log.checkpoint.history</name>
+		<value>0</value>
+		<description>The number of old log partition files to keep before
+			discarding. (Default = "0")
+		</description>
+	</property>
+
+	<property>
 		<name>txn.lock.escalationthreshold</name>
 		<value>1000</value>
 		<description>The number of entity level locks that need to be acquired
@@ -137,9 +161,26 @@
 
 	<property>
 		<name>txn.lock.shrinktimer</name>
-		<value>120000</value>
+		<value>5000</value>
 		<description>The time in milliseconds to wait before deallocating
-			unused lock manager memory. (Default = "120000" // 120s)
+			unused lock manager memory. (Default = "5000" // 5s)
+		</description>
+	</property>
+
+	<property>
+		<name>txn.lock.timeout.waitthreshold</name>
+		<value>60000</value>
+		<description>The time in milliseconds to wait before labeling a
+			transaction which has been waiting for a lock timed-out. (Default =
+			"60000" // 60s)
+		</description>
+	</property>
+
+	<property>
+		<name>txn.lock.timeout.sweepthreshold</name>
+		<value>10000</value>
+		<description>The time in milliseconds the timeout thread waits between
+			sweeps to detect timed-out transactions. (Default = "10000" // 10s)
 		</description>
 	</property>
 
@@ -176,8 +217,8 @@
 
 	<property>
 		<name>api.port</name>
-		<value>19101</value>
-		<description>The port for the ASTERIX API server. (Default = 19101)
+		<value>19002</value>
+		<description>The port for the ASTERIX API server. (Default = 19002)
 		</description>
 	</property>
 
diff --git a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/om/functions/AsterixBuiltinFunctions.java b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/om/functions/AsterixBuiltinFunctions.java
index 2a732ac..f717653 100644
--- a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/om/functions/AsterixBuiltinFunctions.java
+++ b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/om/functions/AsterixBuiltinFunctions.java
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.typecomputer.impl.CastListResultTypeComputer;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.typecomputer.impl.CastRecordResultTypeComputer;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.typecomputer.impl.ClosedRecordConstructorResultType;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.typecomputer.impl.CollectionToSequenceTypeComputer;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.typecomputer.impl.ConcatNonNullTypeComputer;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.typecomputer.impl.FieldAccessByIndexResultType;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.typecomputer.impl.InjectFailureTypeComputer;
@@ -561,6 +562,8 @@
 
     public static final FunctionIdentifier NOT_NULL = new FunctionIdentifier(FunctionConstants.ASTERIX_NS, "not-null",
             1);
+    public static final FunctionIdentifier COLLECTION_TO_SEQUENCE = new FunctionIdentifier(
+            FunctionConstants.ASTERIX_NS, "" + "collection-to-sequence", 1);
 
     public static IFunctionInfo getAsterixFunctionInfo(FunctionIdentifier fid) {
         IFunctionInfo finfo = registeredFunctions.get(fid);
@@ -862,6 +865,8 @@
         addFunction(INTERVAL_CONSTRUCTOR_START_FROM_DATETIME, OptionalAIntervalTypeComputer.INSTANCE);
         addFunction(INTERVAL_CONSTRUCTOR_START_FROM_TIME, OptionalAIntervalTypeComputer.INSTANCE);
 
+        addPrivateFunction(COLLECTION_TO_SEQUENCE, CollectionToSequenceTypeComputer.INSTANCE);
+
         String metadataFunctionLoaderClassName = "edu.uci.ics.asterix.metadata.functions.MetadataBuiltinFunctions";
         try {
             Class.forName(metadataFunctionLoaderClassName);
diff --git a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/om/typecomputer/impl/CollectionToSequenceTypeComputer.java b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/om/typecomputer/impl/CollectionToSequenceTypeComputer.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5066d4b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/om/typecomputer/impl/CollectionToSequenceTypeComputer.java
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2009-2013 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.asterix.om.typecomputer.impl;
+
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.typecomputer.base.IResultTypeComputer;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.types.ATypeTag;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.types.AbstractCollectionType;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.types.IAType;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.types.TypeHelper;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.common.exceptions.AlgebricksException;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.core.algebra.base.ILogicalExpression;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.core.algebra.expressions.AbstractFunctionCallExpression;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.core.algebra.expressions.IVariableTypeEnvironment;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.core.algebra.metadata.IMetadataProvider;
+
+/**
+ * This function is to make a sequence of records and a singleton collection of records
+ * present in a uniformed manner.
+ * 
+ * @author yingyib
+ */
+public class CollectionToSequenceTypeComputer implements IResultTypeComputer {
+
+    public static final CollectionToSequenceTypeComputer INSTANCE = new CollectionToSequenceTypeComputer();
+
+    @Override
+    public IAType computeType(ILogicalExpression expression, IVariableTypeEnvironment env,
+            IMetadataProvider<?, ?> metadataProvider) throws AlgebricksException {
+        AbstractFunctionCallExpression func = (AbstractFunctionCallExpression) expression;
+        ILogicalExpression arg = func.getArguments().get(0).getValue();
+
+        IAType argType = (IAType) env.getType(arg);
+        if (TypeHelper.canBeNull(argType)) {
+            IAType nonOptionalType = TypeHelper.getNonOptionalType(argType);
+            if (nonOptionalType.getTypeTag() == ATypeTag.ORDEREDLIST
+                    || nonOptionalType.getTypeTag() == ATypeTag.UNORDEREDLIST) {
+                /** if the collection is null, that corresponds to an empty sequence */
+                argType = nonOptionalType;
+            }
+        }
+
+        ATypeTag argTypeTag = argType.getTypeTag();
+        if (argTypeTag == ATypeTag.ORDEREDLIST || argTypeTag == ATypeTag.UNORDEREDLIST) {
+            /** if the input is a singleton list, return it's item type if any */
+            AbstractCollectionType collectionType = (AbstractCollectionType) argType;
+            return collectionType.getItemType();
+        } else {
+            /** if the input is not a singleton list, return the original input type */
+            return argType;
+        }
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/locking/EntityInfoManager.java b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/locking/EntityInfoManager.java
index 206a3bf..1e944bc 100644
--- a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/locking/EntityInfoManager.java
+++ b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/locking/EntityInfoManager.java
@@ -30,13 +30,12 @@
  */
 public class EntityInfoManager {
 
-    public static final int SHRINK_TIMER_THRESHOLD = 120000; //2min
-
     private ArrayList<ChildEntityInfoArrayManager> pArray;
     private int allocChild; //used to allocate the next free EntityInfo slot.
     private long shrinkTimer;
     private boolean isShrinkTimerOn;
     private int occupiedSlots;
+    private int shrinkTimerThreshold;
 
     //    ////////////////////////////////////////////////
     //    // begin of unit test
@@ -129,12 +128,13 @@
     //    // end of unit test
     //    ////////////////////////////////////////////////
 
-    public EntityInfoManager() {
+    public EntityInfoManager(int shrinkTimerThreshold) {
         pArray = new ArrayList<ChildEntityInfoArrayManager>();
         pArray.add(new ChildEntityInfoArrayManager());
         allocChild = 0;
         occupiedSlots = 0;
         isShrinkTimerOn = false;
+        this.shrinkTimerThreshold = shrinkTimerThreshold;
     }
 
     public int allocate(int jobId, int datasetId, int entityHashVal, byte lockMode) {
@@ -208,7 +208,7 @@
 
         if (size > 1 && size * ChildEntityInfoArrayManager.NUM_OF_SLOTS / usedSlots >= 3) {
             if (isShrinkTimerOn) {
-                if (System.currentTimeMillis() - shrinkTimer >= SHRINK_TIMER_THRESHOLD) {
+                if (System.currentTimeMillis() - shrinkTimer >= shrinkTimerThreshold) {
                     isShrinkTimerOn = false;
                     return true;
                 }
@@ -301,7 +301,7 @@
     }
     
     public int getShrinkTimerThreshold() {
-        return SHRINK_TIMER_THRESHOLD;
+        return shrinkTimerThreshold;
     }
 
     public void initEntityInfo(int slotNum, int jobId, int datasetId, int PKHashVal, byte lockMode) {
diff --git a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/locking/JobInfo.java b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/locking/JobInfo.java
index 8bf5304..86eb02b 100644
--- a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/locking/JobInfo.java
+++ b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/locking/JobInfo.java
@@ -192,9 +192,9 @@
         }
     }
 
-    public void decreaseDatasetISLockCount(int datasetId) {
+    public void decreaseDatasetISLockCount(int datasetId, int entityToDatasetLockEscalationThreshold) {
         int count = datasetISLockHT.get(datasetId);
-        if (count >= LockManager.ESCALATE_TRHESHOLD_ENTITY_TO_DATASET) {
+        if (count >= entityToDatasetLockEscalationThreshold) {
             //do not decrease the count since it is already escalated.
         } else if (count > 1) {
             datasetISLockHT.upsert(datasetId, count - 1);
diff --git a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/locking/LockManager.java b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/locking/LockManager.java
index cf41199..f0875e0 100644
--- a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/locking/LockManager.java
+++ b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/locking/LockManager.java
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 import java.util.concurrent.locks.ReadWriteLock;
 import java.util.concurrent.locks.ReentrantReadWriteLock;
 
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixTransactionProperties;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.exceptions.ACIDException;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.DatasetId;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.ILockManager;
@@ -56,8 +57,6 @@
     public static final boolean ALLOW_DATASET_GRANULE_X_LOCK_WITH_OTHER_CONCURRENT_LOCK_REQUESTS = false;
 
     public static final boolean ALLOW_ESCALATE_FROM_ENTITY_TO_DATASET = true;
-    //Threshold must be greater than 1 and should be reasonably large enough not to escalate too soon.
-    public static final int ESCALATE_TRHESHOLD_ENTITY_TO_DATASET = 1000;
     private static final int DO_ESCALATE = 0;
     private static final int ESCALATED = 1;
     private static final int DONOT_ESCALATE = 2;
@@ -95,7 +94,7 @@
         this.waiterLatch = new ReentrantReadWriteLock(true);
         this.jobHT = new HashMap<JobId, JobInfo>();
         this.datasetResourceHT = new HashMap<DatasetId, DatasetLockInfo>();
-        this.entityInfoManager = new EntityInfoManager();
+        this.entityInfoManager = new EntityInfoManager(txnSubsystem.getTransactionProperties().getLockManagerShrinkTimer());
         this.lockWaiterManager = new LockWaiterManager();
         this.entityLockInfoManager = new EntityLockInfoManager(entityInfoManager, lockWaiterManager);
         this.deadlockDetector = new DeadlockDetector(jobHT, datasetResourceHT, entityLockInfoManager,
@@ -110,6 +109,10 @@
             this.lockRequestTracker = new LockRequestTracker();
         }
     }
+     
+    public AsterixTransactionProperties getTransactionProperties() {
+        return this.txnSubsystem.getTransactionProperties();
+    }
 
     @Override
     public void lock(DatasetId datasetId, int entityHashValue, byte lockMode, ITransactionContext txnContext)
@@ -197,7 +200,7 @@
                         if (doEscalate) {
                             throw new IllegalStateException(
                                     "ESCALATE_TRHESHOLD_ENTITY_TO_DATASET should not be set to "
-                                            + ESCALATE_TRHESHOLD_ENTITY_TO_DATASET);
+                                            + txnSubsystem.getTransactionProperties().getEntityToDatasetLockEscalationThreshold());
                         }
                     }
                 }
@@ -291,9 +294,9 @@
         }
 
         int count = jobInfo.getDatasetISLockCount(datasetId);
-        if (count == ESCALATE_TRHESHOLD_ENTITY_TO_DATASET) {
+        if (count == txnSubsystem.getTransactionProperties().getEntityToDatasetLockEscalationThreshold()) {
             return DO_ESCALATE;
-        } else if (count > ESCALATE_TRHESHOLD_ENTITY_TO_DATASET) {
+        } else if (count > txnSubsystem.getTransactionProperties().getEntityToDatasetLockEscalationThreshold()) {
             return ESCALATED;
         } else {
             return DONOT_ESCALATE;
@@ -776,7 +779,7 @@
 
             if (ALLOW_ESCALATE_FROM_ENTITY_TO_DATASET) {
                 if (!isInstant && datasetLockMode == LockMode.IS) {
-                    jobInfo.decreaseDatasetISLockCount(datasetId.getId());
+                    jobInfo.decreaseDatasetISLockCount(datasetId.getId(), txnSubsystem.getTransactionProperties().getEntityToDatasetLockEscalationThreshold());
                 }
             }
 
@@ -1290,7 +1293,7 @@
                             //We don't want to allow the lock escalation when there is a first lock request on a dataset. 
                             throw new IllegalStateException(
                                     "ESCALATE_TRHESHOLD_ENTITY_TO_DATASET should not be set to "
-                                            + ESCALATE_TRHESHOLD_ENTITY_TO_DATASET);
+                                            + txnSubsystem.getTransactionProperties().getEntityToDatasetLockEscalationThreshold());
                         }
                     }
                 }
@@ -2090,7 +2093,7 @@
         try {
             StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
             sb.append("\n>>dump_begin\t>>----- [ConfVars] -----");
-            sb.append("\nESCALATE_TRHESHOLD_ENTITY_TO_DATASET: " + ESCALATE_TRHESHOLD_ENTITY_TO_DATASET);
+            sb.append("\nESCALATE_TRHESHOLD_ENTITY_TO_DATASET: " + txnSubsystem.getTransactionProperties().getEntityToDatasetLockEscalationThreshold());
             sb.append("\nSHRINK_TIMER_THRESHOLD (entityLockInfoManager): "
                     + entityLockInfoManager.getShrinkTimerThreshold());
             sb.append("\nSHRINK_TIMER_THRESHOLD (entityInfoManager): " + entityInfoManager.getShrinkTimerThreshold());
diff --git a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/locking/LockManagerDeterministicUnitTest.java b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/locking/LockManagerDeterministicUnitTest.java
index 0781276..02fda06 100644
--- a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/locking/LockManagerDeterministicUnitTest.java
+++ b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/locking/LockManagerDeterministicUnitTest.java
@@ -7,7 +7,14 @@
 import java.util.NoSuchElementException;
 import java.util.Scanner;
 
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixCompilerProperties;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixExternalProperties;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixMetadataProperties;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixPropertiesAccessor;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixStorageProperties;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixTransactionProperties;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.exceptions.ACIDException;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.exceptions.AsterixException;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.DatasetId;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.ILockManager;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.ITransactionManager.TransactionState;
@@ -18,7 +25,7 @@
 
 public class LockManagerDeterministicUnitTest {
 
-    public static void main(String args[]) throws ACIDException, IOException {
+    public static void main(String args[]) throws ACIDException, IOException, AsterixException {
         //initialize controller thread
         String requestFileName = new String(
                 "src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/locking/LockRequestFile");
@@ -39,8 +46,9 @@
     String requestFileName;
     long defaultWaitTime;
 
-    public LockRequestController(String requestFileName) throws ACIDException {
-        this.txnProvider = new TransactionSubsystem("LockManagerPredefinedUnitTest", null);;
+    public LockRequestController(String requestFileName) throws ACIDException, AsterixException {
+        this.txnProvider = new TransactionSubsystem("LockManagerPredefinedUnitTest", null,
+                new AsterixTransactionProperties(new AsterixPropertiesAccessor()));
         this.workerReadyQueue = new WorkerReadyQueue();
         this.requestList = new ArrayList<LockRequest>();
         this.expectedResultList = new ArrayList<ArrayList<Integer>>();
diff --git a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/locking/LockManagerRandomUnitTest.java b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/locking/LockManagerRandomUnitTest.java
index b2cc6ab..a942325 100644
--- a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/locking/LockManagerRandomUnitTest.java
+++ b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/locking/LockManagerRandomUnitTest.java
@@ -3,7 +3,10 @@
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Random;
 
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixPropertiesAccessor;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixTransactionProperties;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.exceptions.ACIDException;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.exceptions.AsterixException;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.DatasetId;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.ILockManager;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.ITransactionContext;
@@ -28,9 +31,10 @@
     private static int jobId = 0;
     private static Random rand;
 
-    public static void main(String args[]) throws ACIDException {
+    public static void main(String args[]) throws ACIDException, AsterixException {
         int i;
-        TransactionSubsystem txnProvider = new TransactionSubsystem("LockManagerRandomUnitTest", null);
+        TransactionSubsystem txnProvider = new TransactionSubsystem("LockManagerRandomUnitTest", null,
+                new AsterixTransactionProperties(new AsterixPropertiesAccessor()));
         rand = new Random(System.currentTimeMillis());
         for (i = 0; i < MAX_NUM_OF_ENTITY_LOCK_JOB; i++) {
             System.out.println("Creating " + i + "th EntityLockJob..");
diff --git a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/locking/TimeOutDetector.java b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/locking/TimeOutDetector.java
index 05052f0..7cbd193 100644
--- a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/locking/TimeOutDetector.java
+++ b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/locking/TimeOutDetector.java
@@ -15,17 +15,19 @@
  */
 
 public class TimeOutDetector {
-    static final long TIME_OUT_THRESHOLD = 60000;
-    static final long SWEEP_PERIOD = 10000;//120000;
 
     LockManager lockMgr;
     Thread trigger;
     LinkedList<LockWaiter> victimList;
+    int timeoutThreshold;
+    int sweepThreshold;
 
     public TimeOutDetector(LockManager lockMgr) {
         this.victimList = new LinkedList<LockWaiter>();
         this.lockMgr = lockMgr;
         this.trigger = new Thread(new TimeoutTrigger(this));
+        this.timeoutThreshold = lockMgr.getTransactionProperties().getTimeoutWaitThreshold();
+        this.sweepThreshold = lockMgr.getTransactionProperties().getTimeoutSweepThreshold();
         trigger.setDaemon(true);
         AsterixThreadExecutor.INSTANCE.execute(trigger);
     }
@@ -39,7 +41,7 @@
     }
 
     public void checkAndSetVictim(LockWaiter waiterObj) {
-        if (System.currentTimeMillis() - waiterObj.getBeginWaitTime() >= TIME_OUT_THRESHOLD) {
+        if (System.currentTimeMillis() - waiterObj.getBeginWaitTime() >= timeoutThreshold) {
             waiterObj.setVictim(true);
             waiterObj.setWait(false);
             victimList.add(waiterObj);
@@ -68,7 +70,7 @@
     public void run() {
         while (true) {
             try {
-                Thread.sleep(TimeOutDetector.SWEEP_PERIOD);
+                Thread.sleep(owner.sweepThreshold);
                 owner.sweep(); // Trigger the timeout detector (the owner) to
                                // initiate sweep
             } catch (InterruptedException e) {
diff --git a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/logging/LogManager.java b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/logging/LogManager.java
index 205c5f2..31c6e78 100644
--- a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/logging/LogManager.java
+++ b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/logging/LogManager.java
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@
 
     public LogManager(TransactionSubsystem provider) throws ACIDException {
         this.provider = provider;
-        initLogManagerProperties(this.provider.getId());
+        logManagerProperties = new LogManagerProperties(this.provider.getTransactionProperties(), this.provider.getId());
         logPageSize = logManagerProperties.getLogPageSize();
         initLogManager();
         statLogSize = 0;
@@ -122,43 +122,13 @@
 
     public LogManager(TransactionSubsystem provider, String nodeId) throws ACIDException {
         this.provider = provider;
-        initLogManagerProperties(nodeId);
+        logManagerProperties = new LogManagerProperties(provider.getTransactionProperties(), nodeId);
         logPageSize = logManagerProperties.getLogPageSize();
         initLogManager();
         statLogSize = 0;
         statLogCount = 0;
     }
 
-    /*
-     * initialize the log manager properties either from the configuration file
-     * on disk or with default values
-     */
-    private void initLogManagerProperties(String nodeId) throws ACIDException {
-        LogManagerProperties logProperties = null;
-        InputStream is = null;
-        try {
-            is = this.getClass().getClassLoader()
-                    .getResourceAsStream(TransactionManagementConstants.LogManagerConstants.LOG_CONF_FILE);
-
-            Properties p = new Properties();
-
-            if (is != null) {
-                p.load(is);
-            }
-            logProperties = new LogManagerProperties(p, nodeId);
-
-        } catch (IOException ioe) {
-            if (is != null) {
-                try {
-                    is.close();
-                } catch (IOException e) {
-                    throw new ACIDException("unable to close input stream ", e);
-                }
-            }
-        }
-        logManagerProperties = logProperties;
-    }
-
     private void initLogManager() throws ACIDException {
         logRecordHelper = new LogRecordHelper(this);
         numLogPages = logManagerProperties.getNumLogPages();
diff --git a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/recovery/CheckpointThread.java b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/recovery/CheckpointThread.java
index a934d6c..635518d 100644
--- a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/recovery/CheckpointThread.java
+++ b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/recovery/CheckpointThread.java
@@ -11,8 +11,8 @@
 
 public class CheckpointThread extends Thread {
 
-    private static final long LSN_THRESHOLD = 64 * 1024 * 1024;
-    private long checkpointTermInSecs = 120; //seconds.
+    private long lsnThreshold;
+    private long checkpointTermInSecs;
 
     private long lastMinMCTFirstLSN = 0;
 
@@ -20,12 +20,11 @@
     private final IIndexLifecycleManager indexLifecycleManager;
 
     public CheckpointThread(IRecoveryManager recoveryMgr, IIndexLifecycleManager indexLifecycleManager,
-            long checkpointTermInSecs) {
+            long lsnThreshold, long checkpointTermInSecs) {
         this.recoveryMgr = recoveryMgr;
         this.indexLifecycleManager = indexLifecycleManager;
-        if (this.checkpointTermInSecs < checkpointTermInSecs) {
-            this.checkpointTermInSecs = checkpointTermInSecs;
-        }
+        this.lsnThreshold = lsnThreshold;
+        this.checkpointTermInSecs = checkpointTermInSecs;
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -39,7 +38,7 @@
             }
 
             currentMinMCTFirstLSN = getMinMCTFirstLSN();
-            if (currentMinMCTFirstLSN - lastMinMCTFirstLSN > LSN_THRESHOLD) {
+            if (currentMinMCTFirstLSN - lastMinMCTFirstLSN > lsnThreshold) {
                 try {
                     recoveryMgr.checkpoint(false);
                     lastMinMCTFirstLSN = currentMinMCTFirstLSN;
diff --git a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/recovery/RecoveryManager.java b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/recovery/RecoveryManager.java
index 1e85c35..7947558 100644
--- a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/recovery/RecoveryManager.java
+++ b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/recovery/RecoveryManager.java
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 import java.io.ObjectOutputStream;
 import java.io.OutputStream;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.Iterator;
@@ -90,6 +91,7 @@
     public static final boolean IS_DEBUG_MODE = false;//true
     private static final Logger LOGGER = Logger.getLogger(RecoveryManager.class.getName());
     private final TransactionSubsystem txnSubsystem;
+    private final int checkpointHistory;
 
     /**
      * A file at a known location that contains the LSN of the last log record
@@ -100,6 +102,7 @@
 
     public RecoveryManager(TransactionSubsystem TransactionProvider) throws ACIDException {
         this.txnSubsystem = TransactionProvider;
+        this.checkpointHistory = this.txnSubsystem.getTransactionProperties().getCheckpointHistory();
     }
 
     /**
@@ -516,8 +519,10 @@
 
         //#. delete the previous checkpoint files
         if (prevCheckpointFiles != null) {
-            for (File file : prevCheckpointFiles) {
-                file.delete();
+            // sort the filenames lexicographically to keep the latest checkpointHistory files.
+            Arrays.sort(prevCheckpointFiles);
+            for (int i = 0; i < prevCheckpointFiles.length - this.checkpointHistory; ++i) {
+                prevCheckpointFiles[i].delete();
             }
         }
 
diff --git a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/transaction/TransactionManagementConstants.java b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/transaction/TransactionManagementConstants.java
index 7d04f61..25b9195 100644
--- a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/transaction/TransactionManagementConstants.java
+++ b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/transaction/TransactionManagementConstants.java
@@ -26,10 +26,6 @@
     }
 
     public static class LogManagerConstants {
-        public static final String LOG_CONF_DIR = "log_conf";
-        public static final String LOG_CONF_FILE = "log.properties";
-        public static final String ASTERIX_CONF_DIR = "src/main/resources";
-        public static final String DEFAULT_LOG_DIR = "asterix_logs";
         public static final int TERMINAL_LSN = -1;
     }
 
diff --git a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/transaction/TransactionSubsystem.java b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/transaction/TransactionSubsystem.java
index eb6e9a2..bde44de 100644
--- a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/transaction/TransactionSubsystem.java
+++ b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/service/transaction/TransactionSubsystem.java
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
  */
 package edu.uci.ics.asterix.transaction.management.service.transaction;
 
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixTransactionProperties;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.exceptions.ACIDException;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.IAsterixAppRuntimeContextProvider;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.ILockManager;
@@ -42,10 +43,12 @@
     private final IndexLoggerRepository loggerRepository;
     private final IAsterixAppRuntimeContextProvider asterixAppRuntimeContextProvider;
     private final CheckpointThread checkpointThread;
+    private final AsterixTransactionProperties txnProperties;
 
-    public TransactionSubsystem(String id, IAsterixAppRuntimeContextProvider asterixAppRuntimeContextProvider)
-            throws ACIDException {
+    public TransactionSubsystem(String id, IAsterixAppRuntimeContextProvider asterixAppRuntimeContextProvider,
+            AsterixTransactionProperties txnProperties) throws ACIDException {
         this.id = id;
+        this.txnProperties = txnProperties;
         this.transactionManager = new TransactionManager(this);
         this.logManager = new LogManager(this);
         this.lockManager = new LockManager(this);
@@ -55,7 +58,8 @@
         this.asterixAppRuntimeContextProvider = asterixAppRuntimeContextProvider;
         if (asterixAppRuntimeContextProvider != null) {
             this.checkpointThread = new CheckpointThread(recoveryManager,
-                    asterixAppRuntimeContextProvider.getIndexLifecycleManager(), 0);
+                    asterixAppRuntimeContextProvider.getIndexLifecycleManager(),
+                    this.txnProperties.getCheckpointLSNThreshold(), this.txnProperties.getCheckpointPollFrequency());
         } else {
             this.checkpointThread = null;
         }
@@ -89,6 +93,10 @@
         return asterixAppRuntimeContextProvider;
     }
 
+    public AsterixTransactionProperties getTransactionProperties() {
+        return txnProperties;
+    }
+
     public String getId() {
         return id;
     }
diff --git a/asterix-transactions/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/logging/test/RecoverySimulator.java b/asterix-transactions/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/logging/test/RecoverySimulator.java
index 07f7474..862c996 100644
--- a/asterix-transactions/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/logging/test/RecoverySimulator.java
+++ b/asterix-transactions/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/logging/test/RecoverySimulator.java
@@ -16,7 +16,10 @@
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixPropertiesAccessor;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixTransactionProperties;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.exceptions.ACIDException;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.exceptions.AsterixException;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.IRecoveryManager;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.transaction.management.service.transaction.TransactionSubsystem;
 
@@ -28,10 +31,11 @@
         recoveryManager.startRecovery(true);
     }
 
-    public static void main(String args[]) throws IOException, ACIDException {
+    public static void main(String args[]) throws IOException, ACIDException, AsterixException {
         String id = "nc1";
         try {
-            TransactionSubsystem factory = new TransactionSubsystem(id, null);
+            TransactionSubsystem factory = new TransactionSubsystem(id, null, new AsterixTransactionProperties(
+                    new AsterixPropertiesAccessor()));
             IRecoveryManager recoveryManager = factory.getRecoveryManager();
             recoveryManager.startRecovery(true);
         } catch (ACIDException acide) {
diff --git a/asterix-transactions/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/logging/test/TransactionWorkloadSimulator.java b/asterix-transactions/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/logging/test/TransactionWorkloadSimulator.java
index 8f56e3b..b9605ef 100644
--- a/asterix-transactions/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/logging/test/TransactionWorkloadSimulator.java
+++ b/asterix-transactions/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/logging/test/TransactionWorkloadSimulator.java
@@ -18,7 +18,10 @@
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicLong;
 
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixPropertiesAccessor;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixTransactionProperties;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.exceptions.ACIDException;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.exceptions.AsterixException;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.DatasetId;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.ILockManager;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.ILogManager;
@@ -48,8 +51,9 @@
         transactions = new Transaction[workload.numActiveThreads];
     }
 
-    public void beginWorkload() throws ACIDException {
-        provider = new TransactionSubsystem("nc1", null);
+    public void beginWorkload() throws ACIDException, AsterixException {
+        provider = new TransactionSubsystem("nc1", null, new AsterixTransactionProperties(
+                new AsterixPropertiesAccessor()));
         logManager = provider.getLogManager();
         lockManager = provider.getLockManager();
         provider.getTransactionalResourceRepository().registerTransactionalResourceManager(DummyResourceMgr.id,
@@ -83,7 +87,7 @@
         System.out.println(" Avg Content Creation time :" + BasicLogger.getAverageContentCreationTime());
     }
 
-    public static void main(String args[]) {
+    public static void main(String args[]) throws AsterixException {
         WorkloadProperties workload = new WorkloadProperties();
         TransactionWorkloadSimulator simulator = new TransactionWorkloadSimulator(workload);
         try {
@@ -177,12 +181,12 @@
                 byte logActionType = LogActionType.REDO_UNDO;
                 long pageId = 0;
                 if (!retry) {
-                    lockMode = (byte)(random.nextInt(2));
+                    lockMode = (byte) (random.nextInt(2));
                 }
                 tempDatasetId.setId(resourceID);
                 TransactionWorkloadSimulator.lockManager.lock(tempDatasetId, -1, lockMode, context);
-                TransactionWorkloadSimulator.logManager.log(logType, context, resourceID,
-                        -1, resourceID, ResourceType.LSM_BTREE, logSize, null, logger, memLSN);
+                TransactionWorkloadSimulator.logManager.log(logType, context, resourceID, -1, resourceID,
+                        ResourceType.LSM_BTREE, logSize, null, logger, memLSN);
                 retry = false;
                 Thread.currentThread().sleep(TransactionWorkloadSimulator.workload.thinkTime);
                 logCount.incrementAndGet();
diff --git a/asterix-transactions/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/test/TransactionSimulator.java b/asterix-transactions/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/test/TransactionSimulator.java
index 66e9bdf..c322b31 100644
--- a/asterix-transactions/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/test/TransactionSimulator.java
+++ b/asterix-transactions/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/test/TransactionSimulator.java
@@ -17,7 +17,10 @@
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.Random;
 
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixPropertiesAccessor;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixTransactionProperties;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.exceptions.ACIDException;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.exceptions.AsterixException;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.DatasetId;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.ILockManager;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.transactions.ILogManager;
@@ -47,9 +50,10 @@
     private LogicalLogLocator memLSN;
     private TransactionSubsystem transactionProvider;
 
-    public TransactionSimulator(IResource resource, IResourceManager resourceMgr) throws ACIDException {
+    public TransactionSimulator(IResource resource, IResourceManager resourceMgr) throws ACIDException, AsterixException {
         String id = "nc1";
-        transactionProvider = new TransactionSubsystem(id, null);
+        transactionProvider = new TransactionSubsystem(id, null, new AsterixTransactionProperties(
+                new AsterixPropertiesAccessor()));
         transactionManager = transactionProvider.getTransactionManager();
         logManager = transactionProvider.getLogManager();
         lockManager = transactionProvider.getLockManager();
@@ -102,7 +106,7 @@
     /**
      * @param args
      */
-    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException, ACIDException {
+    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException, ACIDException, AsterixException {
         String fileDir = "testdata";
         String fileName = "counterFile";
         IResource resource = new FileResource(fileDir, fileName);