Hi era/jim,
Thanks for the quick response.

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Hi era,
My responses below:
1. Can transactions be intermingled in the log file, or will all details of a transaction be on adjacent lines, and all adjacent lines belong to the same transaction, or mark the boundary to the next transaction?
ANS:
Yes, all details of a transaction will be on adjacent lines, and all adjacent lines belong to the same user/transaction.

2. Does a transaction always start with the "give" and "take" stuff? Does a transaction always end with the "Waiting for new txns" line?
ANS:
Yes that will always be the start line of all txns, but the end lines may vary.
For successful ones, there wont be any "This is not a valid dealing" line in between.
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Btw if possible, i would prefer this in perl

Hope to hear from the other gurus.
Appreciate it very much.