A checkpoint free log mining mechanism comprising a capture process and an apply process that are logically associated with each other may be provided in a database system. In an embodiment, log mining information published by the capture process to the apply process comprises a complete set of log information for each interesting transaction. A system change number of a start transaction record of a transaction may be used to represent a start time of the entire transaction. The capture and apply processes may work cooperatively to establish a safe time point in the form of a particular system change number in logs to begin mining, under various circumstances such as in an initial startup state, in a steady state, in a process restart scenario in the middle of checkpoint free log mining, or in a transition between the checkpoint mode and the checkpoint free mode.