--- a/src/main/java/org/mpi/openmind/repository/bo/Relation.java	Thu Aug 25 11:29:47 2016 +0200
+++ b/src/main/java/org/mpi/openmind/repository/bo/Relation.java	Fri Aug 26 11:42:41 2016 +0200
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package org.mpi.openmind.repository.bo;
 
 import java.io.Serializable;
+import java.io.UnsupportedEncodingException;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.List;
 
@@ -8,6 +9,7 @@
 import javax.persistence.DiscriminatorValue;
 import javax.persistence.Transient;
 
+import org.apache.commons.codec.binary.Base64;
 import org.apache.commons.lang.StringUtils;
 import org.hibernate.annotations.Cache;
 import org.hibernate.annotations.CacheConcurrencyStrategy;
@@ -257,7 +259,40 @@
         		"sysStatus=" + this.getSystemStatus() + "]";
     }
 
-	@Override
+    /**
+     * Returns a String representation with base64-encoded own-value.
+     * 
+     * To be used for the transaction log.
+     * 
+     * @return
+     */
+    public String toEncString() {
+        try {
+            String es = "RELATION["
+            + "id=\"" + this.getId() + "\", "
+            + "row-id=\"" + this.getRowId() + "\", "
+            + "object_class=\"" + this.getObjectClass() + "\", "
+            + "source-id=\"" + this.getSourceId() + "\", "
+            + "source-mtime=\"" + this.getSourceModif() + "\", "
+            + "source-oc=\"" + this.getSourceObjectClass() + "\", "
+            + "target-id=\"" + this.getTargetId() + "\", "
+            + "target-mtime=\"" + this.getTargetModif() + "\", "
+            + "target-oc=\"" + this.getTargetObjectClass() + "\", "
+            + "mtime=\"" + this.getModificationTime() + "\", "
+            + "version=\"" + this.getVersion() + "\", "
+            + "user=\"" + this.getUser() + "\", "
+            + "public=\"" + this.getIsPublic() + "\", "
+            + "b64-value=\"" + ((this.getOwnValue() != null) ? Base64.encodeBase64String(this.getOwnValue().getBytes("UTF-8")) : "") + "\"]";
+            return es;
+        } catch (UnsupportedEncodingException e) {
+            // this shouldn't happen
+            e.printStackTrace();
+        }
+        return "!!!ENCODING-ERROR!!!";
+    }
+
+    
+    @Override
 	public int compareTo(Relation e) {
 		if(e == null)
 			return 1;