diff --git a/.cproject b/.cproject
index 2698ef3ac..5633bb6f1 100644
--- a/.cproject
+++ b/.cproject
@@ -300,6 +300,7 @@
 <buildTargets>
 <target name="install" path="wrap" targetID="org.eclipse.cdt.build.MakeTargetBuilder">
 <buildCommand>make</buildCommand>
+<buildArguments/>
 <buildTarget>install</buildTarget>
 <stopOnError>true</stopOnError>
 <useDefaultCommand>true</useDefaultCommand>
@@ -307,6 +308,7 @@
 </target>
 <target name="check" path="wrap" targetID="org.eclipse.cdt.build.MakeTargetBuilder">
 <buildCommand>make</buildCommand>
+<buildArguments/>
 <buildTarget>check</buildTarget>
 <stopOnError>true</stopOnError>
 <useDefaultCommand>true</useDefaultCommand>
@@ -322,6 +324,7 @@
 </target>
 <target name="testSimpleCamera.run" path="cpp" targetID="org.eclipse.cdt.build.MakeTargetBuilder">
 <buildCommand>make</buildCommand>
+<buildArguments/>
 <buildTarget>testSimpleCamera.run</buildTarget>
 <stopOnError>true</stopOnError>
 <useDefaultCommand>true</useDefaultCommand>
@@ -337,7 +340,6 @@
 </target>
 <target name="testVSLAMFactor.run" path="cpp" targetID="org.eclipse.cdt.build.MakeTargetBuilder">
 <buildCommand>make</buildCommand>
-<buildArguments/>
 <buildTarget>testVSLAMFactor.run</buildTarget>
 <stopOnError>true</stopOnError>
 <useDefaultCommand>true</useDefaultCommand>
@@ -345,6 +347,7 @@
 </target>
 <target name="testCalibratedCamera.run" path="cpp" targetID="org.eclipse.cdt.build.MakeTargetBuilder">
 <buildCommand>make</buildCommand>
+<buildArguments/>
 <buildTarget>testCalibratedCamera.run</buildTarget>
 <stopOnError>true</stopOnError>
 <useDefaultCommand>true</useDefaultCommand>
@@ -352,7 +355,6 @@
 </target>
 <target name="testGaussianConditional.run" path="cpp" targetID="org.eclipse.cdt.build.MakeTargetBuilder">
 <buildCommand>make</buildCommand>
-<buildArguments/>
 <buildTarget>testGaussianConditional.run</buildTarget>
 <stopOnError>true</stopOnError>
 <useDefaultCommand>true</useDefaultCommand>
@@ -360,6 +362,7 @@
 </target>
 <target name="testPose2.run" path="cpp" targetID="org.eclipse.cdt.build.MakeTargetBuilder">
 <buildCommand>make</buildCommand>
+<buildArguments/>
 <buildTarget>testPose2.run</buildTarget>
 <stopOnError>true</stopOnError>
 <useDefaultCommand>true</useDefaultCommand>
@@ -367,6 +370,7 @@
 </target>
 <target name="testRot3.run" path="cpp" targetID="org.eclipse.cdt.build.MakeTargetBuilder">
 <buildCommand>make</buildCommand>
+<buildArguments/>
 <buildTarget>testRot3.run</buildTarget>
 <stopOnError>true</stopOnError>
 <useDefaultCommand>true</useDefaultCommand>
@@ -374,7 +378,6 @@
 </target>
 <target name="testNonlinearOptimizer.run" path="cpp" targetID="org.eclipse.cdt.build.MakeTargetBuilder">
 <buildCommand>make</buildCommand>
-<buildArguments/>
 <buildTarget>testNonlinearOptimizer.run</buildTarget>
 <stopOnError>true</stopOnError>
 <useDefaultCommand>true</useDefaultCommand>
@@ -382,6 +385,7 @@
 </target>
 <target name="testGaussianFactor.run" path="cpp" targetID="org.eclipse.cdt.build.MakeTargetBuilder">
 <buildCommand>make</buildCommand>
+<buildArguments/>
 <buildTarget>testGaussianFactor.run</buildTarget>
 <stopOnError>true</stopOnError>
 <useDefaultCommand>true</useDefaultCommand>
@@ -389,6 +393,7 @@
 </target>
 <target name="testGaussianFactorGraph.run" path="cpp" targetID="org.eclipse.cdt.build.MakeTargetBuilder">
 <buildCommand>make</buildCommand>
+<buildArguments/>
 <buildTarget>testGaussianFactorGraph.run</buildTarget>
 <stopOnError>true</stopOnError>
 <useDefaultCommand>true</useDefaultCommand>
@@ -396,7 +401,6 @@
 </target>
 <target name="testNonlinearFactorGraph.run" path="cpp" targetID="org.eclipse.cdt.build.MakeTargetBuilder">
 <buildCommand>make</buildCommand>
-<buildArguments/>
 <buildTarget>testNonlinearFactorGraph.run</buildTarget>
 <stopOnError>true</stopOnError>
 <useDefaultCommand>true</useDefaultCommand>
@@ -404,6 +408,7 @@
 </target>
 <target name="testPose3.run" path="cpp" targetID="org.eclipse.cdt.build.MakeTargetBuilder">
 <buildCommand>make</buildCommand>
+<buildArguments/>
 <buildTarget>testPose3.run</buildTarget>
 <stopOnError>true</stopOnError>
 <useDefaultCommand>true</useDefaultCommand>
@@ -411,7 +416,6 @@
 </target>
 <target name="testVectorConfig.run" path="cpp" targetID="org.eclipse.cdt.build.MakeTargetBuilder">
 <buildCommand>make</buildCommand>
-<buildArguments/>
 <buildTarget>testVectorConfig.run</buildTarget>
 <stopOnError>true</stopOnError>
 <useDefaultCommand>true</useDefaultCommand>
@@ -419,7 +423,6 @@
 </target>
 <target name="testPoint2.run" path="cpp" targetID="org.eclipse.cdt.build.MakeTargetBuilder">
 <buildCommand>make</buildCommand>
-<buildArguments/>
 <buildTarget>testPoint2.run</buildTarget>
 <stopOnError>true</stopOnError>
 <useDefaultCommand>true</useDefaultCommand>
@@ -427,6 +430,7 @@
 </target>
 <target name="testNonlinearFactor.run" path="cpp" targetID="org.eclipse.cdt.build.MakeTargetBuilder">
 <buildCommand>make</buildCommand>
+<buildArguments/>
 <buildTarget>testNonlinearFactor.run</buildTarget>
 <stopOnError>true</stopOnError>
 <useDefaultCommand>true</useDefaultCommand>
@@ -434,6 +438,7 @@
 </target>
 <target name="timeGaussianFactor.run" path="cpp" targetID="org.eclipse.cdt.build.MakeTargetBuilder">
 <buildCommand>make</buildCommand>
+<buildArguments/>
 <buildTarget>timeGaussianFactor.run</buildTarget>
 <stopOnError>true</stopOnError>
 <useDefaultCommand>true</useDefaultCommand>
@@ -441,6 +446,7 @@
 </target>
 <target name="timeGaussianFactorGraph.run" path="cpp" targetID="org.eclipse.cdt.build.MakeTargetBuilder">
 <buildCommand>make</buildCommand>
+<buildArguments/>
 <buildTarget>timeGaussianFactorGraph.run</buildTarget>
 <stopOnError>true</stopOnError>
 <useDefaultCommand>true</useDefaultCommand>
@@ -448,6 +454,7 @@
 </target>
 <target name="testGaussianBayesNet.run" path="cpp" targetID="org.eclipse.cdt.build.MakeTargetBuilder">
 <buildCommand>make</buildCommand>
+<buildArguments/>
 <buildTarget>testGaussianBayesNet.run</buildTarget>
 <stopOnError>true</stopOnError>
 <useDefaultCommand>true</useDefaultCommand>
@@ -455,7 +462,6 @@
 </target>
 <target name="testBayesTree.run" path="cpp" targetID="org.eclipse.cdt.build.MakeTargetBuilder">
 <buildCommand>make</buildCommand>
-<buildArguments/>
 <buildTarget>testBayesTree.run</buildTarget>
 <stopOnError>true</stopOnError>
 <useDefaultCommand>false</useDefaultCommand>
@@ -463,6 +469,7 @@
 </target>
 <target name="testSymbolicBayesNet.run" path="cpp" targetID="org.eclipse.cdt.build.MakeTargetBuilder">
 <buildCommand>make</buildCommand>
+<buildArguments/>
 <buildTarget>testSymbolicBayesNet.run</buildTarget>
 <stopOnError>true</stopOnError>
 <useDefaultCommand>false</useDefaultCommand>
@@ -470,7 +477,6 @@
 </target>
 <target name="testSymbolicFactorGraph.run" path="cpp" targetID="org.eclipse.cdt.build.MakeTargetBuilder">
 <buildCommand>make</buildCommand>
-<buildArguments/>
 <buildTarget>testSymbolicFactorGraph.run</buildTarget>
 <stopOnError>true</stopOnError>
 <useDefaultCommand>false</useDefaultCommand>
@@ -478,6 +484,7 @@
 </target>
 <target name="testVector.run" path="cpp" targetID="org.eclipse.cdt.build.MakeTargetBuilder">
 <buildCommand>make</buildCommand>
+<buildArguments/>
 <buildTarget>testVector.run</buildTarget>
 <stopOnError>true</stopOnError>
 <useDefaultCommand>true</useDefaultCommand>
@@ -485,22 +492,21 @@
 </target>
 <target name="testMatrix.run" path="cpp" targetID="org.eclipse.cdt.build.MakeTargetBuilder">
 <buildCommand>make</buildCommand>
+<buildArguments/>
 <buildTarget>testMatrix.run</buildTarget>
 <stopOnError>true</stopOnError>
 <useDefaultCommand>true</useDefaultCommand>
 <runAllBuilders>true</runAllBuilders>
 </target>
-<target name="testInference.run" path="cpp" targetID="org.eclipse.cdt.build.MakeTargetBuilder">
+<target name="testIncremental.run" path="cpp" targetID="org.eclipse.cdt.build.MakeTargetBuilder">
 <buildCommand>make</buildCommand>
-<buildArguments/>
-<buildTarget>testInference.run</buildTarget>
+<buildTarget>testIncremental.run</buildTarget>
 <stopOnError>true</stopOnError>
 <useDefaultCommand>true</useDefaultCommand>
 <runAllBuilders>true</runAllBuilders>
 </target>
 <target name="testVSLAMGraph.run" path="cpp" targetID="org.eclipse.cdt.build.MakeTargetBuilder">
 <buildCommand>make</buildCommand>
-<buildArguments/>
 <buildTarget>testVSLAMGraph.run</buildTarget>
 <stopOnError>true</stopOnError>
 <useDefaultCommand>true</useDefaultCommand>
@@ -508,7 +514,6 @@
 </target>
 <target name="testNonlinearEquality.run" path="cpp" targetID="org.eclipse.cdt.build.MakeTargetBuilder">
 <buildCommand>make</buildCommand>
-<buildArguments/>
 <buildTarget>testNonlinearEquality.run</buildTarget>
 <stopOnError>true</stopOnError>
 <useDefaultCommand>true</useDefaultCommand>
@@ -516,6 +521,7 @@
 </target>
 <target name="testSQP.run" path="cpp" targetID="org.eclipse.cdt.build.MakeTargetBuilder">
 <buildCommand>make</buildCommand>
+<buildArguments/>
 <buildTarget>testSQP.run</buildTarget>
 <stopOnError>true</stopOnError>
 <useDefaultCommand>true</useDefaultCommand>
@@ -523,7 +529,6 @@
 </target>
 <target name="testNonlinearConstraint.run" path="cpp" targetID="org.eclipse.cdt.build.MakeTargetBuilder">
 <buildCommand>make</buildCommand>
-<buildArguments/>
 <buildTarget>testNonlinearConstraint.run</buildTarget>
 <stopOnError>true</stopOnError>
 <useDefaultCommand>true</useDefaultCommand>
@@ -531,7 +536,6 @@
 </target>
 <target name="install" path="" targetID="org.eclipse.cdt.build.MakeTargetBuilder">
 <buildCommand>make</buildCommand>
-<buildArguments/>
 <buildTarget>install</buildTarget>
 <stopOnError>true</stopOnError>
 <useDefaultCommand>true</useDefaultCommand>
@@ -539,7 +543,6 @@
 </target>
 <target name="clean" path="" targetID="org.eclipse.cdt.build.MakeTargetBuilder">
 <buildCommand>make</buildCommand>
-<buildArguments/>
 <buildTarget>clean</buildTarget>
 <stopOnError>true</stopOnError>
 <useDefaultCommand>true</useDefaultCommand>
@@ -547,7 +550,6 @@
 </target>
 <target name="check" path="" targetID="org.eclipse.cdt.build.MakeTargetBuilder">
 <buildCommand>make</buildCommand>
-<buildArguments/>
 <buildTarget>check</buildTarget>
 <stopOnError>true</stopOnError>
 <useDefaultCommand>true</useDefaultCommand>
diff --git a/cpp/BayesTree-inl.h b/cpp/BayesTree-inl.h
index 7b4adc69e..5c9a57293 100644
--- a/cpp/BayesTree-inl.h
+++ b/cpp/BayesTree-inl.h
@@ -187,17 +187,16 @@ namespace gtsam {
 	/* ************************************************************************* */
 	template<class Conditional>
 	void BayesTree<Conditional>::removeClique(sharedClique clique) {
-	  if (!clique->isRoot())
+
+		if (clique->isRoot())
+			root_.reset();
+		else // detach clique from parent
 	    clique->parent_->children_.remove(clique);
-	  else {
-	  	// we remove the root clique: have to make another clique the root
-	  	if (clique->children_.empty())
-	  		root_.reset();
-	  	else
-	  	  root_ = *(clique->children_.begin());
-	  }
-	  BOOST_FOREACH(sharedClique child, clique->children_)
+
+	  // orphan my children
+		BOOST_FOREACH(sharedClique child, clique->children_)
 	  	child->parent_.reset();
+
 	  BOOST_FOREACH(std::string key, clique->ordering())
 			nodes_.erase(key);
 	}
diff --git a/cpp/testIncremental.cpp b/cpp/testIncremental.cpp
index 0b90e7c67..d72ff9eb7 100644
--- a/cpp/testIncremental.cpp
+++ b/cpp/testIncremental.cpp
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ using namespace boost::assign;
 #include "BayesTree-inl.h"
 #include "smallExample.h"
 
+using namespace std;
 using namespace gtsam;
 
 typedef BayesTree<SymbolicConditional> SymbolicBayesTree;
@@ -32,7 +33,7 @@ SymbolicBayesTree update(const SymbolicBayesTree& initial,
 	SymbolicFactorGraph factorGraph;
 
 	// the list of orphaned subtrees
-	std::list<SymbolicBayesTree::sharedClique> orphans;
+	list<SymbolicBayesTree::sharedClique> orphans;
 
 	// process each key of the new factor
 	BOOST_FOREACH(string key, newFactor->keys()) {
@@ -73,27 +74,26 @@ SymbolicBayesTree update(const SymbolicBayesTree& initial,
 
 	// add orphans to the bottom of the new tree
 	BOOST_FOREACH(SymbolicBayesTree::sharedClique orphan, orphans) {
-		std::list<std::string>::const_iterator it = orphan->separator_.begin();
-		for (; it != orphan->separator_.end(); it++) {
-
+		BOOST_FOREACH(string key1, orphan->separator_) {
 			// get clique from new tree to attach to
-			SymbolicBayesTree::sharedClique clique = newTree[*it];
+			SymbolicBayesTree::sharedClique candidateParent = newTree[key1];
 
 			// check if all conditionals in there, only add once
 			bool is_subset = true;
-			std::list<std::string>::const_iterator it2 = orphan->separator_.begin();
-			for (; it2 != orphan->separator_.end(); it2++) {
-				// if any one is not included, then we have to stop and search for another clique
-				std::list<std::string> keys = clique->keys();
-				if (find(keys.begin(), keys.end(), *it2) == keys.end()) {
+			BOOST_FOREACH(string key2, orphan->separator_) {
+				// if any one not included, then we have to stop and search for another clique
+				list<string> keys = candidateParent->keys();
+				if (find(keys.begin(), keys.end(), key2) == keys.end()) {
 					is_subset = false;
 					break;
 				}
 			}
 
-			// this clique contains all the keys of the orphan, so we can add the orphan as a child  todo: what about the tree below the orphan?
+			// this clique contains all the keys of the orphan,
+			// so we can add the orphan as a child
+			// todo: what about the tree below the orphan?
 			if (is_subset) {
-				clique->children_ += orphan;
+				candidateParent->children_ += orphan;
 				break;
 			}
 		}