diff --git a/asterix-algebra/pom.xml b/asterix-algebra/pom.xml
index f950800..70f8c53 100644
--- a/asterix-algebra/pom.xml
+++ b/asterix-algebra/pom.xml
@@ -5,9 +5,7 @@
 		<groupId>edu.uci.ics.asterix</groupId>
 		<version>0.0.4-SNAPSHOT</version>
 	</parent>
-	<groupId>edu.uci.ics.asterix</groupId>
 	<artifactId>asterix-algebra</artifactId>
-	<version>0.0.4-SNAPSHOT</version>
 
 	<build>
 		<plugins>
@@ -60,8 +58,7 @@
 		</dependency>
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>edu.uci.ics.hyracks</groupId>
-			<artifactId>hyracks-algebricks-compiler</artifactId>
-			<version>0.2.2-SNAPSHOT</version>
+			<artifactId>algebricks-compiler</artifactId>
 		</dependency>
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>org.json</groupId>
diff --git a/asterix-algebra/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/optimizer/rules/ConstantFoldingRule.java b/asterix-algebra/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/optimizer/rules/ConstantFoldingRule.java
index 47e957b..bc61c49 100644
--- a/asterix-algebra/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/optimizer/rules/ConstantFoldingRule.java
+++ b/asterix-algebra/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/optimizer/rules/ConstantFoldingRule.java
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.formats.nontagged.AqlBinaryBooleanInspectorImpl;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.formats.nontagged.AqlBinaryComparatorFactoryProvider;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.formats.nontagged.AqlBinaryHashFunctionFactoryProvider;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.formats.nontagged.AqlBinaryHashFunctionFamilyProvider;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.formats.nontagged.AqlBinaryIntegerInspector;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.formats.nontagged.AqlPrinterFactoryProvider;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.formats.nontagged.AqlSerializerDeserializerProvider;
@@ -106,8 +107,8 @@
 
     private static final JobGenContext _jobGenCtx = new JobGenContext(null, null, null,
             AqlSerializerDeserializerProvider.INSTANCE, AqlBinaryHashFunctionFactoryProvider.INSTANCE,
-            AqlBinaryComparatorFactoryProvider.INSTANCE, AqlTypeTraitProvider.INSTANCE,
-            AqlBinaryBooleanInspectorImpl.FACTORY, AqlBinaryIntegerInspector.FACTORY,
+            AqlBinaryHashFunctionFamilyProvider.INSTANCE, AqlBinaryComparatorFactoryProvider.INSTANCE,
+            AqlTypeTraitProvider.INSTANCE, AqlBinaryBooleanInspectorImpl.FACTORY, AqlBinaryIntegerInspector.FACTORY,
             AqlPrinterFactoryProvider.INSTANCE, AqlNullWriterFactory.INSTANCE, null,
             new LogicalExpressionJobGenToExpressionRuntimeProviderAdapter(AqlLogicalExpressionJobGen.INSTANCE),
             AqlExpressionTypeComputer.INSTANCE, AqlNullableTypeComputer.INSTANCE, null, null, null,
diff --git a/asterix-algebra/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/optimizer/rules/typecast/StaticTypeCastUtil.java b/asterix-algebra/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/optimizer/rules/typecast/StaticTypeCastUtil.java
index 0c6f2ea..3ba3e96 100644
--- a/asterix-algebra/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/optimizer/rules/typecast/StaticTypeCastUtil.java
+++ b/asterix-algebra/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/optimizer/rules/typecast/StaticTypeCastUtil.java
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.base.AString;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.constants.AsterixConstantValue;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.functions.AsterixBuiltinFunctions;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.functions.AsterixFunctionInfo;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.pointables.base.DefaultOpenFieldType;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.typecomputer.base.TypeComputerUtilities;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.types.ARecordType;
@@ -261,6 +262,7 @@
                 String reqFieldName = reqFieldNames[j];
                 IAType reqFieldType = reqFieldTypes[j];
                 if (fieldName.equals(reqFieldName)) {
+                    //type matched
                     if (fieldType.equals(reqFieldType)) {
                         fieldPermutation[j] = i;
                         openFields[i] = false;
@@ -293,6 +295,26 @@
                         }
                     }
 
+                    // match the optional type input for a non-optional field
+                    // delay that to runtime by calling the not-null function
+                    if (fieldType.getTypeTag() == ATypeTag.UNION
+                            && NonTaggedFormatUtil.isOptionalField((AUnionType) fieldType)) {
+                        IAType itemType = ((AUnionType) fieldType).getUnionList().get(
+                                NonTaggedFormatUtil.OPTIONAL_TYPE_INDEX_IN_UNION_LIST);
+                        if (reqFieldType.equals(itemType)) {
+                            fieldPermutation[j] = i;
+                            openFields[i] = false;
+                            matched = true;
+
+                            ScalarFunctionCallExpression notNullFunc = new ScalarFunctionCallExpression(
+                                    new AsterixFunctionInfo(AsterixBuiltinFunctions.NOT_NULL));
+                            notNullFunc.getArguments().add(new MutableObject<ILogicalExpression>(arg));
+                            //wrap the not null function to the original function
+                            func.getArguments().get(2 * i + 1).setValue(notNullFunc);
+                            break;
+                        }
+                    }
+
                     // match the record field: need cast
                     if (arg.getExpressionTag() == LogicalExpressionTag.FUNCTION_CALL) {
                         ScalarFunctionCallExpression scalarFunc = (ScalarFunctionCallExpression) arg;
diff --git a/asterix-app/pom.xml b/asterix-app/pom.xml
index b47aadc..2f80c30 100644
--- a/asterix-app/pom.xml
+++ b/asterix-app/pom.xml
@@ -129,17 +129,14 @@
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>edu.uci.ics.hyracks</groupId>
 			<artifactId>hyracks-control-cc</artifactId>
-			<version>0.2.2-SNAPSHOT</version>
 		</dependency>
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>edu.uci.ics.hyracks</groupId>
 			<artifactId>hyracks-control-nc</artifactId>
-			<version>0.2.2-SNAPSHOT</version>
 		</dependency>
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>edu.uci.ics.hyracks</groupId>
-			<artifactId>hyracks-algebricks-compiler</artifactId>
-			<version>0.2.2-SNAPSHOT</version>
+			<artifactId>algebricks-compiler</artifactId>
 		</dependency>
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>edu.uci.ics.asterix</groupId>
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 ac87c4b..1eb37cd 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
@@ -149,8 +149,9 @@
         HTML
     }
 
-    public static Pair<Query, Integer> reWriteQuery(List<FunctionDecl> declaredFunctions, AqlMetadataProvider metadataProvider,
-            Query q, SessionConfig pc, PrintWriter out, DisplayFormat pdf) throws AsterixException {
+    public static Pair<Query, Integer> reWriteQuery(List<FunctionDecl> declaredFunctions,
+            AqlMetadataProvider metadataProvider, Query q, SessionConfig pc, PrintWriter out, DisplayFormat pdf)
+            throws AsterixException {
         if (!pc.isPrintPhysicalOpsOnly() && pc.isPrintExprParam()) {
             out.println();
             switch (pdf) {
@@ -279,7 +280,7 @@
 
         OptimizationConfUtil.getPhysicalOptimizationConfig().setFrameSize(frameSize);
         builder.setPhysicalOptimizationConfig(OptimizationConfUtil.getPhysicalOptimizationConfig());
-        
+
         ICompiler compiler = compilerFactory.createCompiler(plan, queryMetadataProvider, t.getVarCounter());
         if (pc.isOptimize()) {
             compiler.optimize();
@@ -328,6 +329,7 @@
         builder.setExpressionRuntimeProvider(new LogicalExpressionJobGenToExpressionRuntimeProviderAdapter(
                 AqlLogicalExpressionJobGen.INSTANCE));
         builder.setHashFunctionFactoryProvider(format.getBinaryHashFunctionFactoryProvider());
+        builder.setHashFunctionFamilyProvider(format.getBinaryHashFunctionFamilyProvider());
         builder.setNullWriterFactory(format.getNullWriterFactory());
         builder.setPrinterProvider(format.getPrinterFactoryProvider());
         builder.setSerializerDeserializerProvider(format.getSerdeProvider());
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/open-closed/query-issue236.aql b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/open-closed/query-issue236.aql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3d8ab69
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/open-closed/query-issue236.aql
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+/*
+ * Description  : This test case is to verify the fix for issue236
+ 				: https://code.google.com/p/asterixdb/issues/detail?id=236
+ * Expected Res : Success
+ * Date         : 20 Dec. 2012
+ */
+
+drop dataverse SocialNetworkData if exists;
+
+create dataverse SocialNetworkData;
+use dataverse SocialNetworkData;
+
+create type TwitterUserType as open {
+screen-name: string,
+lang: string,
+friends_count: int32,
+statuses_count: int32,
+name: string,
+followers_count: int32
+}
+
+create type TweetMessageType as closed {
+tweetid: string,
+tweetid-copy: string,
+user: TwitterUserType,
+sender-location: point?,
+send-time: datetime,
+send-time-copy: datetime,
+referred-topics: {{ string }},
+message-text: string
+}
+
+create dataset TweetMessages(TweetMessageType)
+partitioned by key tweetid;
+
+
+insert into dataset TweetMessages(
+{ 
+"tweetid": "1111387810", 
+"tweetid-copy": "1111387810", 
+"user": { "screen-name": "TonyNapier#786", "lang": "en", "friends_count": 4241366, 
+"statuses_count": 97, "name": "Tony Napier", "followers_count": 5984113 }, 
+"sender-location": point("29.24,78.35"), 
+"send-time": datetime("2011-11-24T14:24:51.000Z"), 
+"send-time-copy": datetime("2011-11-24T14:24:51.000Z"), 
+"referred-topics": {{ "sprint", "wireless" }}, 
+"message-text": " love sprint its wireless is mind-blowing:)" 
+});
+
+write output to nc1:"rttest/open-closed_query-issue236.adm";
+for $r in dataset('TweetMessages')
+return $r
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/tpch/q10_returned_item_int64.aql b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/tpch/q10_returned_item_int64.aql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cfac014
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/tpch/q10_returned_item_int64.aql
@@ -0,0 +1,195 @@
+drop dataverse tpch if exists;
+create dataverse tpch;
+
+use dataverse tpch;
+
+create type LineItemType as closed {
+  l_orderkey: int64, 
+  l_partkey: int64, 
+  l_suppkey: int64, 
+  l_linenumber: int64, 
+  l_quantity: int64, 
+  l_extendedprice: double,
+  l_discount: double, 
+  l_tax: double,
+  l_returnflag: string, 
+  l_linestatus: string, 
+  l_shipdate: string,
+  l_commitdate: string, 
+  l_receiptdate: string, 
+  l_shipinstruct: string, 
+  l_shipmode: string, 
+  l_comment: string
+}
+
+create type OrderType as closed {
+  o_orderkey: int64, 
+  o_custkey: int64, 
+  o_orderstatus: string, 
+  o_totalprice: double, 
+  o_orderdate: string, 
+  o_orderpriority: string,
+  o_clerk: string, 
+  o_shippriority: int64, 
+  o_comment: string
+}
+
+create type CustomerType as closed {
+  c_custkey: int64, 
+  c_name: string, 
+  c_address: string, 
+  c_nationkey: int64, 
+  c_phone: string, 
+  c_acctbal: double, 
+  c_mktsegment: string,
+  c_comment: string
+}
+
+create type SupplierType as closed {
+  s_suppkey: int64, 
+  s_name: string,
+  s_address: string,
+  s_nationkey: int64,
+  s_phone: string,
+  s_acctbal: double,
+  s_comment: string
+}
+
+create type NationType as closed {
+  n_nationkey: int64,
+  n_name: string,
+  n_regionkey: int64,
+  n_comment: string
+}
+
+create type RegionType as closed {
+	r_regionkey: int64, 
+	r_name: string, 
+	r_comment: string
+} 
+
+create type PartType as closed {
+  p_partkey: int64, 
+  p_name: string, 
+  p_mfgr: string,
+  p_brand: string,
+  p_type: string,
+  p_size: int64,
+  p_container: string,
+  p_retailprice: double,
+  p_comment: string
+}
+
+create type PartSuppType as closed {
+  ps_partkey: int64, 
+  ps_suppkey: int64,
+  ps_availqty: int64,
+  ps_supplycost: double,
+  ps_comment: string 
+}
+
+create dataset LineItem(LineItemType)
+  partitioned by key l_orderkey, l_linenumber;
+create dataset Orders(OrderType)
+  partitioned by key o_orderkey;
+create dataset Supplier(SupplierType)
+  partitioned by key s_suppkey;
+create dataset Region(RegionType) 
+  partitioned by key r_regionkey;
+create dataset Nation(NationType) 
+  partitioned by key n_nationkey;
+create dataset Part(PartType)
+  partitioned by key p_partkey;
+create dataset Partsupp(PartSuppType)
+  partitioned by key ps_partkey, ps_suppkey;  
+create dataset Customer(CustomerType) 
+  partitioned by key c_custkey;
+
+load dataset LineItem 
+using "edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.dataset.adapter.NCFileSystemAdapter"
+(("path"="nc1://data/tpch0.001/lineitem.tbl"),("format"="delimited-text"),("delimiter"="|")) pre-sorted;
+
+load dataset Orders 
+using "edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.dataset.adapter.NCFileSystemAdapter"
+(("path"="nc1://data/tpch0.001/orders.tbl"),("format"="delimited-text"),("delimiter"="|")) pre-sorted;
+
+load dataset Supplier 
+using "edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.dataset.adapter.NCFileSystemAdapter"
+(("path"="nc1://data/tpch0.001/supplier.tbl"),("format"="delimited-text"),("delimiter"="|")) pre-sorted;
+
+load dataset Region 
+using "edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.dataset.adapter.NCFileSystemAdapter"
+(("path"="nc1://data/tpch0.001/region.tbl"),("format"="delimited-text"),("delimiter"="|")) pre-sorted;
+
+load dataset Nation 
+using "edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.dataset.adapter.NCFileSystemAdapter"
+(("path"="nc1://data/tpch0.001/nation.tbl"),("format"="delimited-text"),("delimiter"="|")) pre-sorted;
+
+load dataset Part 
+using "edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.dataset.adapter.NCFileSystemAdapter"
+(("path"="nc1://data/tpch0.001/part.tbl"),("format"="delimited-text"),("delimiter"="|")) pre-sorted;
+
+load dataset Partsupp 
+using "edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.dataset.adapter.NCFileSystemAdapter"
+(("path"="nc1://data/tpch0.001/partsupp.tbl"),("format"="delimited-text"),("delimiter"="|")) pre-sorted;
+
+load dataset Customer 
+using "edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.dataset.adapter.NCFileSystemAdapter"
+(("path"="nc1://data/tpch0.001/customer.tbl"),("format"="delimited-text"),("delimiter"="|")) pre-sorted;
+
+write output to nc1:"rttest/tpch_q10_returned_item_int64.adm";
+
+
+for $locn in (
+for $l in dataset('LineItem')
+for $ocn in (
+	for $o in dataset('Orders')
+	for $c in dataset('Customer')
+		where $c.c_custkey = $o.o_custkey and $o.o_orderdate >= '1993-10-01' and $o.o_orderdate < '1994-01-01'
+	for $n in dataset('Nation')
+		where $c.c_nationkey = $n.n_nationkey
+	return {
+		"c_custkey": $c.c_custkey, 
+		"c_name": $c.c_name,
+  		"c_acctbal": $c.c_acctbal, 
+  		"n_name": $n.n_name, 
+  		"c_address": $c.c_address, 
+  		"c_phone": $c.c_phone, 
+  		"c_comment": $c.c_comment,
+  		"o_orderkey": $o.o_orderkey
+	}
+)
+where
+   $l.l_orderkey = $ocn.o_orderkey and $l.l_returnflag = 'R'
+   return {
+		"c_custkey": $ocn.c_custkey, 
+		"c_name": $ocn.c_name,
+  		"c_acctbal": $ocn.c_acctbal, 
+  		"n_name": $ocn.n_name, 
+  		"c_address": $ocn.c_address, 
+  		"c_phone": $ocn.c_phone, 
+  		"c_comment": $ocn.c_comment,
+  		"l_extendedprice": $l.l_extendedprice,
+  		"l_discount": $l.l_discount
+	}	
+)
+group by $c_custkey:=$locn.c_custkey, 
+		$c_name:=$locn.c_name, 
+		$c_acctbal:=$locn.c_acctbal, $c_phone:=$locn.c_phone, 
+		$n_name:=$locn.n_name, $c_address:=$locn.c_address, $c_comment:=$locn.c_comment
+		with $locn
+let $revenue := sum(for $i in $locn return $i.l_extendedprice * (1 - $i.l_discount))
+order by $revenue desc
+limit 20
+return {
+		"c_custkey": $c_custkey, 
+		"c_name": $c_name,
+		"revenue": $revenue,
+  		"c_acctbal": $c_acctbal, 
+  		"n_name": $n_name, 
+  		"c_address": $c_address, 
+  		"c_phone": $c_phone, 
+  		"c_comment": $c_comment
+}
+		
+		
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/open-closed/query-issue236.adm b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/open-closed/query-issue236.adm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..65bdb8f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/open-closed/query-issue236.adm
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{ "tweetid": "1111387810", "tweetid-copy": "1111387810", "user": { "screen-name": "TonyNapier#786", "lang": "en", "friends_count": 4241366, "statuses_count": 97, "name": "Tony Napier", "followers_count": 5984113 }, "sender-location": point("29.24,78.35"), "send-time": datetime("2011-11-24T14:24:51.000Z"), "send-time-copy": datetime("2011-11-24T14:24:51.000Z"), "referred-topics": {{ "sprint", "wireless" }}, "message-text": " love sprint its wireless is mind-blowing:)" }
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/tpch/q10_returned_item_int64.adm b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/tpch/q10_returned_item_int64.adm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..422b480
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/tpch/q10_returned_item_int64.adm
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+{ "c_custkey": 121i64, "c_name": "Customer#000000121", "revenue": 282635.1719d, "c_acctbal": 6428.32d, "n_name": "PERU", "c_address": "tv nCR2YKupGN73mQudO", "c_phone": "27-411-990-2959", "c_comment": "uriously stealthy ideas. carefully final courts use carefully" }
+{ "c_custkey": 124i64, "c_name": "Customer#000000124", "revenue": 222182.5188d, "c_acctbal": 1842.49d, "n_name": "CHINA", "c_address": "aTbyVAW5tCd,v09O", "c_phone": "28-183-750-7809", "c_comment": "le fluffily even dependencies. quietly s" }
+{ "c_custkey": 106i64, "c_name": "Customer#000000106", "revenue": 190241.3334d, "c_acctbal": 3288.42d, "n_name": "ARGENTINA", "c_address": "xGCOEAUjUNG", "c_phone": "11-751-989-4627", "c_comment": "lose slyly. ironic accounts along the evenly regular theodolites wake about the special, final gifts. " }
+{ "c_custkey": 16i64, "c_name": "Customer#000000016", "revenue": 161422.04609999998d, "c_acctbal": 4681.03d, "n_name": "IRAN", "c_address": "cYiaeMLZSMAOQ2 d0W,", "c_phone": "20-781-609-3107", "c_comment": "kly silent courts. thinly regular theodolites sleep fluffily after " }
+{ "c_custkey": 44i64, "c_name": "Customer#000000044", "revenue": 149364.5652d, "c_acctbal": 7315.94d, "n_name": "MOZAMBIQUE", "c_address": "Oi,dOSPwDu4jo4x,,P85E0dmhZGvNtBwi", "c_phone": "26-190-260-5375", "c_comment": "r requests around the unusual, bold a" }
+{ "c_custkey": 71i64, "c_name": "Customer#000000071", "revenue": 129481.02450000001d, "c_acctbal": -611.19d, "n_name": "GERMANY", "c_address": "TlGalgdXWBmMV,6agLyWYDyIz9MKzcY8gl,w6t1B", "c_phone": "17-710-812-5403", "c_comment": "g courts across the regular, final pinto beans are blithely pending ac" }
+{ "c_custkey": 89i64, "c_name": "Customer#000000089", "revenue": 121663.1243d, "c_acctbal": 1530.76d, "n_name": "KENYA", "c_address": "dtR, y9JQWUO6FoJExyp8whOU", "c_phone": "24-394-451-5404", "c_comment": "counts are slyly beyond the slyly final accounts. quickly final ideas wake. r" }
+{ "c_custkey": 112i64, "c_name": "Customer#000000112", "revenue": 111137.7141d, "c_acctbal": 2953.35d, "n_name": "ROMANIA", "c_address": "RcfgG3bO7QeCnfjqJT1", "c_phone": "29-233-262-8382", "c_comment": "rmanently unusual multipliers. blithely ruthless deposits are furiously along the" }
+{ "c_custkey": 62i64, "c_name": "Customer#000000062", "revenue": 106368.0153d, "c_acctbal": 595.61d, "n_name": "GERMANY", "c_address": "upJK2Dnw13,", "c_phone": "17-361-978-7059", "c_comment": "kly special dolphins. pinto beans are slyly. quickly regular accounts are furiously a" }
+{ "c_custkey": 146i64, "c_name": "Customer#000000146", "revenue": 103265.98879999999d, "c_acctbal": 3328.68d, "n_name": "CANADA", "c_address": "GdxkdXG9u7iyI1,,y5tq4ZyrcEy", "c_phone": "13-835-723-3223", "c_comment": "ffily regular dinos are slyly unusual requests. slyly specia" }
+{ "c_custkey": 19i64, "c_name": "Customer#000000019", "revenue": 99306.0127d, "c_acctbal": 8914.71d, "n_name": "CHINA", "c_address": "uc,3bHIx84H,wdrmLOjVsiqXCq2tr", "c_phone": "28-396-526-5053", "c_comment": " nag. furiously careful packages are slyly at the accounts. furiously regular in" }
+{ "c_custkey": 145i64, "c_name": "Customer#000000145", "revenue": 99256.9018d, "c_acctbal": 9748.93d, "n_name": "JORDAN", "c_address": "kQjHmt2kcec cy3hfMh969u", "c_phone": "23-562-444-8454", "c_comment": "ests? express, express instructions use. blithely fina" }
+{ "c_custkey": 103i64, "c_name": "Customer#000000103", "revenue": 97311.77240000002d, "c_acctbal": 2757.45d, "n_name": "INDONESIA", "c_address": "8KIsQX4LJ7QMsj6DrtFtXu0nUEdV,8a", "c_phone": "19-216-107-2107", "c_comment": "furiously pending notornis boost slyly around the blithely ironic ideas? final, even instructions cajole fl" }
+{ "c_custkey": 136i64, "c_name": "Customer#000000136", "revenue": 95855.39799999999d, "c_acctbal": -842.39d, "n_name": "GERMANY", "c_address": "QoLsJ0v5C1IQbh,DS1", "c_phone": "17-501-210-4726", "c_comment": "ackages sleep ironic, final courts. even requests above the blithely bold requests g" }
+{ "c_custkey": 53i64, "c_name": "Customer#000000053", "revenue": 92568.9124d, "c_acctbal": 4113.64d, "n_name": "MOROCCO", "c_address": "HnaxHzTfFTZs8MuCpJyTbZ47Cm4wFOOgib", "c_phone": "25-168-852-5363", "c_comment": "ar accounts are. even foxes are blithely. fluffily pending deposits boost" }
+{ "c_custkey": 49i64, "c_name": "Customer#000000049", "revenue": 90965.7262d, "c_acctbal": 4573.94d, "n_name": "IRAN", "c_address": "cNgAeX7Fqrdf7HQN9EwjUa4nxT,68L FKAxzl", "c_phone": "20-908-631-4424", "c_comment": "nusual foxes! fluffily pending packages maintain to the regular " }
+{ "c_custkey": 37i64, "c_name": "Customer#000000037", "revenue": 88065.74579999999d, "c_acctbal": -917.75d, "n_name": "INDIA", "c_address": "7EV4Pwh,3SboctTWt", "c_phone": "18-385-235-7162", "c_comment": "ilent packages are carefully among the deposits. furiousl" }
+{ "c_custkey": 82i64, "c_name": "Customer#000000082", "revenue": 86998.9644d, "c_acctbal": 9468.34d, "n_name": "CHINA", "c_address": "zhG3EZbap4c992Gj3bK,3Ne,Xn", "c_phone": "28-159-442-5305", "c_comment": "s wake. bravely regular accounts are furiously. regula" }
+{ "c_custkey": 125i64, "c_name": "Customer#000000125", "revenue": 84808.068d, "c_acctbal": -234.12d, "n_name": "ROMANIA", "c_address": ",wSZXdVR xxIIfm9s8ITyLl3kgjT6UC07GY0Y", "c_phone": "29-261-996-3120", "c_comment": "x-ray finally after the packages? regular requests c" }
+{ "c_custkey": 59i64, "c_name": "Customer#000000059", "revenue": 84655.5711d, "c_acctbal": 3458.6d, "n_name": "ARGENTINA", "c_address": "zLOCP0wh92OtBihgspOGl4", "c_phone": "11-355-584-3112", "c_comment": "ously final packages haggle blithely after the express deposits. furiou" }
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/testsuite.xml b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/testsuite.xml
index a423945..9ae7c60 100644
--- a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/testsuite.xml
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/testsuite.xml
@@ -2399,6 +2399,11 @@
         <output-file compare="Text">query-issue208.adm</output-file>
       </compilation-unit>
     </test-case>
+    <test-case FilePath="open-closed">
+      <compilation-unit name="query-issue236">
+       <output-file compare="Text">query-issue236.adm</output-file>
+      </compilation-unit>
+    </test-case>
     <!--
     <test-case FilePath="open-closed">
       <compilation-unit name="open-closed-15">
@@ -3453,6 +3458,11 @@
       </compilation-unit>
     </test-case>
     <test-case FilePath="tpch">
+      <compilation-unit name="q10_returned_item_int64">
+	<output-file compare="Text">q10_returned_item_int64.adm</output-file>
+      </compilation-unit>
+    </test-case>
+    <test-case FilePath="tpch">
       <compilation-unit name="q11_important_stock">
         <output-file compare="Text">q11_important_stock.adm</output-file>
       </compilation-unit>
diff --git a/asterix-common/pom.xml b/asterix-common/pom.xml
index 048c037..ee81e75 100644
--- a/asterix-common/pom.xml
+++ b/asterix-common/pom.xml
@@ -25,13 +25,11 @@
 	<dependencies>
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>edu.uci.ics.hyracks</groupId>
-			<artifactId>hyracks-algebricks-compiler</artifactId>
-			<version>0.2.2-SNAPSHOT</version>
+			<artifactId>algebricks-compiler</artifactId>
 		</dependency>
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>edu.uci.ics.hyracks</groupId>
 			<artifactId>hyracks-dataflow-std</artifactId>
-			<version>0.2.2-SNAPSHOT</version>
 		</dependency>
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>edu.uci.ics.asterix</groupId>
diff --git a/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/context/AsterixAppRuntimeContext.java b/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/context/AsterixAppRuntimeContext.java
index d676cb5..f84f294 100644
--- a/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/context/AsterixAppRuntimeContext.java
+++ b/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/context/AsterixAppRuntimeContext.java
@@ -12,9 +12,11 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.dataflow.IndexRegistry;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.common.buffercache.BufferCache;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.common.buffercache.ClockPageReplacementStrategy;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.common.buffercache.DelayPageCleanerPolicy;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.common.buffercache.HeapBufferAllocator;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.common.buffercache.IBufferCache;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.common.buffercache.ICacheMemoryAllocator;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.common.buffercache.IPageCleanerPolicy;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.common.buffercache.IPageReplacementStrategy;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.common.file.IFileMapManager;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.common.file.IFileMapProvider;
@@ -22,7 +24,7 @@
 public class AsterixAppRuntimeContext {
     private static final int DEFAULT_BUFFER_CACHE_PAGE_SIZE = 32768;
     private final INCApplicationContext ncApplicationContext;
-    
+
     private IndexRegistry<IIndex> indexRegistry;
     private IFileMapManager fileMapManager;
     private IBufferCache bufferCache;
@@ -43,7 +45,8 @@
         ICacheMemoryAllocator allocator = new HeapBufferAllocator();
         IPageReplacementStrategy prs = new ClockPageReplacementStrategy();
         IIOManager ioMgr = ncApplicationContext.getRootContext().getIOManager();
-        bufferCache = new BufferCache(ioMgr, allocator, prs, fileMapManager, pageSize, numPages, Integer.MAX_VALUE);
+        IPageCleanerPolicy pcp = new DelayPageCleanerPolicy(600000);
+        bufferCache = new BufferCache(ioMgr, allocator, prs, pcp, fileMapManager, pageSize, numPages, Integer.MAX_VALUE);
 
         // Initialize the index registry
         indexRegistry = new IndexRegistry<IIndex>();
diff --git a/asterix-dist/pom.xml b/asterix-dist/pom.xml
index 53168b4..654a11e 100644
--- a/asterix-dist/pom.xml
+++ b/asterix-dist/pom.xml
@@ -1,54 +1,55 @@
-<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/maven-v4_0_0.xsd">
-  <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
-  <artifactId>asterix-dist</artifactId>
-  <parent>
-    <groupId>edu.uci.ics.asterix</groupId>
-    <artifactId>asterix</artifactId>
-    <version>0.0.4-SNAPSHOT</version>
-  </parent>
+<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+	xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/maven-v4_0_0.xsd">
+	<modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
+	<artifactId>asterix-dist</artifactId>
+	<parent>
+		<groupId>edu.uci.ics.asterix</groupId>
+		<artifactId>asterix</artifactId>
+		<version>0.0.4-SNAPSHOT</version>
+	</parent>
 
-  <build>
-    <plugins>
-      <plugin>
-        <artifactId>maven-assembly-plugin</artifactId>
-        <version>2.2-beta-5</version>
-        <executions>
-          <execution>
-            <configuration>
-              <descriptors>
-                <descriptor>src/main/assembly/binary-assembly.xml</descriptor>
-              </descriptors>
-            </configuration>
-            <phase>package</phase>
-            <goals>
-              <goal>attached</goal>
-            </goals>
-          </execution>
-        </executions>
-      </plugin>
-    </plugins>
-  </build>
-  <dependencies>
-    <dependency>
-	  <groupId>edu.uci.ics.hyracks</groupId>
-  	  <artifactId>hyracks-server</artifactId>
-  	  <version>0.2.2-SNAPSHOT</version>
-  	  <type>zip</type>
-      <classifier>binary-assembly</classifier>
-    </dependency>
-    <dependency>
-	  <groupId>edu.uci.ics.hyracks</groupId>
-  	  <artifactId>hyracks-cli</artifactId>
-  	  <version>0.2.2-SNAPSHOT</version>
-  	  <type>zip</type>
-      <classifier>binary-assembly</classifier>
-    </dependency>
-    <dependency>
-	  <groupId>edu.uci.ics.asterix</groupId>
-  	  <artifactId>asterix-app</artifactId>
-  	  <version>0.0.4-SNAPSHOT</version>
-  	  <type>zip</type>
-      <classifier>binary-assembly</classifier>
-    </dependency>
-  </dependencies>
+	<build>
+		<plugins>
+			<plugin>
+				<artifactId>maven-assembly-plugin</artifactId>
+				<version>2.2-beta-5</version>
+				<executions>
+					<execution>
+						<configuration>
+							<descriptors>
+								<descriptor>src/main/assembly/binary-assembly.xml</descriptor>
+							</descriptors>
+						</configuration>
+						<phase>package</phase>
+						<goals>
+							<goal>attached</goal>
+						</goals>
+					</execution>
+				</executions>
+			</plugin>
+		</plugins>
+	</build>
+	<dependencies>
+		<dependency>
+			<groupId>edu.uci.ics.hyracks</groupId>
+			<artifactId>hyracks-server</artifactId>
+			<version>0.2.3-SNAPSHOT</version>
+			<type>zip</type>
+			<classifier>binary-assembly</classifier>
+		</dependency>
+		<dependency>
+			<groupId>edu.uci.ics.hyracks</groupId>
+			<artifactId>hyracks-cli</artifactId>
+			<version>0.2.3-SNAPSHOT</version>
+			<type>zip</type>
+			<classifier>binary-assembly</classifier>
+		</dependency>
+		<dependency>
+			<groupId>edu.uci.ics.asterix</groupId>
+			<artifactId>asterix-app</artifactId>
+			<version>0.0.4-SNAPSHOT</version>
+			<type>zip</type>
+			<classifier>binary-assembly</classifier>
+		</dependency>
+	</dependencies>
 </project>
diff --git a/asterix-external-data/pom.xml b/asterix-external-data/pom.xml
index 7da6bd9..3076323 100644
--- a/asterix-external-data/pom.xml
+++ b/asterix-external-data/pom.xml
@@ -5,9 +5,7 @@
 		<groupId>edu.uci.ics.asterix</groupId>
 		<version>0.0.4-SNAPSHOT</version>
 	</parent>
-	<groupId>edu.uci.ics.asterix</groupId>
 	<artifactId>asterix-external-data</artifactId>
-	<version>0.0.4-SNAPSHOT</version>
 
 	<build>
 		<plugins>
@@ -131,7 +129,6 @@
 	        <dependency>
 		         <groupId>edu.uci.ics.hyracks</groupId>
 		         <artifactId>hyracks-dataflow-hadoop</artifactId>
-		         <version>0.2.2-SNAPSHOT</version>
 	        </dependency>
 <dependency>
             <groupId>jdom</groupId>
diff --git a/asterix-metadata/pom.xml b/asterix-metadata/pom.xml
index 67f16ff..58566f8 100644
--- a/asterix-metadata/pom.xml
+++ b/asterix-metadata/pom.xml
@@ -5,9 +5,7 @@
 		<groupId>edu.uci.ics.asterix</groupId>
 		<version>0.0.4-SNAPSHOT</version>
 	</parent>
-	<groupId>edu.uci.ics.asterix</groupId>
 	<artifactId>asterix-metadata</artifactId>
-	<version>0.0.4-SNAPSHOT</version>
 
 	<build>
 		<plugins>
@@ -45,12 +43,10 @@
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>edu.uci.ics.hyracks</groupId>
 			<artifactId>hyracks-storage-am-invertedindex</artifactId>
-			<version>0.2.2-SNAPSHOT</version>
 		</dependency>
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>edu.uci.ics.hyracks</groupId>
 			<artifactId>hyracks-storage-am-rtree</artifactId>
-			<version>0.2.2-SNAPSHOT</version>
 		</dependency>
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>edu.uci.ics.asterix</groupId>
diff --git a/asterix-om/pom.xml b/asterix-om/pom.xml
index a14f3c2..8cceaa0 100644
--- a/asterix-om/pom.xml
+++ b/asterix-om/pom.xml
@@ -5,9 +5,7 @@
 		<groupId>edu.uci.ics.asterix</groupId>
 		<version>0.0.4-SNAPSHOT</version>
 	</parent>
-	<groupId>edu.uci.ics.asterix</groupId>
 	<artifactId>asterix-om</artifactId>
-	<version>0.0.4-SNAPSHOT</version>
 
 	<build>
 		<plugins>
@@ -33,7 +31,6 @@
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>edu.uci.ics.hyracks</groupId>
 			<artifactId>hyracks-storage-am-invertedindex</artifactId>
-			<version>0.2.2-SNAPSHOT</version>
 		</dependency>
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>edu.uci.ics.asterix</groupId>
@@ -43,13 +40,11 @@
 		</dependency>
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>edu.uci.ics.hyracks</groupId>
-			<artifactId>hyracks-algebricks-compiler</artifactId>
-			<version>0.2.2-SNAPSHOT</version>
+			<artifactId>algebricks-compiler</artifactId>
 		</dependency>
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>edu.uci.ics.hyracks</groupId>
 			<artifactId>hyracks-storage-am-rtree</artifactId>
-			<version>0.2.2-SNAPSHOT</version>
 		</dependency>
 	</dependencies>
 </project>
diff --git a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/dataflow/data/nontagged/hash/MurmurHash3BinaryHashFunctionFamily.java b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/dataflow/data/nontagged/hash/MurmurHash3BinaryHashFunctionFamily.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..83b165b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/dataflow/data/nontagged/hash/MurmurHash3BinaryHashFunctionFamily.java
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2009-2010 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.dataflow.data.nontagged.hash;
+
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.IBinaryHashFunction;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.IBinaryHashFunctionFamily;
+
+/**
+ * An implementation of the Murmur3 hash family. The code is implemented based
+ * on the original <a
+ * href=http://code.google.com/p/guava-libraries/source/browse
+ * /guava/src/com/google/common/hash/Murmur3_32HashFunction.java>guava
+ * implementation</a> from Google Guava library.
+ */
+public class MurmurHash3BinaryHashFunctionFamily implements
+		IBinaryHashFunctionFamily {
+
+	public static final IBinaryHashFunctionFamily INSTANCE = new MurmurHash3BinaryHashFunctionFamily();
+
+	private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
+
+	private MurmurHash3BinaryHashFunctionFamily() {
+	}
+
+	private static final int C1 = 0xcc9e2d51;
+	private static final int C2 = 0x1b873593;
+	private static final int C3 = 5;
+	private static final int C4 = 0xe6546b64;
+	private static final int C5 = 0x85ebca6b;
+	private static final int C6 = 0xc2b2ae35;
+
+	@Override
+	public IBinaryHashFunction createBinaryHashFunction(final int seed) {
+		return new IBinaryHashFunction() {
+			@Override
+			public int hash(byte[] bytes, int offset, int length) {
+				int h = seed;
+				int p = offset;
+				int remain = length;
+				while (remain >= 4) {
+					int k = (bytes[p] & 0xff) | ((bytes[p + 1] & 0xff) << 8)
+							| ((bytes[p + 2] & 0xff) << 16)
+							| ((bytes[p + 3] & 0xff) << 24);
+					k *= C1;
+					k = Integer.rotateLeft(k, 15);
+					k *= C2;
+					h ^= k;
+					h = Integer.rotateLeft(h, 13);
+					h = h * C3 + C4;
+					p += 4;
+					remain -= 4;
+				}
+				if (remain > 0) {
+					int k = 0;
+					for (int i = 0; remain > 0; i += 8) {
+						k ^= (bytes[p++] & 0xff) << i;
+						remain--;
+					}
+					k *= C1;
+					k = Integer.rotateLeft(k, 15);
+					k *= C2;
+					h ^= k;
+				}
+				h ^= length;
+				h ^= (h >>> 16);
+				h *= C5;
+				h ^= (h >>> 13);
+				h *= C6;
+				h ^= (h >>> 16);
+				return h;
+			}
+		};
+	}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/dataflow/data/nontagged/keynormalizers/AInt32AscNormalizedKeyComputerFactory.java b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/dataflow/data/nontagged/keynormalizers/AInt32AscNormalizedKeyComputerFactory.java
deleted file mode 100644
index 903ac3d..0000000
--- a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/dataflow/data/nontagged/keynormalizers/AInt32AscNormalizedKeyComputerFactory.java
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,30 +0,0 @@
-package edu.uci.ics.asterix.dataflow.data.nontagged.keynormalizers;
-
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.INormalizedKeyComputer;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.INormalizedKeyComputerFactory;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.normalizers.IntegerNormalizedKeyComputerFactory;
-
-public class AInt32AscNormalizedKeyComputerFactory implements INormalizedKeyComputerFactory {
-
-    private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
-
-    public static final AInt32AscNormalizedKeyComputerFactory INSTANCE = new AInt32AscNormalizedKeyComputerFactory();
-
-    private IntegerNormalizedKeyComputerFactory inkcf = new IntegerNormalizedKeyComputerFactory();
-
-    private AInt32AscNormalizedKeyComputerFactory() {
-    }
-
-    @Override
-    public INormalizedKeyComputer createNormalizedKeyComputer() {
-        final INormalizedKeyComputer intNkc = inkcf.createNormalizedKeyComputer();
-        return new INormalizedKeyComputer() {
-
-            @Override
-            public int normalize(byte[] bytes, int start, int length) {
-                return intNkc.normalize(bytes, start + 1, length - 1);
-            }
-        };
-    }
-
-}
diff --git a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/dataflow/data/nontagged/keynormalizers/AInt32DescNormalizedKeyComputerFactory.java b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/dataflow/data/nontagged/keynormalizers/AInt32DescNormalizedKeyComputerFactory.java
deleted file mode 100644
index cec6a40..0000000
--- a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/dataflow/data/nontagged/keynormalizers/AInt32DescNormalizedKeyComputerFactory.java
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,30 +0,0 @@
-package edu.uci.ics.asterix.dataflow.data.nontagged.keynormalizers;
-
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.INormalizedKeyComputer;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.INormalizedKeyComputerFactory;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.normalizers.IntegerNormalizedKeyComputerFactory;
-
-public class AInt32DescNormalizedKeyComputerFactory implements INormalizedKeyComputerFactory {
-
-    private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
-
-    public static final AInt32DescNormalizedKeyComputerFactory INSTANCE = new AInt32DescNormalizedKeyComputerFactory();
-
-    private IntegerNormalizedKeyComputerFactory inkcf = new IntegerNormalizedKeyComputerFactory();
-
-    private AInt32DescNormalizedKeyComputerFactory() {
-    }
-
-    @Override
-    public INormalizedKeyComputer createNormalizedKeyComputer() {
-        final INormalizedKeyComputer intNkc = inkcf.createNormalizedKeyComputer();
-        return new INormalizedKeyComputer() {
-
-            @Override
-            public int normalize(byte[] bytes, int start, int length) {
-                int nk = intNkc.normalize(bytes, start + 1, length - 1);
-                return (int) ((long) 0xffffffff - (long) nk);
-            }
-        };
-    }
-}
diff --git a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/dataflow/data/nontagged/keynormalizers/AStringAscNormalizedKeyComputerFactory.java b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/dataflow/data/nontagged/keynormalizers/AStringAscNormalizedKeyComputerFactory.java
deleted file mode 100644
index 0d1780f..0000000
--- a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/dataflow/data/nontagged/keynormalizers/AStringAscNormalizedKeyComputerFactory.java
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,30 +0,0 @@
-package edu.uci.ics.asterix.dataflow.data.nontagged.keynormalizers;
-
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.INormalizedKeyComputer;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.INormalizedKeyComputerFactory;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.normalizers.UTF8StringNormalizedKeyComputerFactory;
-
-public class AStringAscNormalizedKeyComputerFactory implements INormalizedKeyComputerFactory {
-
-    private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
-
-    public static final AStringAscNormalizedKeyComputerFactory INSTANCE = new AStringAscNormalizedKeyComputerFactory();
-
-    private AStringAscNormalizedKeyComputerFactory() {
-    }
-
-    private UTF8StringNormalizedKeyComputerFactory strnkcf = new UTF8StringNormalizedKeyComputerFactory();
-
-    @Override
-    public INormalizedKeyComputer createNormalizedKeyComputer() {
-        final INormalizedKeyComputer strNkc = strnkcf.createNormalizedKeyComputer();
-        return new INormalizedKeyComputer() {
-
-            @Override
-            public int normalize(byte[] bytes, int start, int length) {
-                return strNkc.normalize(bytes, start + 1, length - 1);
-            }
-        };
-    }
-
-}
diff --git a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/dataflow/data/nontagged/keynormalizers/AStringDescNormalizedKeyComputerFactory.java b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/dataflow/data/nontagged/keynormalizers/AStringDescNormalizedKeyComputerFactory.java
deleted file mode 100644
index 0ff6acd..0000000
--- a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/dataflow/data/nontagged/keynormalizers/AStringDescNormalizedKeyComputerFactory.java
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,31 +0,0 @@
-package edu.uci.ics.asterix.dataflow.data.nontagged.keynormalizers;
-
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.INormalizedKeyComputer;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.INormalizedKeyComputerFactory;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.normalizers.UTF8StringNormalizedKeyComputerFactory;
-
-public class AStringDescNormalizedKeyComputerFactory implements INormalizedKeyComputerFactory {
-
-    private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
-
-    public static final AStringDescNormalizedKeyComputerFactory INSTANCE = new AStringDescNormalizedKeyComputerFactory();
-
-    private AStringDescNormalizedKeyComputerFactory() {
-    }
-
-    private UTF8StringNormalizedKeyComputerFactory strnkcf = new UTF8StringNormalizedKeyComputerFactory();
-
-    @Override
-    public INormalizedKeyComputer createNormalizedKeyComputer() {
-        final INormalizedKeyComputer strNkc = strnkcf.createNormalizedKeyComputer();
-        return new INormalizedKeyComputer() {
-
-            @Override
-            public int normalize(byte[] bytes, int start, int length) {
-                int nk = strNkc.normalize(bytes, start + 1, length - 1);
-                return (int) ((long) 0xffffffff - (long) nk);
-            }
-        };
-    }
-
-}
diff --git a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/dataflow/data/nontagged/keynormalizers/AWrappedAscNormalizedKeyComputerFactory.java b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/dataflow/data/nontagged/keynormalizers/AWrappedAscNormalizedKeyComputerFactory.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2efa593
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/dataflow/data/nontagged/keynormalizers/AWrappedAscNormalizedKeyComputerFactory.java
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2009-2010 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.dataflow.data.nontagged.keynormalizers;
+
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.INormalizedKeyComputer;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.INormalizedKeyComputerFactory;
+
+/**
+ * This class uses a decorator pattern to wrap an ASC ordered INomralizedKeyComputerFactory implementation to
+ * obtain the ASC order.
+ */
+public class AWrappedAscNormalizedKeyComputerFactory implements INormalizedKeyComputerFactory {
+
+    private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
+    private final INormalizedKeyComputerFactory nkcf;
+
+    public AWrappedAscNormalizedKeyComputerFactory(INormalizedKeyComputerFactory nkcf) {
+        this.nkcf = nkcf;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public INormalizedKeyComputer createNormalizedKeyComputer() {
+        final INormalizedKeyComputer nkc = nkcf.createNormalizedKeyComputer();
+        return new INormalizedKeyComputer() {
+
+            @Override
+            public int normalize(byte[] bytes, int start, int length) {
+                // start +1, length -1 is because in ASTERIX data format, there is always a type tag before the value 
+                return nkc.normalize(bytes, start + 1, length - 1);
+            }
+        };
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/dataflow/data/nontagged/keynormalizers/AWrappedDescNormalizedKeyComputerFactory.java b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/dataflow/data/nontagged/keynormalizers/AWrappedDescNormalizedKeyComputerFactory.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a5653b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/dataflow/data/nontagged/keynormalizers/AWrappedDescNormalizedKeyComputerFactory.java
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2009-2010 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.dataflow.data.nontagged.keynormalizers;
+
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.INormalizedKeyComputer;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.INormalizedKeyComputerFactory;
+
+/**
+ * This class uses a decorator pattern to wrap an ASC ordered INomralizedKeyComputerFactory implementation
+ * to obtain the DESC order.
+ */
+public class AWrappedDescNormalizedKeyComputerFactory implements INormalizedKeyComputerFactory {
+
+    private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
+    private final INormalizedKeyComputerFactory nkcf;
+
+    public AWrappedDescNormalizedKeyComputerFactory(INormalizedKeyComputerFactory nkcf) {
+        this.nkcf = nkcf;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public INormalizedKeyComputer createNormalizedKeyComputer() {
+        final INormalizedKeyComputer nkc = nkcf.createNormalizedKeyComputer();
+        return new INormalizedKeyComputer() {
+
+            @Override
+            public int normalize(byte[] bytes, int start, int length) {
+                int key = nkc.normalize(bytes, start + 1, length - 1);
+                return (int) ((long) 0xffffffff - (long) key);
+            }
+        };
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/formats/base/IDataFormat.java b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/formats/base/IDataFormat.java
index c1df096..813c3a0 100644
--- a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/formats/base/IDataFormat.java
+++ b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/formats/base/IDataFormat.java
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.data.IBinaryBooleanInspectorFactory;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.data.IBinaryComparatorFactoryProvider;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.data.IBinaryHashFunctionFactoryProvider;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.data.IBinaryHashFunctionFamilyProvider;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.data.IBinaryIntegerInspectorFactory;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.data.INormalizedKeyComputerFactoryProvider;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.data.IPrinterFactoryProvider;
@@ -63,4 +64,6 @@
     public IExpressionEvalSizeComputer getExpressionEvalSizeComputer();
 
     public INormalizedKeyComputerFactoryProvider getNormalizedKeyComputerFactoryProvider();
+
+    public IBinaryHashFunctionFamilyProvider getBinaryHashFunctionFamilyProvider();
 }
diff --git a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/formats/nontagged/AqlBinaryComparatorFactoryProvider.java b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/formats/nontagged/AqlBinaryComparatorFactoryProvider.java
index d2945a7..02f0e47 100644
--- a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/formats/nontagged/AqlBinaryComparatorFactoryProvider.java
+++ b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/formats/nontagged/AqlBinaryComparatorFactoryProvider.java
@@ -20,8 +20,8 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.data.std.primitive.FloatPointable;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.data.std.primitive.IntegerPointable;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.data.std.primitive.LongPointable;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.data.std.primitive.RawUTF8StringPointable;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.data.std.primitive.ShortPointable;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.data.std.primitive.UTF8StringPointable;
 
 public class AqlBinaryComparatorFactoryProvider implements IBinaryComparatorFactoryProvider, Serializable {
 
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@
     public static final PointableBinaryComparatorFactory DOUBLE_POINTABLE_INSTANCE = new PointableBinaryComparatorFactory(
             DoublePointable.FACTORY);
     public static final PointableBinaryComparatorFactory UTF8STRING_POINTABLE_INSTANCE = new PointableBinaryComparatorFactory(
-            UTF8StringPointable.FACTORY);
+            RawUTF8StringPointable.FACTORY);
     // Equivalent to UTF8STRING_POINTABLE_INSTANCE but all characters are considered lower case to implement case-insensitive comparisons.    
     public static final PointableBinaryComparatorFactory UTF8STRING_LOWERCASE_POINTABLE_INSTANCE = new PointableBinaryComparatorFactory(
             UTF8StringLowercasePointable.FACTORY);
diff --git a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/formats/nontagged/AqlBinaryHashFunctionFactoryProvider.java b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/formats/nontagged/AqlBinaryHashFunctionFactoryProvider.java
index cab8ded..1afdbf8 100644
--- a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/formats/nontagged/AqlBinaryHashFunctionFactoryProvider.java
+++ b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/formats/nontagged/AqlBinaryHashFunctionFactoryProvider.java
@@ -16,20 +16,25 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.data.std.primitive.DoublePointable;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.data.std.primitive.FloatPointable;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.data.std.primitive.IntegerPointable;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.data.std.primitive.RawUTF8StringPointable;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.data.std.primitive.UTF8StringPointable;
 
-
 public class AqlBinaryHashFunctionFactoryProvider implements IBinaryHashFunctionFactoryProvider, Serializable {
 
     private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
     public static final AqlBinaryHashFunctionFactoryProvider INSTANCE = new AqlBinaryHashFunctionFactoryProvider();
-    public static final PointableBinaryHashFunctionFactory INTEGER_POINTABLE_INSTANCE = new PointableBinaryHashFunctionFactory(IntegerPointable.FACTORY);
-    public static final PointableBinaryHashFunctionFactory FLOAT_POINTABLE_INSTANCE = new PointableBinaryHashFunctionFactory(FloatPointable.FACTORY);
-    public static final PointableBinaryHashFunctionFactory DOUBLE_POINTABLE_INSTANCE = new PointableBinaryHashFunctionFactory(DoublePointable.FACTORY);
-    public static final PointableBinaryHashFunctionFactory UTF8STRING_POINTABLE_INSTANCE = new PointableBinaryHashFunctionFactory(UTF8StringPointable.FACTORY);
+    public static final PointableBinaryHashFunctionFactory INTEGER_POINTABLE_INSTANCE = new PointableBinaryHashFunctionFactory(
+            IntegerPointable.FACTORY);
+    public static final PointableBinaryHashFunctionFactory FLOAT_POINTABLE_INSTANCE = new PointableBinaryHashFunctionFactory(
+            FloatPointable.FACTORY);
+    public static final PointableBinaryHashFunctionFactory DOUBLE_POINTABLE_INSTANCE = new PointableBinaryHashFunctionFactory(
+            DoublePointable.FACTORY);
+    public static final PointableBinaryHashFunctionFactory UTF8STRING_POINTABLE_INSTANCE = new PointableBinaryHashFunctionFactory(
+            RawUTF8StringPointable.FACTORY);
     // Equivalent to UTF8STRING_POINTABLE_INSTANCE but all characters are considered lower case to implement case-insensitive hashing.    
-    public static final PointableBinaryHashFunctionFactory UTF8STRING_LOWERCASE_POINTABLE_INSTANCE = new PointableBinaryHashFunctionFactory(UTF8StringLowercasePointable.FACTORY);
-    
+    public static final PointableBinaryHashFunctionFactory UTF8STRING_LOWERCASE_POINTABLE_INSTANCE = new PointableBinaryHashFunctionFactory(
+            UTF8StringLowercasePointable.FACTORY);
+
     private AqlBinaryHashFunctionFactoryProvider() {
     }
 
diff --git a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/formats/nontagged/AqlBinaryHashFunctionFamilyProvider.java b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/formats/nontagged/AqlBinaryHashFunctionFamilyProvider.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bc7ba26
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/formats/nontagged/AqlBinaryHashFunctionFamilyProvider.java
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2009-2010 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.formats.nontagged;
+
+import java.io.Serializable;
+
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.dataflow.data.nontagged.hash.MurmurHash3BinaryHashFunctionFamily;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.common.exceptions.AlgebricksException;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.data.IBinaryHashFunctionFamilyProvider;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.IBinaryHashFunctionFamily;
+
+/**
+ * We use a type-independent binary hash function family from the hyracks
+ * codebase
+ */
+public class AqlBinaryHashFunctionFamilyProvider implements
+		IBinaryHashFunctionFamilyProvider, Serializable {
+
+	private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
+	public static final AqlBinaryHashFunctionFamilyProvider INSTANCE = new AqlBinaryHashFunctionFamilyProvider();
+
+	private AqlBinaryHashFunctionFamilyProvider() {
+
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	public IBinaryHashFunctionFamily getBinaryHashFunctionFamily(Object type)
+			throws AlgebricksException {
+		return MurmurHash3BinaryHashFunctionFamily.INSTANCE;
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/formats/nontagged/AqlNormalizedKeyComputerFactoryProvider.java b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/formats/nontagged/AqlNormalizedKeyComputerFactoryProvider.java
index fe953dc..23306ed 100644
--- a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/formats/nontagged/AqlNormalizedKeyComputerFactoryProvider.java
+++ b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/formats/nontagged/AqlNormalizedKeyComputerFactoryProvider.java
@@ -1,12 +1,15 @@
 package edu.uci.ics.asterix.formats.nontagged;
 
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.dataflow.data.nontagged.keynormalizers.AInt32AscNormalizedKeyComputerFactory;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.dataflow.data.nontagged.keynormalizers.AInt32DescNormalizedKeyComputerFactory;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.dataflow.data.nontagged.keynormalizers.AStringAscNormalizedKeyComputerFactory;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.dataflow.data.nontagged.keynormalizers.AStringDescNormalizedKeyComputerFactory;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.dataflow.data.nontagged.keynormalizers.AWrappedAscNormalizedKeyComputerFactory;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.dataflow.data.nontagged.keynormalizers.AWrappedDescNormalizedKeyComputerFactory;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.types.IAType;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.data.INormalizedKeyComputerFactoryProvider;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.INormalizedKeyComputerFactory;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.normalizers.DoubleNormalizedKeyComputerFactory;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.normalizers.FloatNormalizedKeyComputerFactory;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.normalizers.Integer64NormalizedKeyComputerFactory;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.normalizers.IntegerNormalizedKeyComputerFactory;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.normalizers.UTF8StringNormalizedKeyComputerFactory;
 
 public class AqlNormalizedKeyComputerFactoryProvider implements INormalizedKeyComputerFactoryProvider {
 
@@ -21,10 +24,19 @@
         if (ascending) {
             switch (aqlType.getTypeTag()) {
                 case INT32: {
-                    return AInt32AscNormalizedKeyComputerFactory.INSTANCE;
+                    return new AWrappedAscNormalizedKeyComputerFactory(new IntegerNormalizedKeyComputerFactory());
+                }
+                case INT64: {
+                    return new AWrappedAscNormalizedKeyComputerFactory(new Integer64NormalizedKeyComputerFactory());
+                }
+                case FLOAT: {
+                    return new AWrappedAscNormalizedKeyComputerFactory(new FloatNormalizedKeyComputerFactory());
+                }
+                case DOUBLE: {
+                    return new AWrappedAscNormalizedKeyComputerFactory(new DoubleNormalizedKeyComputerFactory());
                 }
                 case STRING: {
-                    return AStringAscNormalizedKeyComputerFactory.INSTANCE;
+                    return new AWrappedAscNormalizedKeyComputerFactory(new UTF8StringNormalizedKeyComputerFactory());
                 }
                 default: {
                     return null;
@@ -33,10 +45,19 @@
         } else {
             switch (aqlType.getTypeTag()) {
                 case INT32: {
-                    return AInt32DescNormalizedKeyComputerFactory.INSTANCE;
+                    return new AWrappedDescNormalizedKeyComputerFactory(new IntegerNormalizedKeyComputerFactory());
+                }
+                case INT64: {
+                    return new AWrappedDescNormalizedKeyComputerFactory(new Integer64NormalizedKeyComputerFactory());
+                }
+                case FLOAT: {
+                    return new AWrappedDescNormalizedKeyComputerFactory(new FloatNormalizedKeyComputerFactory());
+                }
+                case DOUBLE: {
+                    return new AWrappedDescNormalizedKeyComputerFactory(new DoubleNormalizedKeyComputerFactory());
                 }
                 case STRING: {
-                    return AStringDescNormalizedKeyComputerFactory.INSTANCE;
+                    return new AWrappedDescNormalizedKeyComputerFactory(new UTF8StringNormalizedKeyComputerFactory());
                 }
                 default: {
                     return null;
@@ -44,5 +65,4 @@
             }
         }
     }
-
 }
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 12a49f3..a547737 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
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.typecomputer.impl.NonTaggedSumTypeComputer;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.typecomputer.impl.NonTaggedSwitchCaseComputer;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.typecomputer.impl.NonTaggedUnaryMinusTypeComputer;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.typecomputer.impl.NotNullTypeComputer;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.typecomputer.impl.OpenRecordConstructorResultType;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.typecomputer.impl.OptionalABooleanTypeComputer;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.typecomputer.impl.OptionalACircleTypeComputer;
@@ -240,11 +241,14 @@
     public final static FunctionIdentifier AVG = new FunctionIdentifier(FunctionConstants.ASTERIX_NS, "agg-avg", 1);
     public final static FunctionIdentifier COUNT = new FunctionIdentifier(FunctionConstants.ASTERIX_NS, "agg-count", 1);
     public final static FunctionIdentifier SUM = new FunctionIdentifier(FunctionConstants.ASTERIX_NS, "agg-sum", 1);
-    public final static FunctionIdentifier LOCAL_SUM = new FunctionIdentifier(FunctionConstants.ASTERIX_NS, "agg-local-sum", 1);
+    public final static FunctionIdentifier LOCAL_SUM = new FunctionIdentifier(FunctionConstants.ASTERIX_NS,
+            "agg-local-sum", 1);
     public final static FunctionIdentifier MAX = new FunctionIdentifier(FunctionConstants.ASTERIX_NS, "agg-max", 1);
-    public final static FunctionIdentifier LOCAL_MAX = new FunctionIdentifier(FunctionConstants.ASTERIX_NS, "agg-local-max", 1);
+    public final static FunctionIdentifier LOCAL_MAX = new FunctionIdentifier(FunctionConstants.ASTERIX_NS,
+            "agg-local-max", 1);
     public final static FunctionIdentifier MIN = new FunctionIdentifier(FunctionConstants.ASTERIX_NS, "agg-min", 1);
-    public final static FunctionIdentifier LOCAL_MIN = new FunctionIdentifier(FunctionConstants.ASTERIX_NS, "agg-local-min", 1);
+    public final static FunctionIdentifier LOCAL_MIN = new FunctionIdentifier(FunctionConstants.ASTERIX_NS,
+            "agg-local-min", 1);
     public final static FunctionIdentifier GLOBAL_AVG = new FunctionIdentifier(FunctionConstants.ASTERIX_NS,
             "agg-global-avg", 1);
     public final static FunctionIdentifier LOCAL_AVG = new FunctionIdentifier(FunctionConstants.ASTERIX_NS,
@@ -508,6 +512,9 @@
     public static final FunctionIdentifier NUMERIC_ADD = AlgebricksBuiltinFunctions.NUMERIC_ADD;
     public static final FunctionIdentifier IS_NULL = AlgebricksBuiltinFunctions.IS_NULL;
 
+    public static final FunctionIdentifier NOT_NULL = new FunctionIdentifier(FunctionConstants.ASTERIX_NS, "not-null",
+            1);
+
     public static IFunctionInfo getAsterixFunctionInfo(FunctionIdentifier fid) {
         IFunctionInfo finfo = finfoRepo.get(fid);;
         if (finfo == null) {
@@ -536,6 +543,7 @@
         add(NUMERIC_ADD, NonTaggedNumericAddSubMulDivTypeComputer.INSTANCE);
 
         // and then, Asterix builtin functions
+        add(NOT_NULL, NotNullTypeComputer.INSTANCE);
         add(ANY_COLLECTION_MEMBER, NonTaggedCollectionMemberResultType.INSTANCE);
         addPrivateFunction(AVG, OptionalADoubleTypeComputer.INSTANCE);
         add(BOOLEAN_CONSTRUCTOR, UnaryBooleanOrNullFunctionTypeComputer.INSTANCE);
diff --git a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/om/pointables/cast/ARecordCaster.java b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/om/pointables/cast/ARecordCaster.java
index fbad7a7..494ea6f 100644
--- a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/om/pointables/cast/ARecordCaster.java
+++ b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/om/pointables/cast/ARecordCaster.java
@@ -15,9 +15,11 @@
 
 package edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.pointables.cast;
 
+import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
 import java.io.DataOutput;
 import java.io.DataOutputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.PrintStream;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.List;
 
@@ -28,6 +30,7 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.pointables.PointableAllocator;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.pointables.base.DefaultOpenFieldType;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.pointables.base.IVisitablePointable;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.pointables.printer.APrintVisitor;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.types.ARecordType;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.types.ATypeTag;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.types.AUnionType;
@@ -35,6 +38,7 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.types.IAType;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.util.NonTaggedFormatUtil;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.util.ResettableByteArrayOutputStream;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.common.utils.Pair;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.common.utils.Triple;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.IBinaryComparator;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.INullWriter;
@@ -184,7 +188,7 @@
     }
 
     private void matchClosedPart(List<IVisitablePointable> fieldNames, List<IVisitablePointable> fieldTypeTags,
-            List<IVisitablePointable> fieldValues) {
+            List<IVisitablePointable> fieldValues) throws AsterixException {
         // sort-merge based match
         quickSort(fieldNamesSortedIndex, fieldNames, 0, numInputFields - 1);
         int fnStart = 0;
@@ -213,8 +217,30 @@
 
         // check unmatched fields in the input type
         for (int i = 0; i < openFields.length; i++) {
-            if (openFields[i] == true && !cachedReqType.isOpen())
-                throw new IllegalStateException("type mismatch: including extra closed fields");
+            if (openFields[i] == true && !cachedReqType.isOpen()) {
+                //print the field name
+                IVisitablePointable fieldName = fieldNames.get(i);
+                ByteArrayOutputStream bos = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
+                PrintStream ps = new PrintStream(bos);
+                APrintVisitor printVisitor = new APrintVisitor();
+                Pair<PrintStream, ATypeTag> visitorArg = new Pair<PrintStream, ATypeTag>(ps, ATypeTag.STRING);
+                fieldName.accept(printVisitor, visitorArg);
+
+                //print the colon
+                ps.print(":");
+
+                //print the field type
+                IVisitablePointable fieldType = fieldTypeTags.get(i);
+                ATypeTag typeTag = EnumDeserializer.ATYPETAGDESERIALIZER.deserialize(fieldType.getByteArray()[fieldType
+                        .getStartOffset()]);
+                ps.print(typeTag);
+
+                //collect the output message
+                byte[] output = bos.toByteArray();
+
+                //throw the exception
+                throw new IllegalStateException("type mismatch: including an extra field " + new String(output));
+            }
         }
 
         // check unmatched fields in the required type
@@ -223,7 +249,8 @@
                 IAType t = cachedReqType.getFieldTypes()[i];
                 if (!(t.getTypeTag() == ATypeTag.UNION && NonTaggedFormatUtil.isOptionalField((AUnionType) t))) {
                     // no matched field in the input for a required closed field
-                    throw new IllegalStateException("type mismatch: miss a required closed field");
+                    throw new IllegalStateException("type mismatch: miss a required closed field "
+                            + cachedReqType.getFieldNames()[i] + ":" + t.getTypeName());
                 }
             }
         }
@@ -288,8 +315,7 @@
         int j = right;
         while (true) {
             // grow from the left
-            while (compare(names.get(index[++i]), names.get(index[right])) < 0)
-                ;
+            while (compare(names.get(index[++i]), names.get(index[right])) < 0);
             // lower from the right
             while (compare(names.get(index[right]), names.get(index[--j])) < 0)
                 if (j == left)
diff --git a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/om/typecomputer/impl/NotNullTypeComputer.java b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/om/typecomputer/impl/NotNullTypeComputer.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a9881c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/om/typecomputer/impl/NotNullTypeComputer.java
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2009-2010 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 java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.List;
+
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.typecomputer.base.IResultTypeComputer;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.types.ATypeTag;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.types.AUnionType;
+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.expressions.AbstractFunctionCallExpression;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.core.algebra.expressions.IVariableTypeEnvironment;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.core.algebra.metadata.IMetadataProvider;
+
+/**
+ * This class is the type computer for not-null function.
+ * If the input type is not a union, we just return it.
+ * If the input type is a union,
+ * case 1: we return a new union without null if the new union still has more than one types;
+ * case 2: we return the non-null item type in the original union if there are only null and it in the original union.
+ */
+public class NotNullTypeComputer implements IResultTypeComputer {
+
+    public static final NotNullTypeComputer INSTANCE = new NotNullTypeComputer();
+
+    @Override
+    public IAType computeType(ILogicalExpression expression, IVariableTypeEnvironment env,
+            IMetadataProvider<?, ?> metadataProvider) throws AlgebricksException {
+        AbstractFunctionCallExpression f = (AbstractFunctionCallExpression) expression;
+        IAType type = (IAType) env.getType(f.getArguments().get(0).getValue());
+        if (type.getTypeTag() != ATypeTag.UNION) {
+            // directly return the input type if it is not a union
+            return type;
+        }
+
+        AUnionType unionType = (AUnionType) type;
+        List<IAType> items = new ArrayList<IAType>();
+        // copy the item types
+        items.addAll(unionType.getUnionList());
+
+        // remove null
+        for (int i = items.size() - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
+            IAType itemType = items.get(i);
+            if (itemType.getTypeTag() == ATypeTag.NULL) {
+                items.remove(i);
+            }
+        }
+        if (items.size() == 1) {
+            //only one type is left
+            return items.get(0);
+        } else {
+            //more than two types are left
+            return new AUnionType(items, unionType.getTypeName());
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/asterix-runtime/pom.xml b/asterix-runtime/pom.xml
index cd9d908..93b38df 100644
--- a/asterix-runtime/pom.xml
+++ b/asterix-runtime/pom.xml
@@ -6,9 +6,7 @@
 		<groupId>edu.uci.ics.asterix</groupId>
 		<version>0.0.4-SNAPSHOT</version>
 	</parent>
-	<groupId>edu.uci.ics.asterix</groupId>
 	<artifactId>asterix-runtime</artifactId>
-	<version>0.0.4-SNAPSHOT</version>
 
 
 	<build>
@@ -57,7 +55,6 @@
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>edu.uci.ics.hyracks</groupId>
 			<artifactId>hyracks-storage-am-btree</artifactId>
-			<version>0.2.2-SNAPSHOT</version>
 		</dependency>
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>edu.uci.ics.asterix</groupId>
diff --git a/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/evaluators/functions/NotNullDescriptor.java b/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/evaluators/functions/NotNullDescriptor.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..12e73f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/evaluators/functions/NotNullDescriptor.java
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2009-2010 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.runtime.evaluators.functions;
+
+import java.io.DataOutput;
+import java.io.IOException;
+
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.functions.AsterixBuiltinFunctions;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.functions.IFunctionDescriptor;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.functions.IFunctionDescriptorFactory;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.types.ATypeTag;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.runtime.evaluators.base.AbstractScalarFunctionDynamicDescriptor;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.common.exceptions.AlgebricksException;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.core.algebra.functions.FunctionIdentifier;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.runtime.base.ICopyEvaluator;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.runtime.base.ICopyEvaluatorFactory;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.data.std.api.IDataOutputProvider;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.data.std.util.ArrayBackedValueStorage;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.accessors.IFrameTupleReference;
+
+/**
+ * This runtime function checks if the input is null.
+ * If the input is not null, just return it directly;
+ * Otherwise, throw a runtime exception.
+ */
+public class NotNullDescriptor extends AbstractScalarFunctionDynamicDescriptor {
+
+    private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
+    public static final IFunctionDescriptorFactory FACTORY = new IFunctionDescriptorFactory() {
+        public IFunctionDescriptor createFunctionDescriptor() {
+            return new NotNullDescriptor();
+        }
+    };
+    private final static byte SER_NULL_TYPE_TAG = ATypeTag.NULL.serialize();
+
+    @Override
+    public ICopyEvaluatorFactory createEvaluatorFactory(final ICopyEvaluatorFactory[] args) {
+        return new ICopyEvaluatorFactory() {
+            private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
+
+            @Override
+            public ICopyEvaluator createEvaluator(final IDataOutputProvider output) throws AlgebricksException {
+                return new ICopyEvaluator() {
+                    private DataOutput out = output.getDataOutput();
+                    private ArrayBackedValueStorage outInput = new ArrayBackedValueStorage();
+                    private ICopyEvaluator eval = args[0].createEvaluator(outInput);
+                    private String errorMessage = "The input value cannot be null!";
+
+                    @Override
+                    public void evaluate(IFrameTupleReference tuple) throws AlgebricksException {
+
+                        try {
+                            outInput.reset();
+                            eval.evaluate(tuple);
+                            byte[] data = outInput.getByteArray();
+                            if (data[outInput.getStartOffset()] == SER_NULL_TYPE_TAG) {
+                                throw new AlgebricksException(errorMessage);
+                            }
+                            out.write(data, outInput.getStartOffset(), outInput.getLength());
+                        } catch (IOException e1) {
+                            throw new AlgebricksException(errorMessage);
+                        }
+                    }
+                };
+            }
+        };
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public FunctionIdentifier getIdentifier() {
+        return AsterixBuiltinFunctions.NOT_NULL;
+    }
+
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/formats/NonTaggedDataFormat.java b/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/formats/NonTaggedDataFormat.java
index ef13030..a334893 100644
--- a/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/formats/NonTaggedDataFormat.java
+++ b/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/formats/NonTaggedDataFormat.java
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.formats.nontagged.AqlBinaryBooleanInspectorImpl;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.formats.nontagged.AqlBinaryComparatorFactoryProvider;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.formats.nontagged.AqlBinaryHashFunctionFactoryProvider;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.formats.nontagged.AqlBinaryHashFunctionFamilyProvider;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.formats.nontagged.AqlBinaryIntegerInspector;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.formats.nontagged.AqlNormalizedKeyComputerFactoryProvider;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.formats.nontagged.AqlPrinterFactoryProvider;
@@ -137,6 +138,7 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.LenDescriptor;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.LikeDescriptor;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.NotDescriptor;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.NotNullDescriptor;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.NumericAbsDescriptor;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.NumericAddDescriptor;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.NumericCeilingDescriptor;
@@ -241,6 +243,7 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.data.IBinaryBooleanInspectorFactory;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.data.IBinaryComparatorFactoryProvider;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.data.IBinaryHashFunctionFactoryProvider;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.data.IBinaryHashFunctionFamilyProvider;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.data.IBinaryIntegerInspectorFactory;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.data.INormalizedKeyComputerFactoryProvider;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.data.IPrinterFactoryProvider;
@@ -262,46 +265,51 @@
 
 public class NonTaggedDataFormat implements IDataFormat {
 
-    private static boolean registered = false;
+	private static boolean registered = false;
 
-    public static final NonTaggedDataFormat INSTANCE = new NonTaggedDataFormat();
+	public static final NonTaggedDataFormat INSTANCE = new NonTaggedDataFormat();
 
-    private static LogicalVariable METADATA_DUMMY_VAR = new LogicalVariable(-1);
+	private static LogicalVariable METADATA_DUMMY_VAR = new LogicalVariable(-1);
 
-    private static final HashMap<ATypeTag, IValueParserFactory> typeToValueParserFactMap = new HashMap<ATypeTag, IValueParserFactory>();
+	private static final HashMap<ATypeTag, IValueParserFactory> typeToValueParserFactMap = new HashMap<ATypeTag, IValueParserFactory>();
 
-    public static final String NON_TAGGED_DATA_FORMAT = "edu.uci.ics.asterix.runtime.formats.NonTaggedDataFormat";
+	public static final String NON_TAGGED_DATA_FORMAT = "edu.uci.ics.asterix.runtime.formats.NonTaggedDataFormat";
 
-    static {
-        typeToValueParserFactMap.put(ATypeTag.INT32, IntegerParserFactory.INSTANCE);
-        typeToValueParserFactMap.put(ATypeTag.FLOAT, FloatParserFactory.INSTANCE);
-        typeToValueParserFactMap.put(ATypeTag.DOUBLE, DoubleParserFactory.INSTANCE);
-        typeToValueParserFactMap.put(ATypeTag.INT64, LongParserFactory.INSTANCE);
-        typeToValueParserFactMap.put(ATypeTag.STRING, UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE);
-    }
+	static {
+		typeToValueParserFactMap.put(ATypeTag.INT32,
+				IntegerParserFactory.INSTANCE);
+		typeToValueParserFactMap.put(ATypeTag.FLOAT,
+				FloatParserFactory.INSTANCE);
+		typeToValueParserFactMap.put(ATypeTag.DOUBLE,
+				DoubleParserFactory.INSTANCE);
+		typeToValueParserFactMap
+				.put(ATypeTag.INT64, LongParserFactory.INSTANCE);
+		typeToValueParserFactMap.put(ATypeTag.STRING,
+				UTF8StringParserFactory.INSTANCE);
+	}
 
-    public NonTaggedDataFormat() {
-    }
+	public NonTaggedDataFormat() {
+	}
 
-    public void registerRuntimeFunctions() throws AlgebricksException {
+	public void registerRuntimeFunctions() throws AlgebricksException {
 
-        if (registered) {
-            return;
-        }
-        registered = true;
+		if (registered) {
+			return;
+		}
+		registered = true;
 
-        if (FunctionManagerHolder.getFunctionManager() != null) {
-            return;
-        }
+		if (FunctionManagerHolder.getFunctionManager() != null) {
+			return;
+		}
 
-        List<IFunctionDescriptorFactory> temp = new ArrayList<IFunctionDescriptorFactory>();
+		List<IFunctionDescriptorFactory> temp = new ArrayList<IFunctionDescriptorFactory>();
 
-        // format-independent
-        temp.add(ContainsDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(EndsWithDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(StartsWithDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(SubstringDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(TidRunningAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		// format-independent
+		temp.add(ContainsDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(EndsWithDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(StartsWithDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(SubstringDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(TidRunningAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
 
         // format-dependent
         temp.add(AndDescriptor.FACTORY);
@@ -319,137 +327,138 @@
         temp.add(UnorderedListConstructorDescriptor.FACTORY);
         temp.add(EmbedTypeDescriptor.FACTORY);
 
-        temp.add(NumericAddDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(NumericDivideDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(NumericMultiplyDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(NumericSubtractDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(NumericModuloDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(IsNullDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(NotDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(LenDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(EmptyStreamAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(NonEmptyStreamAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(RangeDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(NumericAddDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(NumericDivideDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(NumericMultiplyDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(NumericSubtractDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(NumericModuloDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(IsNullDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(NotDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(LenDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(EmptyStreamAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(NonEmptyStreamAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(RangeDescriptor.FACTORY);
 
-        temp.add(NumericAbsDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(NumericCeilingDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(NumericFloorDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(NumericRoundDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(NumericRoundHalfToEvenDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(NumericRoundHalfToEven2Descriptor.FACTORY);
-        // String functions
-        temp.add(StringEqualDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(StringStartWithDescrtiptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(StringEndWithDescrtiptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(StringMatchesDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(StringLowerCaseDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(StringMatchesWithFlagDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(StringReplaceDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(StringReplaceWithFlagsDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(StringLengthDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(Substring2Descriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(SubstringBeforeDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(SubstringAfterDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(StringToCodePointDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(CodePointToStringDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(StringConcatDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(StringJoinDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(NumericAbsDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(NumericCeilingDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(NumericFloorDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(NumericRoundDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(NumericRoundHalfToEvenDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(NumericRoundHalfToEven2Descriptor.FACTORY);
+		// String functions
+		temp.add(StringEqualDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(StringStartWithDescrtiptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(StringEndWithDescrtiptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(StringMatchesDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(StringLowerCaseDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(StringMatchesWithFlagDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(StringReplaceDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(StringReplaceWithFlagsDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(StringLengthDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(Substring2Descriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(SubstringBeforeDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(SubstringAfterDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(StringToCodePointDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(CodePointToStringDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(StringConcatDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(StringJoinDescriptor.FACTORY);
 
-        // aggregates
-        temp.add(ListifyAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(CountAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(AvgAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(LocalAvgAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(GlobalAvgAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(SumAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(LocalSumAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(MaxAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(LocalMaxAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(MinAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(LocalMinAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		// aggregates
+		temp.add(ListifyAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(CountAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(AvgAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(LocalAvgAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(GlobalAvgAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(SumAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(LocalSumAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(MaxAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(LocalMaxAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(MinAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(LocalMinAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
 
-        // serializable aggregates
-        temp.add(SerializableCountAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(SerializableAvgAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(SerializableLocalAvgAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(SerializableGlobalAvgAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(SerializableSumAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(SerializableLocalSumAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		// serializable aggregates
+		temp.add(SerializableCountAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(SerializableAvgAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(SerializableLocalAvgAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(SerializableGlobalAvgAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(SerializableSumAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(SerializableLocalSumAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
 
-        // scalar aggregates
-        temp.add(ScalarCountAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(ScalarAvgAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(ScalarSumAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(ScalarMaxAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(ScalarMinAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		// scalar aggregates
+		temp.add(ScalarCountAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(ScalarAvgAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(ScalarSumAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(ScalarMaxAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(ScalarMinAggregateDescriptor.FACTORY);
 
-        // new functions - constructors
-        temp.add(ABooleanConstructorDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(ANullConstructorDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(AStringConstructorDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(AInt8ConstructorDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(AInt16ConstructorDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(AInt32ConstructorDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(AInt64ConstructorDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(AFloatConstructorDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(ADoubleConstructorDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(APointConstructorDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(APoint3DConstructorDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(ALineConstructorDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(APolygonConstructorDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(ACircleConstructorDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(ARectangleConstructorDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(ATimeConstructorDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(ADateConstructorDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(ADateTimeConstructorDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(ADurationConstructorDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		// new functions - constructors
+		temp.add(ABooleanConstructorDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(ANullConstructorDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(AStringConstructorDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(AInt8ConstructorDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(AInt16ConstructorDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(AInt32ConstructorDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(AInt64ConstructorDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(AFloatConstructorDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(ADoubleConstructorDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(APointConstructorDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(APoint3DConstructorDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(ALineConstructorDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(APolygonConstructorDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(ACircleConstructorDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(ARectangleConstructorDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(ATimeConstructorDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(ADateConstructorDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(ADateTimeConstructorDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(ADurationConstructorDescriptor.FACTORY);
 
-        // Spatial
-        temp.add(CreatePointDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(CreateLineDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(CreatePolygonDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(CreateCircleDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(CreateRectangleDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(SpatialAreaDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(SpatialDistanceDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(SpatialIntersectDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(CreateMBRDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(SpatialCellDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(PointXCoordinateAccessor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(PointYCoordinateAccessor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(CircleRadiusAccessor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(CircleCenterAccessor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(LineRectanglePolygonAccessor.FACTORY);
+		// Spatial
+		temp.add(CreatePointDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(CreateLineDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(CreatePolygonDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(CreateCircleDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(CreateRectangleDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(SpatialAreaDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(SpatialDistanceDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(SpatialIntersectDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(CreateMBRDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(SpatialCellDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(PointXCoordinateAccessor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(PointYCoordinateAccessor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(CircleRadiusAccessor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(CircleCenterAccessor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(LineRectanglePolygonAccessor.FACTORY);
 
-        // fuzzyjoin function
-        temp.add(FuzzyEqDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(SubsetCollectionDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(PrefixLenJaccardDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		// fuzzyjoin function
+		temp.add(FuzzyEqDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(SubsetCollectionDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(PrefixLenJaccardDescriptor.FACTORY);
 
-        temp.add(WordTokensDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(HashedWordTokensDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(CountHashedWordTokensDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(WordTokensDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(HashedWordTokensDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(CountHashedWordTokensDescriptor.FACTORY);
 
-        temp.add(GramTokensDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(HashedGramTokensDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(CountHashedGramTokensDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(GramTokensDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(HashedGramTokensDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(CountHashedGramTokensDescriptor.FACTORY);
 
-        temp.add(EditDistanceDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(EditDistanceCheckDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(EditDistanceStringIsFilterable.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(EditDistanceListIsFilterable.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(EditDistanceDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(EditDistanceCheckDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(EditDistanceStringIsFilterable.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(EditDistanceListIsFilterable.FACTORY);
 
-        temp.add(SimilarityJaccardDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(SimilarityJaccardCheckDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(SimilarityJaccardSortedDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(SimilarityJaccardSortedCheckDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(SimilarityJaccardPrefixDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(SimilarityJaccardPrefixCheckDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(SimilarityJaccardDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(SimilarityJaccardCheckDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(SimilarityJaccardSortedDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(SimilarityJaccardSortedCheckDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(SimilarityJaccardPrefixDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(SimilarityJaccardPrefixCheckDescriptor.FACTORY);
 
-        temp.add(SwitchCaseDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(RegExpDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(InjectFailureDescriptor.FACTORY);
-        temp.add(CastRecordDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(SwitchCaseDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(RegExpDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(InjectFailureDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(CastRecordDescriptor.FACTORY);
+		temp.add(NotNullDescriptor.FACTORY);
 
         // Spatial and temporal type accessors
         temp.add(TemporalYearAccessor.FACTORY);
@@ -509,367 +518,425 @@
         FunctionManagerHolder.setFunctionManager(mgr);
     }
 
-    @Override
-    public IBinaryBooleanInspectorFactory getBinaryBooleanInspectorFactory() {
-        return AqlBinaryBooleanInspectorImpl.FACTORY;
-    }
+	@Override
+	public IBinaryBooleanInspectorFactory getBinaryBooleanInspectorFactory() {
+		return AqlBinaryBooleanInspectorImpl.FACTORY;
+	}
 
-    @Override
-    public IBinaryComparatorFactoryProvider getBinaryComparatorFactoryProvider() {
-        return AqlBinaryComparatorFactoryProvider.INSTANCE;
-    }
+	@Override
+	public IBinaryComparatorFactoryProvider getBinaryComparatorFactoryProvider() {
+		return AqlBinaryComparatorFactoryProvider.INSTANCE;
+	}
 
-    @Override
-    public IBinaryHashFunctionFactoryProvider getBinaryHashFunctionFactoryProvider() {
-        return AqlBinaryHashFunctionFactoryProvider.INSTANCE;
-    }
+	@Override
+	public IBinaryHashFunctionFactoryProvider getBinaryHashFunctionFactoryProvider() {
+		return AqlBinaryHashFunctionFactoryProvider.INSTANCE;
+	}
 
-    @Override
-    public ISerializerDeserializerProvider getSerdeProvider() {
-        return AqlSerializerDeserializerProvider.INSTANCE; // done
-    }
+	@Override
+	public ISerializerDeserializerProvider getSerdeProvider() {
+		return AqlSerializerDeserializerProvider.INSTANCE; // done
+	}
 
-    @Override
-    public ITypeTraitProvider getTypeTraitProvider() {
-        return AqlTypeTraitProvider.INSTANCE;
-    }
+	@Override
+	public ITypeTraitProvider getTypeTraitProvider() {
+		return AqlTypeTraitProvider.INSTANCE;
+	}
 
-    @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
-    @Override
-    public ICopyEvaluatorFactory getFieldAccessEvaluatorFactory(ARecordType recType, String fldName, int recordColumn)
-            throws AlgebricksException {
-        String[] names = recType.getFieldNames();
-        int n = names.length;
-        for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
-            if (names[i].equals(fldName)) {
-                ICopyEvaluatorFactory recordEvalFactory = new ColumnAccessEvalFactory(recordColumn);
-                ArrayBackedValueStorage abvs = new ArrayBackedValueStorage();
-                DataOutput dos = abvs.getDataOutput();
-                try {
-                    AInt32 ai = new AInt32(i);
-                    AqlSerializerDeserializerProvider.INSTANCE.getSerializerDeserializer(ai.getType()).serialize(ai,
-                            dos);
-                } catch (HyracksDataException e) {
-                    throw new AlgebricksException(e);
-                }
-                ICopyEvaluatorFactory fldIndexEvalFactory = new ConstantEvalFactory(Arrays.copyOf(abvs.getByteArray(),
-                        abvs.getLength()));
-                ICopyEvaluatorFactory evalFactory = new FieldAccessByIndexEvalFactory(recordEvalFactory,
-                        fldIndexEvalFactory, recType);
-                return evalFactory;
-            }
-        }
-        throw new AlgebricksException("Could not find field " + fldName + " in the schema.");
-    }
+	@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+	@Override
+	public ICopyEvaluatorFactory getFieldAccessEvaluatorFactory(
+			ARecordType recType, String fldName, int recordColumn)
+			throws AlgebricksException {
+		String[] names = recType.getFieldNames();
+		int n = names.length;
+		for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
+			if (names[i].equals(fldName)) {
+				ICopyEvaluatorFactory recordEvalFactory = new ColumnAccessEvalFactory(
+						recordColumn);
+				ArrayBackedValueStorage abvs = new ArrayBackedValueStorage();
+				DataOutput dos = abvs.getDataOutput();
+				try {
+					AInt32 ai = new AInt32(i);
+					AqlSerializerDeserializerProvider.INSTANCE
+							.getSerializerDeserializer(ai.getType()).serialize(
+									ai, dos);
+				} catch (HyracksDataException e) {
+					throw new AlgebricksException(e);
+				}
+				ICopyEvaluatorFactory fldIndexEvalFactory = new ConstantEvalFactory(
+						Arrays.copyOf(abvs.getByteArray(), abvs.getLength()));
+				ICopyEvaluatorFactory evalFactory = new FieldAccessByIndexEvalFactory(
+						recordEvalFactory, fldIndexEvalFactory, recType);
+				return evalFactory;
+			}
+		}
+		throw new AlgebricksException("Could not find field " + fldName
+				+ " in the schema.");
+	}
 
-    @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
-    @Override
-    public ICopyEvaluatorFactory[] createMBRFactory(ARecordType recType, String fldName, int recordColumn, int dimension)
-            throws AlgebricksException {
-        ICopyEvaluatorFactory evalFactory = getFieldAccessEvaluatorFactory(recType, fldName, recordColumn);
-        int numOfFields = dimension * 2;
-        ICopyEvaluatorFactory[] evalFactories = new ICopyEvaluatorFactory[numOfFields];
+	@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+	@Override
+	public ICopyEvaluatorFactory[] createMBRFactory(ARecordType recType,
+			String fldName, int recordColumn, int dimension)
+			throws AlgebricksException {
+		ICopyEvaluatorFactory evalFactory = getFieldAccessEvaluatorFactory(
+				recType, fldName, recordColumn);
+		int numOfFields = dimension * 2;
+		ICopyEvaluatorFactory[] evalFactories = new ICopyEvaluatorFactory[numOfFields];
 
-        ArrayBackedValueStorage abvs1 = new ArrayBackedValueStorage();
-        DataOutput dos1 = abvs1.getDataOutput();
-        try {
-            AInt32 ai = new AInt32(dimension);
-            AqlSerializerDeserializerProvider.INSTANCE.getSerializerDeserializer(ai.getType()).serialize(ai, dos1);
-        } catch (HyracksDataException e) {
-            throw new AlgebricksException(e);
-        }
-        ICopyEvaluatorFactory dimensionEvalFactory = new ConstantEvalFactory(Arrays.copyOf(abvs1.getByteArray(),
-                abvs1.getLength()));
+		ArrayBackedValueStorage abvs1 = new ArrayBackedValueStorage();
+		DataOutput dos1 = abvs1.getDataOutput();
+		try {
+			AInt32 ai = new AInt32(dimension);
+			AqlSerializerDeserializerProvider.INSTANCE
+					.getSerializerDeserializer(ai.getType())
+					.serialize(ai, dos1);
+		} catch (HyracksDataException e) {
+			throw new AlgebricksException(e);
+		}
+		ICopyEvaluatorFactory dimensionEvalFactory = new ConstantEvalFactory(
+				Arrays.copyOf(abvs1.getByteArray(), abvs1.getLength()));
 
-        for (int i = 0; i < numOfFields; i++) {
-            ArrayBackedValueStorage abvs2 = new ArrayBackedValueStorage();
-            DataOutput dos2 = abvs2.getDataOutput();
-            try {
-                AInt32 ai = new AInt32(i);
-                AqlSerializerDeserializerProvider.INSTANCE.getSerializerDeserializer(ai.getType()).serialize(ai, dos2);
-            } catch (HyracksDataException e) {
-                throw new AlgebricksException(e);
-            }
-            ICopyEvaluatorFactory coordinateEvalFactory = new ConstantEvalFactory(Arrays.copyOf(abvs2.getByteArray(),
-                    abvs2.getLength()));
+		for (int i = 0; i < numOfFields; i++) {
+			ArrayBackedValueStorage abvs2 = new ArrayBackedValueStorage();
+			DataOutput dos2 = abvs2.getDataOutput();
+			try {
+				AInt32 ai = new AInt32(i);
+				AqlSerializerDeserializerProvider.INSTANCE
+						.getSerializerDeserializer(ai.getType()).serialize(ai,
+								dos2);
+			} catch (HyracksDataException e) {
+				throw new AlgebricksException(e);
+			}
+			ICopyEvaluatorFactory coordinateEvalFactory = new ConstantEvalFactory(
+					Arrays.copyOf(abvs2.getByteArray(), abvs2.getLength()));
 
-            evalFactories[i] = new CreateMBREvalFactory(evalFactory, dimensionEvalFactory, coordinateEvalFactory);
-        }
-        return evalFactories;
-    }
+			evalFactories[i] = new CreateMBREvalFactory(evalFactory,
+					dimensionEvalFactory, coordinateEvalFactory);
+		}
+		return evalFactories;
+	}
 
-    @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
-    @Override
-    public Triple<ICopyEvaluatorFactory, ScalarFunctionCallExpression, IAType> partitioningEvaluatorFactory(
-            ARecordType recType, String fldName) throws AlgebricksException {
-        String[] names = recType.getFieldNames();
-        int n = names.length;
-        for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
-            if (names[i].equals(fldName)) {
-                ICopyEvaluatorFactory recordEvalFactory = new ColumnAccessEvalFactory(
-                        GlobalConfig.DEFAULT_INPUT_DATA_COLUMN);
-                ArrayBackedValueStorage abvs = new ArrayBackedValueStorage();
-                DataOutput dos = abvs.getDataOutput();
-                try {
-                    AInt32 ai = new AInt32(i);
-                    AqlSerializerDeserializerProvider.INSTANCE.getSerializerDeserializer(ai.getType()).serialize(ai,
-                            dos);
-                } catch (HyracksDataException e) {
-                    throw new AlgebricksException(e);
-                }
-                ICopyEvaluatorFactory fldIndexEvalFactory = new ConstantEvalFactory(Arrays.copyOf(abvs.getByteArray(),
-                        abvs.getLength()));
-                ICopyEvaluatorFactory evalFactory = new FieldAccessByIndexEvalFactory(recordEvalFactory,
-                        fldIndexEvalFactory, recType);
-                IFunctionInfo finfoAccess = AsterixBuiltinFunctions
-                        .getAsterixFunctionInfo(AsterixBuiltinFunctions.FIELD_ACCESS_BY_INDEX);
+	@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+	@Override
+	public Triple<ICopyEvaluatorFactory, ScalarFunctionCallExpression, IAType> partitioningEvaluatorFactory(
+			ARecordType recType, String fldName) throws AlgebricksException {
+		String[] names = recType.getFieldNames();
+		int n = names.length;
+		for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
+			if (names[i].equals(fldName)) {
+				ICopyEvaluatorFactory recordEvalFactory = new ColumnAccessEvalFactory(
+						GlobalConfig.DEFAULT_INPUT_DATA_COLUMN);
+				ArrayBackedValueStorage abvs = new ArrayBackedValueStorage();
+				DataOutput dos = abvs.getDataOutput();
+				try {
+					AInt32 ai = new AInt32(i);
+					AqlSerializerDeserializerProvider.INSTANCE
+							.getSerializerDeserializer(ai.getType()).serialize(
+									ai, dos);
+				} catch (HyracksDataException e) {
+					throw new AlgebricksException(e);
+				}
+				ICopyEvaluatorFactory fldIndexEvalFactory = new ConstantEvalFactory(
+						Arrays.copyOf(abvs.getByteArray(), abvs.getLength()));
+				ICopyEvaluatorFactory evalFactory = new FieldAccessByIndexEvalFactory(
+						recordEvalFactory, fldIndexEvalFactory, recType);
+				IFunctionInfo finfoAccess = AsterixBuiltinFunctions
+						.getAsterixFunctionInfo(AsterixBuiltinFunctions.FIELD_ACCESS_BY_INDEX);
 
-                ScalarFunctionCallExpression partitionFun = new ScalarFunctionCallExpression(finfoAccess,
-                        new MutableObject<ILogicalExpression>(new VariableReferenceExpression(METADATA_DUMMY_VAR)),
-                        new MutableObject<ILogicalExpression>(new ConstantExpression(new AsterixConstantValue(
-                                new AInt32(i)))));
-                return new Triple<ICopyEvaluatorFactory, ScalarFunctionCallExpression, IAType>(evalFactory,
-                        partitionFun, recType.getFieldTypes()[i]);
-            }
-        }
-        throw new AlgebricksException("Could not find field " + fldName + " in the schema.");
-    }
+				ScalarFunctionCallExpression partitionFun = new ScalarFunctionCallExpression(
+						finfoAccess,
+						new MutableObject<ILogicalExpression>(
+								new VariableReferenceExpression(
+										METADATA_DUMMY_VAR)),
+						new MutableObject<ILogicalExpression>(
+								new ConstantExpression(
+										new AsterixConstantValue(new AInt32(i)))));
+				return new Triple<ICopyEvaluatorFactory, ScalarFunctionCallExpression, IAType>(
+						evalFactory, partitionFun, recType.getFieldTypes()[i]);
+			}
+		}
+		throw new AlgebricksException("Could not find field " + fldName
+				+ " in the schema.");
+	}
 
-    @Override
-    public IFunctionDescriptor resolveFunction(ILogicalExpression expr, IVariableTypeEnvironment context)
-            throws AlgebricksException {
-        FunctionIdentifier fnId = ((AbstractFunctionCallExpression) expr).getFunctionIdentifier();
-        IFunctionManager mgr = FunctionManagerHolder.getFunctionManager();
-        IFunctionDescriptor fd = mgr.lookupFunction(fnId);
-        if (fd == null) {
-            throw new AsterixRuntimeException("Unresolved function " + fnId);
-        }
-        typeInference(expr, fd, context);
-        return fd;
-    }
+	@Override
+	public IFunctionDescriptor resolveFunction(ILogicalExpression expr,
+			IVariableTypeEnvironment context) throws AlgebricksException {
+		FunctionIdentifier fnId = ((AbstractFunctionCallExpression) expr)
+				.getFunctionIdentifier();
+		IFunctionManager mgr = FunctionManagerHolder.getFunctionManager();
+		IFunctionDescriptor fd = mgr.lookupFunction(fnId);
+		if (fd == null) {
+			throw new AsterixRuntimeException("Unresolved function " + fnId);
+		}
+		typeInference(expr, fd, context);
+		return fd;
+	}
 
-    private void typeInference(ILogicalExpression expr, IFunctionDescriptor fd, IVariableTypeEnvironment context)
-            throws AlgebricksException {
-        if (fd.getIdentifier().equals(AsterixBuiltinFunctions.LISTIFY)) {
-            AbstractFunctionCallExpression f = (AbstractFunctionCallExpression) expr;
-            if (f.getArguments().size() == 0) {
-                ((ListifyAggregateDescriptor) fd).reset(new AOrderedListType(null, null));
-            } else {
-                IAType itemType = (IAType) context.getType(f.getArguments().get(0).getValue());
-                // Convert UNION types into ANY.
-                if (itemType instanceof AUnionType) {
-                    itemType = BuiltinType.ANY;
-                }
-                ((ListifyAggregateDescriptor) fd).reset(new AOrderedListType(itemType, null));
-            }
-        }
-        if (fd.getIdentifier().equals(AsterixBuiltinFunctions.CAST_RECORD)) {
-            ARecordType rt = (ARecordType) TypeComputerUtilities.getRequiredType((AbstractFunctionCallExpression) expr);
-            ARecordType it = (ARecordType) TypeComputerUtilities.getInputType((AbstractFunctionCallExpression) expr);
-            ((CastRecordDescriptor) fd).reset(rt, it);
-        }
-        if (fd.getIdentifier().equals(AsterixBuiltinFunctions.OPEN_RECORD_CONSTRUCTOR)) {
-            ARecordType rt = (ARecordType) context.getType(expr);
-            ((OpenRecordConstructorDescriptor) fd).reset(rt,
-                    computeOpenFields((AbstractFunctionCallExpression) expr, rt));
-        }
-        if (fd.getIdentifier().equals(AsterixBuiltinFunctions.CLOSED_RECORD_CONSTRUCTOR)) {
-            ((ClosedRecordConstructorDescriptor) fd).reset((ARecordType) context.getType(expr));
-        }
-        if (fd.getIdentifier().equals(AsterixBuiltinFunctions.ORDERED_LIST_CONSTRUCTOR)) {
-            ((OrderedListConstructorDescriptor) fd).reset((AOrderedListType) context.getType(expr));
-        }
-        if (fd.getIdentifier().equals(AsterixBuiltinFunctions.UNORDERED_LIST_CONSTRUCTOR)) {
-            ((UnorderedListConstructorDescriptor) fd).reset((AUnorderedListType) context.getType(expr));
-        }
-        if (fd.getIdentifier().equals(AsterixBuiltinFunctions.FIELD_ACCESS_BY_INDEX)) {
-            AbstractFunctionCallExpression fce = (AbstractFunctionCallExpression) expr;
-            IAType t = (IAType) context.getType(fce.getArguments().get(0).getValue());
-            switch (t.getTypeTag()) {
-                case RECORD: {
-                    ARecordType recType = (ARecordType) t;
-                    ((FieldAccessByIndexDescriptor) fd).reset(recType);
-                    break;
-                }
-                case UNION: {
-                    AUnionType unionT = (AUnionType) t;
-                    if (unionT.isNullableType()) {
-                        IAType t2 = unionT.getUnionList().get(1);
-                        if (t2.getTypeTag() == ATypeTag.RECORD) {
-                            ARecordType recType = (ARecordType) t2;
-                            ((FieldAccessByIndexDescriptor) fd).reset(recType);
-                            break;
-                        }
-                    }
-                    throw new NotImplementedException("field-access-by-index for data of type " + t);
-                }
-                default: {
-                    throw new NotImplementedException("field-access-by-index for data of type " + t);
-                }
-            }
-        }
-    }
+	private void typeInference(ILogicalExpression expr, IFunctionDescriptor fd,
+			IVariableTypeEnvironment context) throws AlgebricksException {
+		if (fd.getIdentifier().equals(AsterixBuiltinFunctions.LISTIFY)) {
+			AbstractFunctionCallExpression f = (AbstractFunctionCallExpression) expr;
+			if (f.getArguments().size() == 0) {
+				((ListifyAggregateDescriptor) fd).reset(new AOrderedListType(
+						null, null));
+			} else {
+				IAType itemType = (IAType) context.getType(f.getArguments()
+						.get(0).getValue());
+				// Convert UNION types into ANY.
+				if (itemType instanceof AUnionType) {
+					itemType = BuiltinType.ANY;
+				}
+				((ListifyAggregateDescriptor) fd).reset(new AOrderedListType(
+						itemType, null));
+			}
+		}
+		if (fd.getIdentifier().equals(AsterixBuiltinFunctions.CAST_RECORD)) {
+			ARecordType rt = (ARecordType) TypeComputerUtilities
+					.getRequiredType((AbstractFunctionCallExpression) expr);
+			ARecordType it = (ARecordType) TypeComputerUtilities
+					.getInputType((AbstractFunctionCallExpression) expr);
+			((CastRecordDescriptor) fd).reset(rt, it);
+		}
+		if (fd.getIdentifier().equals(
+				AsterixBuiltinFunctions.OPEN_RECORD_CONSTRUCTOR)) {
+			ARecordType rt = (ARecordType) context.getType(expr);
+			((OpenRecordConstructorDescriptor) fd)
+					.reset(rt,
+							computeOpenFields(
+									(AbstractFunctionCallExpression) expr, rt));
+		}
+		if (fd.getIdentifier().equals(
+				AsterixBuiltinFunctions.CLOSED_RECORD_CONSTRUCTOR)) {
+			((ClosedRecordConstructorDescriptor) fd)
+					.reset((ARecordType) context.getType(expr));
+		}
+		if (fd.getIdentifier().equals(
+				AsterixBuiltinFunctions.ORDERED_LIST_CONSTRUCTOR)) {
+			((OrderedListConstructorDescriptor) fd)
+					.reset((AOrderedListType) context.getType(expr));
+		}
+		if (fd.getIdentifier().equals(
+				AsterixBuiltinFunctions.UNORDERED_LIST_CONSTRUCTOR)) {
+			((UnorderedListConstructorDescriptor) fd)
+					.reset((AUnorderedListType) context.getType(expr));
+		}
+		if (fd.getIdentifier().equals(
+				AsterixBuiltinFunctions.FIELD_ACCESS_BY_INDEX)) {
+			AbstractFunctionCallExpression fce = (AbstractFunctionCallExpression) expr;
+			IAType t = (IAType) context.getType(fce.getArguments().get(0)
+					.getValue());
+			switch (t.getTypeTag()) {
+			case RECORD: {
+				ARecordType recType = (ARecordType) t;
+				((FieldAccessByIndexDescriptor) fd).reset(recType);
+				break;
+			}
+			case UNION: {
+				AUnionType unionT = (AUnionType) t;
+				if (unionT.isNullableType()) {
+					IAType t2 = unionT.getUnionList().get(1);
+					if (t2.getTypeTag() == ATypeTag.RECORD) {
+						ARecordType recType = (ARecordType) t2;
+						((FieldAccessByIndexDescriptor) fd).reset(recType);
+						break;
+					}
+				}
+				throw new NotImplementedException(
+						"field-access-by-index for data of type " + t);
+			}
+			default: {
+				throw new NotImplementedException(
+						"field-access-by-index for data of type " + t);
+			}
+			}
+		}
+	}
 
-    private boolean[] computeOpenFields(AbstractFunctionCallExpression expr, ARecordType recType) {
-        int n = expr.getArguments().size() / 2;
-        boolean[] open = new boolean[n];
-        for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
-            Mutable<ILogicalExpression> argRef = expr.getArguments().get(2 * i);
-            ILogicalExpression arg = argRef.getValue();
-            if (arg.getExpressionTag() == LogicalExpressionTag.CONSTANT) {
-                String fn = ((AString) ((AsterixConstantValue) ((ConstantExpression) arg).getValue()).getObject())
-                        .getStringValue();
-                open[i] = true;
-                for (String s : recType.getFieldNames()) {
-                    if (s.equals(fn)) {
-                        open[i] = false;
-                        break;
-                    }
-                }
-            } else {
-                open[i] = true;
-            }
-        }
-        return open;
-    }
+	private boolean[] computeOpenFields(AbstractFunctionCallExpression expr,
+			ARecordType recType) {
+		int n = expr.getArguments().size() / 2;
+		boolean[] open = new boolean[n];
+		for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
+			Mutable<ILogicalExpression> argRef = expr.getArguments().get(2 * i);
+			ILogicalExpression arg = argRef.getValue();
+			if (arg.getExpressionTag() == LogicalExpressionTag.CONSTANT) {
+				String fn = ((AString) ((AsterixConstantValue) ((ConstantExpression) arg)
+						.getValue()).getObject()).getStringValue();
+				open[i] = true;
+				for (String s : recType.getFieldNames()) {
+					if (s.equals(fn)) {
+						open[i] = false;
+						break;
+					}
+				}
+			} else {
+				open[i] = true;
+			}
+		}
+		return open;
+	}
 
-    @Override
-    public IPrinterFactoryProvider getPrinterFactoryProvider() {
-        return AqlPrinterFactoryProvider.INSTANCE;
-    }
+	@Override
+	public IPrinterFactoryProvider getPrinterFactoryProvider() {
+		return AqlPrinterFactoryProvider.INSTANCE;
+	}
 
-    @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
-    @Override
-    public ICopyEvaluatorFactory getConstantEvalFactory(IAlgebricksConstantValue value) throws AlgebricksException {
-        IAObject obj = null;
-        if (value.isNull()) {
-            obj = ANull.NULL;
-        } else if (value.isTrue()) {
-            obj = ABoolean.TRUE;
-        } else if (value.isFalse()) {
-            obj = ABoolean.FALSE;
-        } else {
-            AsterixConstantValue acv = (AsterixConstantValue) value;
-            obj = acv.getObject();
-        }
-        ArrayBackedValueStorage abvs = new ArrayBackedValueStorage();
-        DataOutput dos = abvs.getDataOutput();
-        try {
-            AqlSerializerDeserializerProvider.INSTANCE.getSerializerDeserializer(obj.getType()).serialize(obj, dos);
-        } catch (HyracksDataException e) {
-            throw new AlgebricksException(e);
-        }
-        return new ConstantEvalFactory(Arrays.copyOf(abvs.getByteArray(), abvs.getLength()));
-    }
+	@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+	@Override
+	public ICopyEvaluatorFactory getConstantEvalFactory(
+			IAlgebricksConstantValue value) throws AlgebricksException {
+		IAObject obj = null;
+		if (value.isNull()) {
+			obj = ANull.NULL;
+		} else if (value.isTrue()) {
+			obj = ABoolean.TRUE;
+		} else if (value.isFalse()) {
+			obj = ABoolean.FALSE;
+		} else {
+			AsterixConstantValue acv = (AsterixConstantValue) value;
+			obj = acv.getObject();
+		}
+		ArrayBackedValueStorage abvs = new ArrayBackedValueStorage();
+		DataOutput dos = abvs.getDataOutput();
+		try {
+			AqlSerializerDeserializerProvider.INSTANCE
+					.getSerializerDeserializer(obj.getType()).serialize(obj,
+							dos);
+		} catch (HyracksDataException e) {
+			throw new AlgebricksException(e);
+		}
+		return new ConstantEvalFactory(Arrays.copyOf(abvs.getByteArray(),
+				abvs.getLength()));
+	}
 
-    @Override
-    public IBinaryIntegerInspectorFactory getBinaryIntegerInspectorFactory() {
-        return AqlBinaryIntegerInspector.FACTORY;
-    }
+	@Override
+	public IBinaryIntegerInspectorFactory getBinaryIntegerInspectorFactory() {
+		return AqlBinaryIntegerInspector.FACTORY;
+	}
 
-    @Override
-    public ITupleParserFactory createTupleParser(ARecordType recType, IParseFileSplitsDecl decl) {
-        if (decl.isDelimitedFileFormat()) {
-            int n = recType.getFieldTypes().length;
-            IValueParserFactory[] fieldParserFactories = new IValueParserFactory[n];
-            for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
-                ATypeTag tag = recType.getFieldTypes()[i].getTypeTag();
-                IValueParserFactory vpf = typeToValueParserFactMap.get(tag);
-                if (vpf == null) {
-                    throw new NotImplementedException("No value parser factory for delimited fields of type " + tag);
-                }
-                fieldParserFactories[i] = vpf;
-            }
-            return new NtDelimitedDataTupleParserFactory(recType, fieldParserFactories, decl.getDelimChar());
-        } else {
-            return new AdmSchemafullRecordParserFactory(recType);
-        }
-    }
+	@Override
+	public ITupleParserFactory createTupleParser(ARecordType recType,
+			IParseFileSplitsDecl decl) {
+		if (decl.isDelimitedFileFormat()) {
+			int n = recType.getFieldTypes().length;
+			IValueParserFactory[] fieldParserFactories = new IValueParserFactory[n];
+			for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
+				ATypeTag tag = recType.getFieldTypes()[i].getTypeTag();
+				IValueParserFactory vpf = typeToValueParserFactMap.get(tag);
+				if (vpf == null) {
+					throw new NotImplementedException(
+							"No value parser factory for delimited fields of type "
+									+ tag);
+				}
+				fieldParserFactories[i] = vpf;
+			}
+			return new NtDelimitedDataTupleParserFactory(recType,
+					fieldParserFactories, decl.getDelimChar());
+		} else {
+			return new AdmSchemafullRecordParserFactory(recType);
+		}
+	}
 
-    @Override
-    public ITupleParserFactory createTupleParser(ARecordType recType, boolean delimitedFormat, Character delimiter) {
-        if (delimitedFormat) {
-            int n = recType.getFieldTypes().length;
-            IValueParserFactory[] fieldParserFactories = new IValueParserFactory[n];
-            for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
-                ATypeTag tag = recType.getFieldTypes()[i].getTypeTag();
-                IValueParserFactory vpf = typeToValueParserFactMap.get(tag);
-                if (vpf == null) {
-                    throw new NotImplementedException("No value parser factory for delimited fields of type " + tag);
-                }
-                fieldParserFactories[i] = vpf;
-            }
-            return new NtDelimitedDataTupleParserFactory(recType, fieldParserFactories, delimiter);
-        } else {
-            return new AdmSchemafullRecordParserFactory(recType);
-        }
-    }
+	@Override
+	public ITupleParserFactory createTupleParser(ARecordType recType,
+			boolean delimitedFormat, Character delimiter) {
+		if (delimitedFormat) {
+			int n = recType.getFieldTypes().length;
+			IValueParserFactory[] fieldParserFactories = new IValueParserFactory[n];
+			for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
+				ATypeTag tag = recType.getFieldTypes()[i].getTypeTag();
+				IValueParserFactory vpf = typeToValueParserFactMap.get(tag);
+				if (vpf == null) {
+					throw new NotImplementedException(
+							"No value parser factory for delimited fields of type "
+									+ tag);
+				}
+				fieldParserFactories[i] = vpf;
+			}
+			return new NtDelimitedDataTupleParserFactory(recType,
+					fieldParserFactories, delimiter);
+		} else {
+			return new AdmSchemafullRecordParserFactory(recType);
+		}
+	}
 
-    @Override
-    public INullWriterFactory getNullWriterFactory() {
-        return AqlNullWriterFactory.INSTANCE;
-    }
+	@Override
+	public INullWriterFactory getNullWriterFactory() {
+		return AqlNullWriterFactory.INSTANCE;
+	}
 
-    @Override
-    public IExpressionEvalSizeComputer getExpressionEvalSizeComputer() {
-        return new IExpressionEvalSizeComputer() {
-            @Override
-            public int getEvalSize(ILogicalExpression expr, IVariableEvalSizeEnvironment env)
-                    throws AlgebricksException {
-                switch (expr.getExpressionTag()) {
-                    case CONSTANT: {
-                        ConstantExpression c = (ConstantExpression) expr;
-                        if (c == ConstantExpression.NULL) {
-                            return 1;
-                        } else if (c == ConstantExpression.FALSE || c == ConstantExpression.TRUE) {
-                            return 2;
-                        } else {
-                            AsterixConstantValue acv = (AsterixConstantValue) c.getValue();
-                            IAObject o = acv.getObject();
-                            switch (o.getType().getTypeTag()) {
-                                case DOUBLE: {
-                                    return 9;
-                                }
-                                case BOOLEAN: {
-                                    return 2;
-                                }
-                                case NULL: {
-                                    return 1;
-                                }
-                                case INT32: {
-                                    return 5;
-                                }
-                                case INT64: {
-                                    return 9;
-                                }
-                                default: {
-                                    // TODO
-                                    return -1;
-                                }
-                            }
-                        }
-                    }
-                    case FUNCTION_CALL: {
-                        AbstractFunctionCallExpression f = (AbstractFunctionCallExpression) expr;
-                        if (f.getFunctionIdentifier().equals(AsterixBuiltinFunctions.TID)) {
-                            return 5;
-                        } else {
-                            // TODO
-                            return -1;
-                        }
-                    }
-                    default: {
-                        // TODO
-                        return -1;
-                    }
-                }
-            }
-        };
-    }
+	@Override
+	public IExpressionEvalSizeComputer getExpressionEvalSizeComputer() {
+		return new IExpressionEvalSizeComputer() {
+			@Override
+			public int getEvalSize(ILogicalExpression expr,
+					IVariableEvalSizeEnvironment env)
+					throws AlgebricksException {
+				switch (expr.getExpressionTag()) {
+				case CONSTANT: {
+					ConstantExpression c = (ConstantExpression) expr;
+					if (c == ConstantExpression.NULL) {
+						return 1;
+					} else if (c == ConstantExpression.FALSE
+							|| c == ConstantExpression.TRUE) {
+						return 2;
+					} else {
+						AsterixConstantValue acv = (AsterixConstantValue) c
+								.getValue();
+						IAObject o = acv.getObject();
+						switch (o.getType().getTypeTag()) {
+						case DOUBLE: {
+							return 9;
+						}
+						case BOOLEAN: {
+							return 2;
+						}
+						case NULL: {
+							return 1;
+						}
+						case INT32: {
+							return 5;
+						}
+						case INT64: {
+							return 9;
+						}
+						default: {
+							// TODO
+							return -1;
+						}
+						}
+					}
+				}
+				case FUNCTION_CALL: {
+					AbstractFunctionCallExpression f = (AbstractFunctionCallExpression) expr;
+					if (f.getFunctionIdentifier().equals(
+							AsterixBuiltinFunctions.TID)) {
+						return 5;
+					} else {
+						// TODO
+						return -1;
+					}
+				}
+				default: {
+					// TODO
+					return -1;
+				}
+				}
+			}
+		};
+	}
 
-    @Override
-    public INormalizedKeyComputerFactoryProvider getNormalizedKeyComputerFactoryProvider() {
-        return AqlNormalizedKeyComputerFactoryProvider.INSTANCE;
-    }
+	@Override
+	public INormalizedKeyComputerFactoryProvider getNormalizedKeyComputerFactoryProvider() {
+		return AqlNormalizedKeyComputerFactoryProvider.INSTANCE;
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	public IBinaryHashFunctionFamilyProvider getBinaryHashFunctionFamilyProvider() {
+		return AqlBinaryHashFunctionFamilyProvider.INSTANCE;
+	}
 
 }
diff --git a/asterix-tools/pom.xml b/asterix-tools/pom.xml
index 5a8ea70..62176d9 100644
--- a/asterix-tools/pom.xml
+++ b/asterix-tools/pom.xml
@@ -1,13 +1,12 @@
-<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
+<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+	xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
 	<modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
 	<parent>
 		<artifactId>asterix</artifactId>
 		<groupId>edu.uci.ics.asterix</groupId>
 		<version>0.0.4-SNAPSHOT</version>
 	</parent>
-	<groupId>edu.uci.ics.asterix</groupId>
 	<artifactId>asterix-tools</artifactId>
-	<version>0.0.4-SNAPSHOT</version>
 
 	<build>
 		<plugins>
@@ -21,6 +20,29 @@
 				</configuration>
 			</plugin>
 			<plugin>
+				<artifactId>maven-jar-plugin</artifactId>
+				<executions>
+					<execution>
+						<id>aqlclient</id>
+						<goals>
+							<goal>jar</goal>
+						</goals>
+						<phase>package</phase>
+						<configuration>
+							<classifier>aqlclient</classifier>
+							<archive>
+								<manifest>
+									<MainClass>edu.uci.ics.asterix.tools.aqlclient.AqlClient</MainClass>
+								</manifest>
+							</archive>
+							<includes>
+								<include>**/uci/ics/asterix/tools/aqlclient/*</include>
+							</includes>
+						</configuration>
+					</execution>
+				</executions>
+			</plugin>
+			<plugin>
 				<artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
 				<version>2.7.2</version>
 				<executions>
@@ -112,6 +134,18 @@
 			<scope>compile</scope>
 		</dependency>
 		<dependency>
+			<groupId>org.apache.httpcomponents</groupId>
+			<artifactId>httpclient</artifactId>
+			<version>4.2.2</version>
+			<scope>compile</scope>
+		</dependency>
+		<dependency>
+			<groupId>org.apache.httpcomponents</groupId>
+			<artifactId>httpcore</artifactId>
+			<version>4.2.2</version>
+			<scope>compile</scope>
+		</dependency>
+		<dependency>
 			<groupId>junit</groupId>
 			<artifactId>junit</artifactId>
 			<version>4.8.1</version>
diff --git a/asterix-tools/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/tools/aqlclient/AqlClient.java b/asterix-tools/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/tools/aqlclient/AqlClient.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..911b68b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-tools/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/tools/aqlclient/AqlClient.java
@@ -0,0 +1,176 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2009-2010 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.tools.aqlclient;
+
+import java.io.BufferedReader;
+import java.io.File;
+import java.io.FileReader;
+import java.io.PrintWriter;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.List;
+
+import org.apache.http.HttpEntity;
+import org.apache.http.HttpResponse;
+import org.apache.http.NameValuePair;
+import org.apache.http.client.entity.UrlEncodedFormEntity;
+import org.apache.http.client.methods.HttpPost;
+import org.apache.http.impl.client.DefaultHttpClient;
+import org.apache.http.message.BasicNameValuePair;
+import org.apache.http.util.EntityUtils;
+
+/**
+ * This class is to automate AQL queries for benchmarking.
+ * The code is written by Pouria for the purpose of benchmarking ASTERIX.
+ */
+public class AqlClient {
+
+    static ArrayList<String> qFiles;
+    static ArrayList<String> qNames;
+
+    /*
+     * This code loads a set of AQL-Queries and runs them against Asterix. It
+     * runs the queries for a number of iterations, specified by the user. For
+     * each query it shows the Hyracks time, Asterix Time, and Client time on
+     * the screen, while it also dumps its stats into an output file, to make it
+     * persistent for future use/reference.
+     */
+    public static void main(String args[]) throws Exception {
+        /*
+         * Arguments: args0 - Path to the file, that contains list of query
+         * files. The assumption is that each AQL query, is saved in a file, and
+         * its path is mentioned in arg[0]. Each line of arg[0] file, denotes
+         * one query file. args1 - IP-Address of CC args2 - Path to the output
+         * file, for dumping stats args3 - Number of iterations, you want the
+         * simulation to be run args4 - Set it to true, so you stats, on the
+         * console, as queries are running.
+         */
+        if (args.length != 5) {
+            System.out
+                    .println("Usage: [0]=List-of-Query-Files, [1]=ccIPadr, [2]=outputFile, [3]=Iteration# , [4]=boolean-showOnConsole ");
+            return;
+        }
+        qFiles = new ArrayList<String>();
+        qNames = new ArrayList<String>();
+
+        loadQueriesPaths(args[0]);
+        String ccUrl = args[1];
+        String outputFile = args[2];
+        int iteration = Integer.parseInt(args[3]);
+        boolean showOnConsole = Boolean.parseBoolean(args[4]);
+
+        PrintWriter pw = new PrintWriter(new File(outputFile));
+        pw.println("Code\tStatus\tName\tHyracksTime\tAsterixTime\tClientTime\n");
+
+        DefaultHttpClient httpclient = new DefaultHttpClient();
+        HttpPost httpPost = new HttpPost("http://" + ccUrl + ":19001");
+        List<NameValuePair> nvps = new ArrayList<NameValuePair>();
+        nvps.add(new BasicNameValuePair("hyracks-port", "1098"));
+        nvps.add(new BasicNameValuePair("hyracks-ip", ccUrl));
+        nvps.add(new BasicNameValuePair("display-result", "true"));
+        nvps.add(new BasicNameValuePair("query", null)); // it will get its
+                                                         // value in the loop
+                                                         // below
+
+        int ixToremove = nvps.size() - 1;
+        try {
+            for (int i = 0; i < iteration; i++) {
+                for (int x = 0; x < qFiles.size(); x++) {
+                    nvps.remove(ixToremove);
+                    String query = readQueryFromFile(qFiles.get(x));
+                    String qName = qNames.get(x);
+                    System.out.println("\n\nNow Running Query " + qName + " in iteration " + i);
+                    nvps.add(new BasicNameValuePair("query", query));
+
+                    httpPost.setEntity(new UrlEncodedFormEntity(nvps));
+                    long s = System.currentTimeMillis();
+                    HttpResponse response = httpclient.execute(httpPost);
+                    long e = System.currentTimeMillis();
+
+                    String status = response.getStatusLine().toString();
+                    HttpEntity entity = response.getEntity();
+                    String content = EntityUtils.toString(entity);
+                    EntityUtils.consume(entity);
+
+                    double[] times = extractStats(content);
+                    double endToend = ((double) (e - s)) / 1000.00; // This is
+                                                                    // the
+                                                                    // client-time
+                                                                    // (end to
+                                                                    // end delay
+                                                                    // from
+                                                                    // client's
+                                                                    // perspective)
+                    pw.print(status + "\t" + qName + "\t" + times[0] + "\t" + times[1] + "\t" + endToend + "\n");
+
+                    if (showOnConsole) {
+                        // System.out.println("Iteration "+i+"\n"+content+"\n");
+                        // //Uncomment this line, if you want to see the whole
+                        // content of the returned HTML page
+                        System.out.print(qName + "\t" + status + "\t" + times[0] + "\t" + times[1] + "\t" + endToend
+                                + " (iteration " + (i) + ")\n");
+                    }
+                }
+                pw.println();
+            }
+        } finally {
+            pw.close();
+            httpPost.releaseConnection();
+        }
+
+    }
+
+    // Assumption: It contains one query file path per line
+    private static void loadQueriesPaths(String qFilesPath) throws Exception {
+        BufferedReader in = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(qFilesPath));
+        String str;
+        while ((str = in.readLine()) != null) {
+            qFiles.add(str.trim());
+            int nameIx = str.lastIndexOf('/');
+            qNames.add(new String(str.substring(nameIx + 1)));
+        }
+        in.close();
+    }
+
+    private static String readQueryFromFile(String filePath) throws Exception {
+        BufferedReader in = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(filePath));
+        String query = "";
+        String str;
+        while ((str = in.readLine()) != null) {
+            query += str + "\n";
+        }
+        in.close();
+        return query;
+    }
+
+    private static double[] extractStats(String content) {
+        int hyracksTimeIx = content.indexOf("<PRE>Duration:");
+        if (hyracksTimeIx < 0) {
+            return new double[] { -1, -1 };
+        }
+        int endHyracksTimeIx = content.indexOf("</PRE>", hyracksTimeIx);
+        double hTime = Double.parseDouble(content.substring(hyracksTimeIx + 14, endHyracksTimeIx));
+
+        int totalTimeSIx = content.indexOf("Duration", endHyracksTimeIx);
+        if (totalTimeSIx < 0) {
+            return new double[] { hTime, -1 };
+        }
+        int totalTimeEIx = content.indexOf("\n", totalTimeSIx);
+        double tTime = Double.parseDouble(content.substring(totalTimeSIx + 10, totalTimeEIx));
+
+        return new double[] { hTime, tTime };
+    }
+
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/asterix-transactions/pom.xml b/asterix-transactions/pom.xml
index c440c2a..7db5cd9 100644
--- a/asterix-transactions/pom.xml
+++ b/asterix-transactions/pom.xml
@@ -28,9 +28,6 @@
 	    <dependency>
   		<groupId>edu.uci.ics.hyracks</groupId>
   		<artifactId>hyracks-storage-am-common</artifactId>
-  		<version>0.2.2-SNAPSHOT</version>
-  		<type>jar</type>
-  		<scope>compile</scope>
   	</dependency>
 	</dependencies>
 </project>
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 506d57d..fadaa0b 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -6,6 +6,11 @@
 	<version>0.0.4-SNAPSHOT</version>
 	<packaging>pom</packaging>
 
+    <properties>
+    	<algebricks.version>0.2.3-SNAPSHOT</algebricks.version>
+    	<hyracks.version>0.2.3-SNAPSHOT</hyracks.version>
+    </properties>
+
 	<build>
 		<plugins>
 			<plugin>
@@ -137,4 +142,65 @@
             <optional>true</optional>
         </dependency>
     </dependencies>
+        <dependencyManagement>
+    	<dependencies>
+    		<dependency>
+    			<groupId>edu.uci.ics.hyracks</groupId>
+    			<artifactId>algebricks-compiler</artifactId>
+    			<version>${algebricks.version}</version>
+    		</dependency>
+    		<dependency>
+    			<groupId>edu.uci.ics.hyracks</groupId>
+    			<artifactId>hyracks-dataflow-std</artifactId>
+    			<version>${hyracks.version}</version>
+    		</dependency>
+    		<dependency>
+    			<groupId>edu.uci.ics.hyracks</groupId>
+    			<artifactId>hyracks-control-cc</artifactId>
+    			<version>${hyracks.version}</version>
+    		</dependency>
+    		<dependency>
+    			<groupId>edu.uci.ics.hyracks</groupId>
+    			<artifactId>hyracks-control-nc</artifactId>
+    			<version>${hyracks.version}</version>
+    		</dependency>
+    		<dependency>
+    			<groupId>edu.uci.ics.hyracks</groupId>
+    			<artifactId>hyracks-server</artifactId>
+    			<version>${hyracks.version}</version>
+    		</dependency>
+    		<dependency>
+    			<groupId>edu.uci.ics.hyracks</groupId>
+    			<artifactId>hyracks-cli</artifactId>
+    			<version>${hyracks.version}</version>
+    		</dependency>
+    		<dependency>
+    			<groupId>edu.uci.ics.hyracks</groupId>
+    			<artifactId>hyracks-dataflow-hadoop</artifactId>
+    			<version>${hyracks.version}</version>
+    		</dependency>
+    		<dependency>
+    			<groupId>edu.uci.ics.hyracks</groupId>
+    			<artifactId>hyracks-storage-am-btree</artifactId>
+    			<version>${hyracks.version}</version>
+    		</dependency>
+    		<dependency>
+    			<groupId>edu.uci.ics.hyracks</groupId>
+    			<artifactId>hyracks-storage-am-rtree</artifactId>
+    			<version>${hyracks.version}</version>
+    		</dependency>
+    		<dependency>
+    			<groupId>edu.uci.ics.hyracks</groupId>
+    			<artifactId>
+    				hyracks-storage-am-invertedindex
+    			</artifactId>
+    			<version>${hyracks.version}</version>
+    		</dependency>
+    		<dependency>
+    			<groupId>edu.uci.ics.hyracks</groupId>
+    			<artifactId>hyracks-storage-am-common</artifactId>
+    			<version>${hyracks.version}</version>
+    		</dependency>
+    	</dependencies>
+    </dependencyManagement>
 </project>