diff --git a/asterix-app/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/app/external/FeedOperations.java b/asterix-app/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/app/external/FeedOperations.java
index 5cd490a..b98618d 100644
--- a/asterix-app/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/app/external/FeedOperations.java
+++ b/asterix-app/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/app/external/FeedOperations.java
@@ -71,26 +71,17 @@
      */
     public static Pair<JobSpecification, IAdapterFactory> buildFeedIntakeJobSpec(Feed primaryFeed,
             AqlMetadataProvider metadataProvider, FeedPolicyAccessor policyAccessor) throws Exception {
-
         JobSpecification spec = JobSpecificationUtils.createJobSpecification();
         spec.setFrameSize(FeedConstants.JobConstants.DEFAULT_FRAME_SIZE);
         IAdapterFactory adapterFactory = null;
         IOperatorDescriptor feedIngestor;
         AlgebricksPartitionConstraint ingesterPc;
-
-        try {
-            Triple<IOperatorDescriptor, AlgebricksPartitionConstraint, IAdapterFactory> t = metadataProvider
-                    .buildFeedIntakeRuntime(spec, primaryFeed, policyAccessor);
-            feedIngestor = t.first;
-            ingesterPc = t.second;
-            adapterFactory = t.third;
-        } catch (AlgebricksException e) {
-            e.printStackTrace();
-            throw new AsterixException(e);
-        }
-
+        Triple<IOperatorDescriptor, AlgebricksPartitionConstraint, IAdapterFactory> t = metadataProvider
+                .buildFeedIntakeRuntime(spec, primaryFeed, policyAccessor);
+        feedIngestor = t.first;
+        ingesterPc = t.second;
+        adapterFactory = t.third;
         AlgebricksPartitionConstraintHelper.setPartitionConstraintInJobSpec(spec, feedIngestor, ingesterPc);
-
         NullSinkOperatorDescriptor nullSink = new NullSinkOperatorDescriptor(spec);
         AlgebricksPartitionConstraintHelper.setPartitionConstraintInJobSpec(spec, nullSink, ingesterPc);
         spec.connect(new OneToOneConnectorDescriptor(spec), feedIngestor, 0, nullSink, 0);
@@ -252,7 +243,7 @@
     private static Pair<IOperatorDescriptor, AlgebricksPartitionConstraint> buildDisconnectFeedMessengerRuntime(
             JobSpecification jobSpec, FeedConnectionId feedConenctionId, List<String> locations,
             FeedRuntimeType sourceFeedRuntimeType, boolean completeDisconnection, FeedId sourceFeedId)
-                    throws AlgebricksException {
+            throws AlgebricksException {
         IFeedMessage feedMessage = new EndFeedMessage(feedConenctionId, sourceFeedRuntimeType, sourceFeedId,
                 completeDisconnection, EndFeedMessage.EndMessageType.DISCONNECT_FEED);
         return buildSendFeedMessageRuntime(jobSpec, feedConenctionId, feedMessage, locations);
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/external-indexing/rc-format/rc-format.1.ddl.aql b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/external-indexing/rc-format/rc-format.1.ddl.aql
index 5a7294c..4ffc5a7 100644
--- a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/external-indexing/rc-format/rc-format.1.ddl.aql
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/external-indexing/rc-format/rc-format.1.ddl.aql
@@ -36,6 +36,11 @@
 
 create external dataset EmployeeDataset(EmployeeType)
 using hdfs
-(("hdfs"="hdfs://127.0.0.1:31888"),("path"="/asterix/external-indexing-test.rc"),("input-format"="rc-input-format"),("format"="binary"),("parser"="hive-parser"),("hive-serde"="org.apache.hadoop.hive.serde2.columnar.ColumnarSerDe"));
+(("hdfs"="hdfs://127.0.0.1:31888"),
+("path"="/asterix/external-indexing-test.rc"),
+("input-format"="rc-input-format"),
+("format"="hdfs-writable"),
+("parser"="hive-parser"),
+("hive-serde"="org.apache.hadoop.hive.serde2.columnar.ColumnarSerDe"));
 
 create index EmployeeAgeIdx on EmployeeDataset(age);
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/external/invalid-format/invalid-format.1.ddl.aql b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/external/invalid-format/invalid-format.1.ddl.aql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7c668e4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/external/invalid-format/invalid-format.1.ddl.aql
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you 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 at
+ *
+ *   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.
+ */
+/**
+ * Testing an external dataset with invalid adapter format parameter value
+ * Expected result: fail - Unknown data format.
+ */
+
+drop dataverse temp if exists;
+create dataverse temp
+use dataverse temp;
+
+create type test as closed {
+  id: int32
+};
+
+create external dataset testds (test) using localfs(
+("path"="asterix_nc1://data/csv/sample_04_quote_error.csv"),
+("format"="add"));
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/external/invalid-format/invalid-format.2.query.aql b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/external/invalid-format/invalid-format.2.query.aql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..438e0b6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/external/invalid-format/invalid-format.2.query.aql
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you 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 at
+ *
+ *   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.
+ */
+/**
+ * Testing an external dataset with invalid adapter format parameter value
+ * Expected result: fail - Unknown data format.
+ */
+
+use dataverse temp;
+
+for $i in dataset testds
+return $i;
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/feeds/twitter-feed/twitter-feed.1.ddl.aql b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/feeds/twitter-feed/twitter-feed.1.ddl.aql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d7827c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/feeds/twitter-feed/twitter-feed.1.ddl.aql
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you 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 at
+ *
+ *   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.
+ */
+/*
+ * Description  : Create a twitter feed with missing parameters
+ * Expected Res : Failure
+ */
+
+drop dataverse feeds if exists;
+create dataverse feeds;
+use dataverse feeds;
+
+create type TwitterUser if not exists as open{
+screen_name: string,
+language: string,
+friends_count: int32,
+status_count: int32,
+name: string,
+followers_count: int32
+};
+
+create type Tweet if not exists as open{
+id: string,
+user: TwitterUser,
+latitude:double,
+longitude:double,
+created_at:string,
+message_text:string
+};
+
+create dataset Tweets (Tweet)
+primary key id;
+
+create feed TwitterFeed using push_twitter(
+("type-name"="Tweet"),
+("format"="twitter-status"),
+("consumer.key"="************"),
+("access.token"="**********"),
+("access.token.secret"="*************"));
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/feeds/twitter-feed/twitter-feed.2.update.aql b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/feeds/twitter-feed/twitter-feed.2.update.aql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6712969
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/feeds/twitter-feed/twitter-feed.2.update.aql
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you 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 at
+ *
+ *   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.
+ */
+/*
+ * Description  : Create a twitter feed with missing parameters
+ * Expected Res : Failure
+ */
+
+use dataverse feeds;
+connect feed TwitterFeed to dataset Tweets;
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/hdfs/large-record/large-record.1.ddl.aql b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/hdfs/large-record/large-record.1.ddl.aql
index 000ef5b..4e306b3 100644
--- a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/hdfs/large-record/large-record.1.ddl.aql
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/hdfs/large-record/large-record.1.ddl.aql
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
 create external dataset EmployeeDataset(EmployeeType)
 using adapter
 (("reader"="hdfs"),
-("parser"="delimited-text"),
+("format"="delimited-text"),
 ("hdfs"="hdfs://127.0.0.1:31888"),
 ("path"="/asterix/large-record.txt"),
 ("input-format"="text-input-format"),
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/external-indexing/rc-format/rc-format.1.ddl.sqlpp b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/external-indexing/rc-format/rc-format.1.ddl.sqlpp
index b14f3cb..4736dee 100644
--- a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/external-indexing/rc-format/rc-format.1.ddl.sqlpp
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/external-indexing/rc-format/rc-format.1.ddl.sqlpp
@@ -37,7 +37,13 @@
   age : int64
 }
 
-create external  table EmployeeDataset(EmployeeType) using "hdfs"(("hdfs"="hdfs://127.0.0.1:31888"),("path"="/asterix/external-indexing-test.rc"),("input-format"="rc-input-format"),("format"="binary"),("parser"="hive-parser"),("hive-serde"="org.apache.hadoop.hive.serde2.columnar.ColumnarSerDe"));
+create external  table EmployeeDataset(EmployeeType) using "hdfs"(
+("hdfs"="hdfs://127.0.0.1:31888"),
+("path"="/asterix/external-indexing-test.rc"),
+("input-format"="rc-input-format"),
+("format"="hdfs-writable"),
+("parser"="hive-parser"),
+("hive-serde"="org.apache.hadoop.hive.serde2.columnar.ColumnarSerDe"));
 
 create  index EmployeeAgeIdx  on EmployeeDataset (age) type btree;
 
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/testsuite.xml b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/testsuite.xml
index 3a5140c..40ba82d 100644
--- a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/testsuite.xml
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/testsuite.xml
@@ -28,6 +28,46 @@
         ResultOffsetPath="results"
         QueryOffsetPath="queries"
         QueryFileExtension=".aql">
+    <test-group name="external">
+        <test-case FilePath="external">
+            <compilation-unit name="invalid-format">
+                <output-dir compare="Text">invalid-format</output-dir>
+                <expected-error>Unknown format</expected-error>
+            </compilation-unit>
+        </test-case>
+    </test-group>
+    <test-group name="external-indexing">
+        <test-case FilePath="external-indexing">
+            <compilation-unit name="text-format">
+                <output-dir compare="Text">text-format</output-dir>
+            </compilation-unit>
+        </test-case>
+        <test-case FilePath="external-indexing">
+            <compilation-unit name="sequence-format">
+                <output-dir compare="Text">sequence-format</output-dir>
+            </compilation-unit>
+        </test-case>
+        <test-case FilePath="external-indexing">
+            <compilation-unit name="rc-format">
+                <output-dir compare="Text">rc-format</output-dir>
+            </compilation-unit>
+        </test-case>
+        <test-case FilePath="external-indexing">
+            <compilation-unit name="rtree-index">
+                <output-dir compare="Text">rtree-index</output-dir>
+            </compilation-unit>
+        </test-case>
+        <test-case FilePath="external-indexing">
+            <compilation-unit name="leftouterjoin">
+                <output-dir compare="Text">leftouterjoin</output-dir>
+            </compilation-unit>
+        </test-case>
+        <test-case FilePath="external-indexing">
+            <compilation-unit name="leftouterjoin-rtree">
+                <output-dir compare="Text">leftouterjoin-rtree</output-dir>
+            </compilation-unit>
+        </test-case>
+    </test-group>
     <test-group name="external-library">
         <test-case FilePath="external-library">
             <compilation-unit name="typed_adapter">
@@ -52,6 +92,12 @@
     </test-group>
     <test-group name="feeds">
         <test-case FilePath="feeds">
+            <compilation-unit name="twitter-feed">
+                <output-dir compare="Text">twitter-feed</output-dir>
+                <expected-error>One or more parameters are missing from adapter configuration</expected-error>
+            </compilation-unit>
+        </test-case>
+        <test-case FilePath="feeds">
             <compilation-unit name="feed-with-external-parser">
                 <output-dir compare="Text">feed-with-external-parser</output-dir>
             </compilation-unit>
@@ -6256,13 +6302,13 @@
         <test-case FilePath="load">
             <compilation-unit name="issue14_query">
                 <output-dir compare="Text">issue14_query</output-dir>
-                <expected-error>org.apache.asterix.common.exceptions.AsterixException: The parameter parser must be specified</expected-error>
+                <expected-error>The parameter format must be specified</expected-error>
             </compilation-unit>
         </test-case>
         <test-case FilePath="load">
             <compilation-unit name="issue315_query">
                 <output-dir compare="Text">none</output-dir>
-                <expected-error>org.apache.asterix.common.exceptions.AsterixException: The parameter parser must be specified</expected-error>
+                <expected-error>The parameter format must be specified</expected-error>
             </compilation-unit>
         </test-case>
         <test-case FilePath="load">
@@ -6390,38 +6436,6 @@
             </compilation-unit>
         </test-case>
     </test-group>
-    <test-group name="external-indexing">
-        <test-case FilePath="external-indexing">
-            <compilation-unit name="text-format">
-                <output-dir compare="Text">text-format</output-dir>
-            </compilation-unit>
-        </test-case>
-        <test-case FilePath="external-indexing">
-            <compilation-unit name="sequence-format">
-                <output-dir compare="Text">sequence-format</output-dir>
-            </compilation-unit>
-        </test-case>
-        <test-case FilePath="external-indexing">
-            <compilation-unit name="rc-format">
-                <output-dir compare="Text">rc-format</output-dir>
-            </compilation-unit>
-        </test-case>
-        <test-case FilePath="external-indexing">
-            <compilation-unit name="rtree-index">
-                <output-dir compare="Text">rtree-index</output-dir>
-            </compilation-unit>
-        </test-case>
-        <test-case FilePath="external-indexing">
-            <compilation-unit name="leftouterjoin">
-                <output-dir compare="Text">leftouterjoin</output-dir>
-            </compilation-unit>
-        </test-case>
-        <test-case FilePath="external-indexing">
-            <compilation-unit name="leftouterjoin-rtree">
-                <output-dir compare="Text">leftouterjoin-rtree</output-dir>
-            </compilation-unit>
-        </test-case>
-    </test-group>
     <test-group name="temporal">
         <test-case FilePath="temporal">
             <compilation-unit name="overlap_bins_gby_3">
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/testsuite_sqlpp.xml b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/testsuite_sqlpp.xml
index c343570..f5bb7ce 100644
--- a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/testsuite_sqlpp.xml
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/testsuite_sqlpp.xml
@@ -6233,13 +6233,13 @@
         <test-case FilePath="load">
             <compilation-unit name="issue14_query">
                 <output-dir compare="Text">issue14_query</output-dir>
-                <expected-error>org.apache.asterix.common.exceptions.AsterixException: The parameter parser must be specified</expected-error>
+                <expected-error>The parameter format must be specified</expected-error>
             </compilation-unit>
         </test-case>
         <test-case FilePath="load">
             <compilation-unit name="issue315_query">
                 <output-dir compare="Text">none</output-dir>
-                <expected-error>org.apache.asterix.common.exceptions.AsterixException: The parameter parser must be specified</expected-error>
+                <expected-error>The parameter format must be specified</expected-error>
             </compilation-unit>
         </test-case>
         <test-case FilePath="load">