diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/app/io/PersistedResourceRegistry.java b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/app/io/PersistedResourceRegistry.java
index 4cc6e43..35ee6dd 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/app/io/PersistedResourceRegistry.java
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/app/io/PersistedResourceRegistry.java
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@
 import org.apache.asterix.dataflow.data.nontagged.comparators.ListItemBinaryComparatorFactory;
 import org.apache.asterix.dataflow.data.nontagged.valueproviders.PrimitiveValueProviderFactory;
 import org.apache.asterix.formats.nontagged.AnyBinaryComparatorFactory;
+import org.apache.asterix.formats.nontagged.NullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.asterix.formats.nontagged.OrderedBinaryComparatorFactory;
 import org.apache.asterix.formats.nontagged.OrderedLinearizeComparatorFactory;
 import org.apache.asterix.metadata.utils.SecondaryCorrelatedTreeIndexOperationsHelper;
@@ -175,6 +176,9 @@
         registeredClasses.put("FixedLengthTypeTrait", FixedLengthTypeTrait.class);
         registeredClasses.put("VarLengthTypeTrait", VarLengthTypeTrait.class);
 
+        // INullIntrospector
+        registeredClasses.put("NullIntrospector", NullIntrospector.class);
+
         // ILSMOperationTrackerFactory
         registeredClasses.put("PrimaryIndexOperationTrackerFactory", PrimaryIndexOperationTrackerFactory.class);
         registeredClasses.put("SecondaryIndexOperationTrackerFactory", SecondaryIndexOperationTrackerFactory.class);
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/metadata/MetadataNode.java b/asterixdb/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/metadata/MetadataNode.java
index f8ba574..9975f4c 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/metadata/MetadataNode.java
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/metadata/MetadataNode.java
@@ -50,7 +50,9 @@
 import org.apache.asterix.common.transactions.TxnId;
 import org.apache.asterix.common.utils.StoragePathUtil;
 import org.apache.asterix.external.indexing.ExternalFile;
+import org.apache.asterix.formats.nontagged.NullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.asterix.formats.nontagged.SerializerDeserializerProvider;
+import org.apache.asterix.formats.nontagged.TypeTraitProvider;
 import org.apache.asterix.metadata.api.ExtensionMetadataDataset;
 import org.apache.asterix.metadata.api.ExtensionMetadataDatasetId;
 import org.apache.asterix.metadata.api.IExtensionMetadataEntity;
@@ -1539,7 +1541,8 @@
 
     private ITupleReference getTupleToBeDeleted(TxnId txnId, IMetadataIndex metadataIndex, ITupleReference searchKey)
             throws AlgebricksException, HyracksDataException {
-        IValueExtractor<ITupleReference> valueExtractor = new TupleCopyValueExtractor(metadataIndex.getTypeTraits());
+        IValueExtractor<ITupleReference> valueExtractor = new TupleCopyValueExtractor(metadataIndex.getTypeTraits(),
+                TypeTraitProvider.INSTANCE.getTypeTrait(BuiltinType.ANULL), NullIntrospector.INSTANCE);
         List<ITupleReference> results = new ArrayList<>();
         searchIndex(txnId, metadataIndex, searchKey, valueExtractor, results);
         if (results.isEmpty()) {
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/metadata/bootstrap/MetadataBootstrap.java b/asterixdb/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/metadata/bootstrap/MetadataBootstrap.java
index 047b823..125db21 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/metadata/bootstrap/MetadataBootstrap.java
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/metadata/bootstrap/MetadataBootstrap.java
@@ -45,6 +45,8 @@
 import org.apache.asterix.external.api.ITypedAdapterFactory;
 import org.apache.asterix.external.dataset.adapter.AdapterIdentifier;
 import org.apache.asterix.external.indexing.ExternalFile;
+import org.apache.asterix.formats.nontagged.NullIntrospector;
+import org.apache.asterix.formats.nontagged.TypeTraitProvider;
 import org.apache.asterix.metadata.IDatasetDetails;
 import org.apache.asterix.metadata.MetadataManager;
 import org.apache.asterix.metadata.MetadataNode;
@@ -66,6 +68,7 @@
 import org.apache.asterix.metadata.feeds.BuiltinFeedPolicies;
 import org.apache.asterix.metadata.utils.MetadataConstants;
 import org.apache.asterix.metadata.utils.MetadataUtil;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.types.BuiltinType;
 import org.apache.asterix.om.types.IAType;
 import org.apache.asterix.runtime.formats.NonTaggedDataFormat;
 import org.apache.asterix.transaction.management.opcallbacks.PrimaryIndexOperationTrackerFactory;
@@ -428,7 +431,8 @@
                             storageComponentProvider.getIoOperationSchedulerProvider(),
                             appContext.getMetadataMergePolicyFactory(),
                             StorageConstants.DEFAULT_COMPACTION_POLICY_PROPERTIES, true, bloomFilterKeyFields,
-                            bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, true, null, NoOpCompressorDecompressorFactory.INSTANCE, true);
+                            bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, true, null, NoOpCompressorDecompressorFactory.INSTANCE, true,
+                            TypeTraitProvider.INSTANCE.getTypeTrait(BuiltinType.ANULL), NullIntrospector.INSTANCE);
             DatasetLocalResourceFactory dsLocalResourceFactory =
                     new DatasetLocalResourceFactory(datasetId, lsmBtreeFactory);
             // TODO(amoudi) Creating the index should be done through the same code path as
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/metadata/declared/ArrayBTreeResourceFactoryProvider.java b/asterixdb/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/metadata/declared/ArrayBTreeResourceFactoryProvider.java
index 7c19282..5654d16 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/metadata/declared/ArrayBTreeResourceFactoryProvider.java
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/metadata/declared/ArrayBTreeResourceFactoryProvider.java
@@ -26,12 +26,14 @@
 import org.apache.asterix.common.context.IStorageComponentProvider;
 import org.apache.asterix.common.exceptions.CompilationException;
 import org.apache.asterix.common.exceptions.ErrorCode;
+import org.apache.asterix.formats.nontagged.NullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.asterix.metadata.api.IResourceFactoryProvider;
 import org.apache.asterix.metadata.entities.Dataset;
 import org.apache.asterix.metadata.entities.Index;
 import org.apache.asterix.metadata.utils.ArrayIndexUtil;
 import org.apache.asterix.metadata.utils.IndexUtil;
 import org.apache.asterix.om.types.ARecordType;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.types.BuiltinType;
 import org.apache.asterix.om.types.IAType;
 import org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.common.exceptions.AlgebricksException;
 import org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.common.utils.Pair;
@@ -66,6 +68,7 @@
         int[] filterFields = IndexUtil.getFilterFields(dataset, index, filterTypeTraits);
         int[] btreeFields = IndexUtil.getBtreeFieldsIfFiltered(dataset, index);
         IStorageComponentProvider storageComponentProvider = mdProvider.getStorageComponentProvider();
+        ITypeTraitProvider typeTraitProvider = storageComponentProvider.getTypeTraitProvider();
         ITypeTraits[] typeTraits = getTypeTraits(mdProvider, dataset, index, recordType, metaType);
         IBinaryComparatorFactory[] cmpFactories = getCmpFactories(mdProvider, dataset, index, recordType, metaType);
         double bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate = mdProvider.getStorageProperties().getBloomFilterFalsePositiveRate();
@@ -97,7 +100,8 @@
                         filterCmpFactories, filterFields, opTrackerFactory, ioOpCallbackFactory,
                         pageWriteCallbackFactory, metadataPageManagerFactory, vbcProvider, ioSchedulerProvider,
                         mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties, true, null, bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate,
-                        index.isPrimaryIndex(), btreeFields, compDecompFactory, false);
+                        index.isPrimaryIndex(), btreeFields, compDecompFactory, false,
+                        typeTraitProvider.getTypeTrait(BuiltinType.ANULL), NullIntrospector.INSTANCE);
             default:
                 throw new CompilationException(ErrorCode.COMPILATION_UNKNOWN_DATASET_TYPE,
                         dataset.getDatasetType().toString());
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/metadata/declared/BTreeResourceFactoryProvider.java b/asterixdb/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/metadata/declared/BTreeResourceFactoryProvider.java
index 7f56f2c..6276044 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/metadata/declared/BTreeResourceFactoryProvider.java
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/metadata/declared/BTreeResourceFactoryProvider.java
@@ -28,11 +28,13 @@
 import org.apache.asterix.common.exceptions.ErrorCode;
 import org.apache.asterix.external.indexing.FilesIndexDescription;
 import org.apache.asterix.external.indexing.IndexingConstants;
+import org.apache.asterix.formats.nontagged.NullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.asterix.metadata.api.IResourceFactoryProvider;
 import org.apache.asterix.metadata.entities.Dataset;
 import org.apache.asterix.metadata.entities.Index;
 import org.apache.asterix.metadata.utils.IndexUtil;
 import org.apache.asterix.om.types.ARecordType;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.types.BuiltinType;
 import org.apache.asterix.om.types.IAType;
 import org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.common.exceptions.AlgebricksException;
 import org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.common.utils.Pair;
@@ -82,6 +84,7 @@
         ILSMIOOperationSchedulerProvider ioSchedulerProvider =
                 storageComponentProvider.getIoOperationSchedulerProvider();
         boolean hasBloomFilter = bloomFilterFields != null;
+        ITypeTraitProvider typeTraitProvider = mdProvider.getDataFormat().getTypeTraitProvider();
         switch (dataset.getDatasetType()) {
             case EXTERNAL:
                 return index.getIndexName().equals(IndexingConstants.getFilesIndexName(dataset.getDatasetName()))
@@ -89,12 +92,14 @@
                                 filterTypeTraits, filterCmpFactories, filterFields, opTrackerFactory,
                                 ioOpCallbackFactory, pageWriteCallbackFactory, metadataPageManagerFactory,
                                 ioSchedulerProvider, mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties, true, bloomFilterFields,
-                                bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, false, btreeFields, hasBloomFilter)
+                                bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, false, btreeFields, hasBloomFilter,
+                                typeTraitProvider.getTypeTrait(BuiltinType.ANULL), NullIntrospector.INSTANCE)
                         : new ExternalBTreeWithBuddyLocalResourceFactory(storageManager, typeTraits, cmpFactories,
                                 filterTypeTraits, filterCmpFactories, filterFields, opTrackerFactory,
                                 ioOpCallbackFactory, pageWriteCallbackFactory, metadataPageManagerFactory,
                                 ioSchedulerProvider, mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties, true, bloomFilterFields,
-                                bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, false, btreeFields, hasBloomFilter);
+                                bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, false, btreeFields, hasBloomFilter,
+                                typeTraitProvider.getTypeTrait(BuiltinType.ANULL), NullIntrospector.INSTANCE);
             case INTERNAL:
                 AsterixVirtualBufferCacheProvider vbcProvider =
                         new AsterixVirtualBufferCacheProvider(dataset.getDatasetId());
@@ -112,7 +117,7 @@
                         pageWriteCallbackFactory, metadataPageManagerFactory, vbcProvider, ioSchedulerProvider,
                         mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties, true, bloomFilterFields,
                         bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, index.isPrimaryIndex(), btreeFields, compDecompFactory,
-                        hasBloomFilter);
+                        hasBloomFilter, typeTraitProvider.getTypeTrait(BuiltinType.ANULL), NullIntrospector.INSTANCE);
             default:
                 throw new CompilationException(ErrorCode.COMPILATION_UNKNOWN_DATASET_TYPE,
                         dataset.getDatasetType().toString());
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/metadata/valueextractors/TupleCopyValueExtractor.java b/asterixdb/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/metadata/valueextractors/TupleCopyValueExtractor.java
index c9fb39c..9b19bb5 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/metadata/valueextractors/TupleCopyValueExtractor.java
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/metadata/valueextractors/TupleCopyValueExtractor.java
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
 import org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.accessors.ITupleReference;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.tuples.TypeAwareTupleReference;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.tuples.TypeAwareTupleWriter;
 
@@ -42,8 +43,9 @@
     private byte[] tupleBytes;
     private ByteBuffer buf;
 
-    public TupleCopyValueExtractor(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits) {
-        this.tupleWriter = new TypeAwareTupleWriter(typeTraits);
+    public TupleCopyValueExtractor(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits,
+            INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) {
+        this.tupleWriter = new TypeAwareTupleWriter(typeTraits, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
         this.tupleReference = tupleWriter.createTupleReference();
     }
 
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-om/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/formats/nontagged/NullIntrospector.java b/asterixdb/asterix-om/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/formats/nontagged/NullIntrospector.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f496efe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-om/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/formats/nontagged/NullIntrospector.java
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+/*
+ * 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.
+ */
+package org.apache.asterix.formats.nontagged;
+
+import static org.apache.asterix.om.types.ATypeTag.SERIALIZED_MISSING_TYPE_TAG;
+import static org.apache.asterix.om.types.ATypeTag.SERIALIZED_NULL_TYPE_TAG;
+
+import org.apache.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
+import org.apache.hyracks.api.io.IJsonSerializable;
+import org.apache.hyracks.api.io.IPersistedResourceRegistry;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
+
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonNode;
+
+public class NullIntrospector implements INullIntrospector {
+
+    private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
+
+    public static final INullIntrospector INSTANCE = new NullIntrospector();
+
+    private NullIntrospector() {
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public boolean isNull(byte[] bytes, int offset, int length) {
+        return (bytes[offset] == SERIALIZED_MISSING_TYPE_TAG || bytes[offset] == SERIALIZED_NULL_TYPE_TAG)
+                && length == 1;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public JsonNode toJson(IPersistedResourceRegistry registry) throws HyracksDataException {
+        return registry.getClassIdentifier(getClass(), serialVersionUID);
+    }
+
+    @SuppressWarnings("squid:S1172") // unused parameter
+    public static IJsonSerializable fromJson(IPersistedResourceRegistry registry, JsonNode json) {
+        return INSTANCE;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-om/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/formats/nontagged/TypeTraitProvider.java b/asterixdb/asterix-om/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/formats/nontagged/TypeTraitProvider.java
index 1788445..97fe9c1 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-om/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/formats/nontagged/TypeTraitProvider.java
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-om/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/formats/nontagged/TypeTraitProvider.java
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 
     // WARNING: the byte sizes depend on the serializer!
     // currently assuming a serializer that adds a 1-byte type indicator before the data
+    private static final ITypeTraits ZERO_BYTE_TYPE_TRAIT = new FixedLengthTypeTrait(1);
     private static final ITypeTraits ONE_BYTE_TYPE_TRAIT = new FixedLengthTypeTrait(1 + 1);
     private static final ITypeTraits TWO_BYTE_TYPE_TRAIT = new FixedLengthTypeTrait(2 + 1);
     private static final ITypeTraits FOUR_BYTE_TYPE_TRAIT = new FixedLengthTypeTrait(4 + 1);
@@ -48,6 +49,9 @@
             return null;
         }
         switch (type.getTypeTag()) {
+            case NULL:
+            case MISSING:
+                return ZERO_BYTE_TYPE_TRAIT;
             case BOOLEAN:
             case TINYINT:
                 return ONE_BYTE_TYPE_TRAIT;
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/BTreePrimaryIndexScanOperatorTest.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/BTreePrimaryIndexScanOperatorTest.java
index 336204c..e4214cc 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/BTreePrimaryIndexScanOperatorTest.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/BTreePrimaryIndexScanOperatorTest.java
@@ -98,12 +98,12 @@
     @Override
     protected IResourceFactory createPrimaryResourceFactory() {
         return new BTreeResourceFactory(storageManager, DataSetConstants.primaryTypeTraits,
-                DataSetConstants.primaryComparatorFactories, pageManagerFactory);
+                DataSetConstants.primaryComparatorFactories, pageManagerFactory, null, null);
     }
 
     @Override
     protected IResourceFactory createSecondaryResourceFactory() {
         return new BTreeResourceFactory(storageManager, DataSetConstants.secondaryTypeTraits,
-                DataSetConstants.secondaryComparatorFactories, pageManagerFactory);
+                DataSetConstants.secondaryComparatorFactories, pageManagerFactory, null, null);
     }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/BTreePrimaryIndexSearchOperatorTest.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/BTreePrimaryIndexSearchOperatorTest.java
index 870cfe3..65bb2f0 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/BTreePrimaryIndexSearchOperatorTest.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/BTreePrimaryIndexSearchOperatorTest.java
@@ -103,12 +103,12 @@
     @Override
     protected IResourceFactory createPrimaryResourceFactory() {
         return new BTreeResourceFactory(storageManager, DataSetConstants.primaryTypeTraits,
-                DataSetConstants.primaryComparatorFactories, pageManagerFactory);
+                DataSetConstants.primaryComparatorFactories, pageManagerFactory, null, null);
     }
 
     @Override
     protected IResourceFactory createSecondaryResourceFactory() {
         return new BTreeResourceFactory(storageManager, DataSetConstants.secondaryTypeTraits,
-                DataSetConstants.secondaryComparatorFactories, pageManagerFactory);
+                DataSetConstants.secondaryComparatorFactories, pageManagerFactory, null, null);
     }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/BTreePrimaryIndexStatsOperatorTest.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/BTreePrimaryIndexStatsOperatorTest.java
index 5cffd95..a1f53bd 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/BTreePrimaryIndexStatsOperatorTest.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/BTreePrimaryIndexStatsOperatorTest.java
@@ -67,12 +67,12 @@
     @Override
     protected IResourceFactory createPrimaryResourceFactory() {
         return new BTreeResourceFactory(storageManager, DataSetConstants.primaryTypeTraits,
-                DataSetConstants.primaryComparatorFactories, pageManagerFactory);
+                DataSetConstants.primaryComparatorFactories, pageManagerFactory, null, null);
     }
 
     @Override
     protected IResourceFactory createSecondaryResourceFactory() {
         return new BTreeResourceFactory(storageManager, DataSetConstants.secondaryTypeTraits,
-                DataSetConstants.secondaryComparatorFactories, pageManagerFactory);
+                DataSetConstants.secondaryComparatorFactories, pageManagerFactory, null, null);
     }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/BTreeSecondaryIndexInsertOperatorTest.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/BTreeSecondaryIndexInsertOperatorTest.java
index b2060b6..b489474 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/BTreeSecondaryIndexInsertOperatorTest.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/BTreeSecondaryIndexInsertOperatorTest.java
@@ -121,12 +121,12 @@
     @Override
     protected IResourceFactory createPrimaryResourceFactory() {
         return new BTreeResourceFactory(storageManager, DataSetConstants.primaryTypeTraits,
-                DataSetConstants.primaryComparatorFactories, pageManagerFactory);
+                DataSetConstants.primaryComparatorFactories, pageManagerFactory, null, null);
     }
 
     @Override
     protected IResourceFactory createSecondaryResourceFactory() {
         return new BTreeResourceFactory(storageManager, DataSetConstants.secondaryTypeTraits,
-                DataSetConstants.secondaryComparatorFactories, pageManagerFactory);
+                DataSetConstants.secondaryComparatorFactories, pageManagerFactory, null, null);
     }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/BTreeSecondaryIndexSearchOperatorTest.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/BTreeSecondaryIndexSearchOperatorTest.java
index e73a11e..a1d1502 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/BTreeSecondaryIndexSearchOperatorTest.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/BTreeSecondaryIndexSearchOperatorTest.java
@@ -117,12 +117,12 @@
     @Override
     protected IResourceFactory createPrimaryResourceFactory() {
         return new BTreeResourceFactory(storageManager, DataSetConstants.primaryTypeTraits,
-                DataSetConstants.primaryComparatorFactories, pageManagerFactory);
+                DataSetConstants.primaryComparatorFactories, pageManagerFactory, null, null);
     }
 
     @Override
     protected IResourceFactory createSecondaryResourceFactory() {
         return new BTreeResourceFactory(storageManager, DataSetConstants.secondaryTypeTraits,
-                DataSetConstants.secondaryComparatorFactories, pageManagerFactory);
+                DataSetConstants.secondaryComparatorFactories, pageManagerFactory, null, null);
     }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/BTreeSecondaryIndexUpsertOperatorTest.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/BTreeSecondaryIndexUpsertOperatorTest.java
index a333dc4..f9cdfcf 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/BTreeSecondaryIndexUpsertOperatorTest.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/btree/BTreeSecondaryIndexUpsertOperatorTest.java
@@ -120,12 +120,12 @@
     @Override
     protected IResourceFactory createPrimaryResourceFactory() {
         return new BTreeResourceFactory(storageManager, DataSetConstants.primaryTypeTraits,
-                DataSetConstants.primaryComparatorFactories, pageManagerFactory);
+                DataSetConstants.primaryComparatorFactories, pageManagerFactory, null, null);
     }
 
     @Override
     protected IResourceFactory createSecondaryResourceFactory() {
         return new BTreeResourceFactory(storageManager, DataSetConstants.secondaryTypeTraits,
-                DataSetConstants.secondaryComparatorFactories, pageManagerFactory);
+                DataSetConstants.secondaryComparatorFactories, pageManagerFactory, null, null);
     }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeOperatorTestHelper.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeOperatorTestHelper.java
index d46f5f5..bcd71a3 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeOperatorTestHelper.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeOperatorTestHelper.java
@@ -49,6 +49,6 @@
                 getVirtualBufferCacheProvider(), SynchronousSchedulerProvider.INSTANCE, MERGE_POLICY_FACTORY,
                 MERGE_POLICY_PROPERTIES, DURABLE, bloomFilterKeyFields,
                 LSMTreeOperatorTestHelper.DEFAULT_BLOOM_FILTER_FALSE_POSITIVE_RATE, true, btreefields,
-                NoOpCompressorDecompressorFactory.INSTANCE, bloomFilterKeyFields != null);
+                NoOpCompressorDecompressorFactory.INSTANCE, bloomFilterKeyFields != null, null, null);
     }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/rtree/AbstractRTreeOperatorTest.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/rtree/AbstractRTreeOperatorTest.java
index 2d092f1..872502b 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/rtree/AbstractRTreeOperatorTest.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/rtree/AbstractRTreeOperatorTest.java
@@ -228,7 +228,7 @@
     protected void createPrimaryIndex() throws Exception {
         JobSpecification spec = new JobSpecification();
         btreeFactory = new BTreeResourceFactory(storageManager, primaryTypeTraits, primaryComparatorFactories,
-                pageManagerFactory);
+                pageManagerFactory, null, null);
         IIndexBuilderFactory indexBuilderFactory =
                 new IndexBuilderFactory(storageManager, primarySplitProvider, btreeFactory, false);
         IndexCreateOperatorDescriptor primaryCreateOp = new IndexCreateOperatorDescriptor(spec, indexBuilderFactory);
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/compressors/FieldPrefixCompressor.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/compressors/FieldPrefixCompressor.java
index 8c327f7..17fe593 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/compressors/FieldPrefixCompressor.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/compressors/FieldPrefixCompressor.java
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.btree.impls.BTreeFieldPrefixTupleReference;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.btree.impls.FieldPrefixSlotManager;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.btree.tuples.BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.ITreeIndexFrame;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.ITreeIndexFrameCompressor;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.common.MultiComparator;
@@ -46,10 +47,17 @@
 
     private final ITypeTraits[] typeTraits;
 
-    public FieldPrefixCompressor(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, float ratioThreshold, int occurrenceThreshold) {
+    private final ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits;
+
+    private final INullIntrospector nullIntrospector;
+
+    public FieldPrefixCompressor(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, float ratioThreshold, int occurrenceThreshold,
+            ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits, INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) {
         this.typeTraits = typeTraits;
         this.ratioThreshold = ratioThreshold;
         this.occurrenceThreshold = occurrenceThreshold;
+        this.nullTypeTraits = nullTypeTraits;
+        this.nullIntrospector = nullIntrospector;
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -163,7 +171,8 @@
         int prefixTupleIndex = 0;
         uncompressedTupleCount = 0;
 
-        BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter tupleWriter = new BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter(typeTraits, false);
+        BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter tupleWriter =
+                new BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter(typeTraits, false, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
         BTreeFieldPrefixTupleReference tupleToWrite =
                 new BTreeFieldPrefixTupleReference(tupleWriter.createTupleReference());
         tupleToWrite.setFieldCount(fieldCount);
@@ -340,7 +349,8 @@
         KeyPartition kp = new KeyPartition(maxCmps);
         keyPartitions.add(kp);
 
-        BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter tupleWriter = new BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter(typeTraits, false);
+        BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter tupleWriter =
+                new BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter(typeTraits, false, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
 
         BTreeFieldPrefixTupleReference prevTuple =
                 new BTreeFieldPrefixTupleReference(tupleWriter.createTupleReference());
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/dataflow/BTreeResource.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/dataflow/BTreeResource.java
index 4cf145b..4589bed1 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/dataflow/BTreeResource.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/dataflow/BTreeResource.java
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.io.IIOManager;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.btree.frames.BTreeLeafFrameType;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.btree.util.BTreeUtils;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IPageManagerFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.common.IIndex;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.common.IResource;
@@ -34,20 +35,25 @@
 
 public class BTreeResource implements IResource {
 
-    private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
+    private static final long serialVersionUID = 2L;
     private String path;
     private final IStorageManager storageManager;
     private final ITypeTraits[] typeTraits;
     private final IBinaryComparatorFactory[] comparatorFactories;
     private final IPageManagerFactory pageManagerFactory;
+    private final ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits;
+    private final INullIntrospector nullIntrospector;
 
     public BTreeResource(String path, IStorageManager storageManager, ITypeTraits[] typeTraits,
-            IBinaryComparatorFactory[] comparatorFactories, IPageManagerFactory pageManagerFactory) {
+            IBinaryComparatorFactory[] comparatorFactories, IPageManagerFactory pageManagerFactory,
+            ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits, INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) {
         this.path = path;
         this.storageManager = storageManager;
         this.typeTraits = typeTraits;
         this.comparatorFactories = comparatorFactories;
         this.pageManagerFactory = pageManagerFactory;
+        this.nullTypeTraits = nullTypeTraits;
+        this.nullIntrospector = nullIntrospector;
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -56,7 +62,8 @@
         IIOManager ioManager = ctx.getIoManager();
         FileReference resourceRef = ioManager.resolve(path);
         return BTreeUtils.createBTree(bufferCache, typeTraits, comparatorFactories, BTreeLeafFrameType.REGULAR_NSM,
-                resourceRef, pageManagerFactory.createPageManager(bufferCache), false);
+                resourceRef, pageManagerFactory.createPageManager(bufferCache), false, nullTypeTraits,
+                nullIntrospector);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/dataflow/BTreeResourceFactory.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/dataflow/BTreeResourceFactory.java
index 7a21495..d817327 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/dataflow/BTreeResourceFactory.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/dataflow/BTreeResourceFactory.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.IBinaryComparatorFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.io.FileReference;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IPageManagerFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.common.IResource;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.common.IResourceFactory;
@@ -28,24 +29,29 @@
 
 public class BTreeResourceFactory implements IResourceFactory {
 
-    private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
+    private static final long serialVersionUID = 2L;
     private final IStorageManager storageManager;
     private final ITypeTraits[] typeTraits;
     private final IBinaryComparatorFactory[] comparatorFactories;
     private final IPageManagerFactory pageManagerFactory;
+    private final ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits;
+    private final INullIntrospector nullIntrospector;
 
     public BTreeResourceFactory(IStorageManager storageManager, ITypeTraits[] typeTraits,
-            IBinaryComparatorFactory[] comparatorFactories, IPageManagerFactory pageManagerFactory) {
+            IBinaryComparatorFactory[] comparatorFactories, IPageManagerFactory pageManagerFactory,
+            ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits, INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) {
         this.storageManager = storageManager;
         this.typeTraits = typeTraits;
         this.comparatorFactories = comparatorFactories;
         this.pageManagerFactory = pageManagerFactory;
+        this.nullTypeTraits = nullTypeTraits;
+        this.nullIntrospector = nullIntrospector;
     }
 
     @Override
     public IResource createResource(FileReference fileRef) {
         return new BTreeResource(fileRef.getRelativePath(), storageManager, typeTraits, comparatorFactories,
-                pageManagerFactory);
+                pageManagerFactory, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
     }
 
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/frames/BTreeFieldPrefixNSMLeafFrame.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/frames/BTreeFieldPrefixNSMLeafFrame.java
index 6584df3..10eab69 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/frames/BTreeFieldPrefixNSMLeafFrame.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/frames/BTreeFieldPrefixNSMLeafFrame.java
@@ -75,8 +75,10 @@
         this.slotManager = new FieldPrefixSlotManager();
 
         ITypeTraits[] typeTraits = tupleWriter.getTypeTraits();
-        this.framePrefixTuple = new FieldPrefixPrefixTupleReference(typeTraits);
-        this.compressor = new FieldPrefixCompressor(typeTraits, 0.001f, 2);
+        ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits = tupleWriter.getNullTypeTraits();
+        this.framePrefixTuple = new FieldPrefixPrefixTupleReference(typeTraits, nullTypeTraits);
+        this.compressor =
+                new FieldPrefixCompressor(typeTraits, 0.001f, 2, nullTypeTraits, tupleWriter.getNullIntrospector());
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/impls/FieldPrefixPrefixTupleReference.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/impls/FieldPrefixPrefixTupleReference.java
index b767537..2c728a7 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/impls/FieldPrefixPrefixTupleReference.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/impls/FieldPrefixPrefixTupleReference.java
@@ -27,8 +27,8 @@
 
 public class FieldPrefixPrefixTupleReference extends TypeAwareTupleReference {
 
-    public FieldPrefixPrefixTupleReference(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits) {
-        super(typeTraits);
+    public FieldPrefixPrefixTupleReference(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits) {
+        super(typeTraits, nullTypeTraits);
     }
 
     // assumes tuple index refers to prefix tuples
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/tuples/BTreeTypeAwareTupleReference.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/tuples/BTreeTypeAwareTupleReference.java
index 5b89a19..f4b1948 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/tuples/BTreeTypeAwareTupleReference.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/tuples/BTreeTypeAwareTupleReference.java
@@ -23,14 +23,15 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.tuples.TypeAwareTupleReference;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.util.BitOperationUtils;
 
+// TODO(ali): this is broken if updateAware is enabled
 public class BTreeTypeAwareTupleReference extends TypeAwareTupleReference implements IBTreeIndexTupleReference {
 
     public static final byte UPDATE_BIT_OFFSET = 6;
 
     protected final boolean updateAware;
 
-    public BTreeTypeAwareTupleReference(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, boolean updateAware) {
-        super(typeTraits);
+    public BTreeTypeAwareTupleReference(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, boolean updateAware, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits) {
+        super(typeTraits, nullTypeTraits);
         this.updateAware = updateAware;
     }
 
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/tuples/BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/tuples/BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter.java
index 083462b..87f46b2 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/tuples/BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/tuples/BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter.java
@@ -19,21 +19,23 @@
 package org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.btree.tuples;
 
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
-import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.ITreeIndexTupleWriter;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.tuples.TypeAwareTupleWriter;
 
-public class BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter extends TypeAwareTupleWriter implements ITreeIndexTupleWriter {
+// TODO(ali): this is broken if updateAware is enabled
+public class BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter extends TypeAwareTupleWriter {
     protected final boolean updateAware;
     protected boolean isUpdated;
 
-    public BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, boolean updateAware) {
-        super(typeTraits);
+    public BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, boolean updateAware, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits,
+            INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) {
+        super(typeTraits, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
         this.updateAware = updateAware;
     }
 
     @Override
     public BTreeTypeAwareTupleReference createTupleReference() {
-        return new BTreeTypeAwareTupleReference(typeTraits, updateAware);
+        return new BTreeTypeAwareTupleReference(typeTraits, updateAware, nullTypeTraits);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/tuples/BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/tuples/BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory.java
index 7089e79..e2aa759 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/tuples/BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/tuples/BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory.java
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 package org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.btree.tuples;
 
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.tuples.TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory;
 
 public class BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory extends TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory {
@@ -26,13 +27,14 @@
     private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
     protected final boolean updateAware;
 
-    public BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, boolean updateAware) {
-        super(typeTraits);
+    public BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, boolean updateAware, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits,
+            INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) {
+        super(typeTraits, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
         this.updateAware = updateAware;
     }
 
     @Override
     public BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter createTupleWriter() {
-        return new BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter(typeTraits, updateAware);
+        return new BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter(typeTraits, updateAware, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
     }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/util/BTreeUtils.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/util/BTreeUtils.java
index 0c06bc3..09340b6 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/util/BTreeUtils.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/util/BTreeUtils.java
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.btree.impls.BTree;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.btree.impls.DiskBTree;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.btree.tuples.BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IPageManager;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.ITreeIndexFrameFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.common.MultiComparator;
@@ -43,9 +44,10 @@
 
     public static BTree createBTree(IBufferCache bufferCache, ITypeTraits[] typeTraits,
             IBinaryComparatorFactory[] cmpFactories, BTreeLeafFrameType leafType, FileReference file,
-            IPageManager freePageManager, boolean updateAware) throws HyracksDataException {
+            IPageManager freePageManager, boolean updateAware, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits,
+            INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) throws HyracksDataException {
         BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory tupleWriterFactory =
-                new BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, updateAware);
+                new BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, updateAware, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
         ITreeIndexFrameFactory leafFrameFactory = getLeafFrameFactory(tupleWriterFactory, leafType);
         ITreeIndexFrameFactory interiorFrameFactory = new BTreeNSMInteriorFrameFactory(tupleWriterFactory);
         return new BTree(bufferCache, freePageManager, interiorFrameFactory, leafFrameFactory, cmpFactories,
@@ -54,9 +56,10 @@
 
     public static DiskBTree createDiskBTree(IBufferCache bufferCache, ITypeTraits[] typeTraits,
             IBinaryComparatorFactory[] cmpFactories, BTreeLeafFrameType leafType, FileReference file,
-            IPageManager freePageManager, boolean updateAware) throws HyracksDataException {
+            IPageManager freePageManager, boolean updateAware, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits,
+            INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) throws HyracksDataException {
         BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory tupleWriterFactory =
-                new BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, updateAware);
+                new BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, updateAware, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
         ITreeIndexFrameFactory leafFrameFactory = getLeafFrameFactory(tupleWriterFactory, leafType);
         ITreeIndexFrameFactory interiorFrameFactory = new BTreeNSMInteriorFrameFactory(tupleWriterFactory);
         return new DiskBTree(bufferCache, freePageManager, interiorFrameFactory, leafFrameFactory, cmpFactories,
@@ -65,9 +68,10 @@
 
     public static BTree createBTree(IBufferCache bufferCache, IPageManager freePageManager, ITypeTraits[] typeTraits,
             IBinaryComparatorFactory[] cmpFactories, BTreeLeafFrameType leafType, FileReference file,
-            boolean updateAware) throws HyracksDataException {
+            boolean updateAware, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits, INullIntrospector nullIntrospector)
+            throws HyracksDataException {
         BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory tupleWriterFactory =
-                new BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, updateAware);
+                new BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, updateAware, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
         ITreeIndexFrameFactory leafFrameFactory = getLeafFrameFactory(tupleWriterFactory, leafType);
         ITreeIndexFrameFactory interiorFrameFactory = new BTreeNSMInteriorFrameFactory(tupleWriterFactory);
         return new BTree(bufferCache, freePageManager, interiorFrameFactory, leafFrameFactory, cmpFactories,
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/api/INullIntrospector.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/api/INullIntrospector.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e159612
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/api/INullIntrospector.java
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+/*
+ * 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.
+ */
+package org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api;
+
+import java.io.Serializable;
+
+import org.apache.hyracks.api.io.IJsonSerializable;
+
+/**
+ * An introspector that tells whether data is {@code NULL} or not.
+ */
+@FunctionalInterface
+public interface INullIntrospector extends Serializable, IJsonSerializable {
+
+    boolean isNull(byte[] bytes, int offset, int length);
+
+}
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/tuples/SimpleTupleWriter.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/tuples/SimpleTupleWriter.java
index ca7217e..6273b68 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/tuples/SimpleTupleWriter.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/tuples/SimpleTupleWriter.java
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@
         int runner = targetOff;
         int nullFlagsBytes = getNullFlagsBytes(tuple);
         int fieldSlotsBytes = getFieldSlotsBytes(tuple);
+        // TODO(ali): fix if needed
         for (int i = 0; i < nullFlagsBytes; i++) {
             targetBuf[runner++] = (byte) 0;
         }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/tuples/TypeAwareTupleReference.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/tuples/TypeAwareTupleReference.java
index 11f86c9..8eff435 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/tuples/TypeAwareTupleReference.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/tuples/TypeAwareTupleReference.java
@@ -35,11 +35,13 @@
     protected int dataStartOff;
 
     protected final ITypeTraits[] typeTraits;
-    protected VarLenIntDecoder encDec = VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.createDecoder();
+    protected final ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits; // can be null
+    protected final VarLenIntDecoder encDec = VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.createDecoder();
     protected int[] decodedFieldSlots;
 
-    public TypeAwareTupleReference(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits) {
+    public TypeAwareTupleReference(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits) {
         this.typeTraits = typeTraits;
+        this.nullTypeTraits = nullTypeTraits;
         this.fieldStartIndex = 0;
         setFieldCount(typeTraits.length);
     }
@@ -57,11 +59,12 @@
         for (int i = fieldStartIndex; i < end; i++) {
             if (!typeTraits[i].isFixedLength()) {
                 cumul += encDec.decode();
-                decodedFieldSlots[field++] = cumul;
+            } else if (nullTypeTraits != null && isNull(buf, tupleStartOff, i)) {
+                cumul += nullTypeTraits.getFixedLength();
             } else {
                 cumul += typeTraits[i].getFixedLength();
-                decodedFieldSlots[field++] = cumul;
             }
+            decodedFieldSlots[field++] = cumul;
         }
         dataStartOff = encDec.getPos();
     }
@@ -127,4 +130,21 @@
     public int getTupleSize() {
         return dataStartOff - tupleStartOff + decodedFieldSlots[fieldCount - 1];
     }
+
+    private boolean isNull(byte[] flags, int flagsOffset, int fieldIdx) {
+        int adjustedFieldIdx = getAdjustedFieldIdx(fieldIdx);
+        int flagByteIdx = adjustedFieldIdx / 8;
+        int flagBitIdx = 7 - (adjustedFieldIdx % 8);
+        return BitOperationUtils.getBit(flags, flagsOffset + flagByteIdx, (byte) flagBitIdx);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Adjusts the field index in case the null flags section starts with some other special-purpose fields.
+     *
+     * @param fieldIdx logical field index
+     * @return adjusted field index
+     */
+    protected int getAdjustedFieldIdx(int fieldIdx) {
+        return fieldIdx;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/tuples/TypeAwareTupleWriter.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/tuples/TypeAwareTupleWriter.java
index eb6fe2a..2528518 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/tuples/TypeAwareTupleWriter.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/tuples/TypeAwareTupleWriter.java
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
 import org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.accessors.ITupleReference;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.ITreeIndexTupleWriter;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.util.BitOperationUtils;
 import org.apache.hyracks.util.encoding.VarLenIntEncoderDecoder;
@@ -30,10 +31,14 @@
 public class TypeAwareTupleWriter implements ITreeIndexTupleWriter {
 
     protected final ITypeTraits[] typeTraits;
-    protected VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.VarLenIntDecoder decoder = VarLenIntEncoderDecoder.createDecoder();
+    protected final ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits; // can be null
+    protected final INullIntrospector nullIntrospector; // can be null
 
-    public TypeAwareTupleWriter(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits) {
+    public TypeAwareTupleWriter(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits,
+            INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) {
         this.typeTraits = typeTraits;
+        this.nullTypeTraits = nullTypeTraits;
+        this.nullIntrospector = nullIntrospector;
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -56,7 +61,7 @@
 
     @Override
     public TypeAwareTupleReference createTupleReference() {
-        return new TypeAwareTupleReference(typeTraits);
+        return new TypeAwareTupleReference(typeTraits, nullTypeTraits);
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -68,7 +73,7 @@
     public int writeTuple(ITupleReference tuple, byte[] targetBuf, int targetOff) {
         int runner = targetOff;
         int nullFlagsBytes = getNullFlagsBytes(tuple);
-        // write null indicator bits
+        // reset null indicator bits
         for (int i = 0; i < nullFlagsBytes; i++) {
             targetBuf[runner++] = (byte) 0;
         }
@@ -80,10 +85,16 @@
             }
         }
 
-        // write data fields
+        // write data fields and set null indicator bits
         for (int i = 0; i < tuple.getFieldCount(); i++) {
-            System.arraycopy(tuple.getFieldData(i), tuple.getFieldStart(i), targetBuf, runner, tuple.getFieldLength(i));
-            runner += tuple.getFieldLength(i);
+            byte[] fieldData = tuple.getFieldData(i);
+            int fieldOffset = tuple.getFieldStart(i);
+            int fieldLength = tuple.getFieldLength(i);
+            if (nullIntrospector != null && nullIntrospector.isNull(fieldData, fieldOffset, fieldLength)) {
+                setNullFlag(targetBuf, targetOff, i);
+            }
+            System.arraycopy(fieldData, fieldOffset, targetBuf, runner, fieldLength);
+            runner += fieldLength;
         }
 
         return runner - targetOff;
@@ -93,7 +104,7 @@
     public int writeTupleFields(ITupleReference tuple, int startField, int numFields, byte[] targetBuf, int targetOff) {
         int runner = targetOff;
         int nullFlagsBytes = getNullFlagsBytes(numFields);
-        // write null indicator bits
+        // reset null indicator bits
         for (int i = 0; i < nullFlagsBytes; i++) {
             targetBuf[runner++] = (byte) 0;
         }
@@ -105,9 +116,15 @@
             }
         }
 
-        for (int i = startField; i < startField + numFields; i++) {
-            System.arraycopy(tuple.getFieldData(i), tuple.getFieldStart(i), targetBuf, runner, tuple.getFieldLength(i));
-            runner += tuple.getFieldLength(i);
+        for (int i = startField, targetField = 0; i < startField + numFields; i++, targetField++) {
+            byte[] fieldData = tuple.getFieldData(i);
+            int fieldOffset = tuple.getFieldStart(i);
+            int fieldLength = tuple.getFieldLength(i);
+            if (nullIntrospector != null && nullIntrospector.isNull(fieldData, fieldOffset, fieldLength)) {
+                setNullFlag(targetBuf, targetOff, targetField);
+            }
+            System.arraycopy(fieldData, fieldOffset, targetBuf, runner, fieldLength);
+            runner += fieldLength;
         }
 
         return runner - targetOff;
@@ -145,8 +162,40 @@
         return typeTraits;
     }
 
+    public ITypeTraits getNullTypeTraits() {
+        return nullTypeTraits;
+    }
+
+    public INullIntrospector getNullIntrospector() {
+        return nullIntrospector;
+    }
+
     @Override
     public int getCopySpaceRequired(ITupleReference tuple) {
         return bytesRequired(tuple);
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Given a field index, this method finds its corresponding bit in the null flags section and sets it.
+     *
+     * @param flags data
+     * @param flagsOffset start of the null flags data
+     * @param fieldIdx logical field index
+     */
+    private void setNullFlag(byte[] flags, int flagsOffset, int fieldIdx) {
+        int adjustedFieldIdx = getAdjustedFieldIdx(fieldIdx);
+        int flagByteIdx = adjustedFieldIdx / 8;
+        int flagBitIdx = 7 - (adjustedFieldIdx % 8);
+        BitOperationUtils.setBit(flags, flagsOffset + flagByteIdx, (byte) flagBitIdx);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Adjusts the field index in case the null flags section starts with some other special-purpose fields.
+     *
+     * @param fieldIdx logical field index
+     * @return adjusted field index
+     */
+    protected int getAdjustedFieldIdx(int fieldIdx) {
+        return fieldIdx;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/tuples/TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/tuples/TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory.java
index a0fa505..586f243 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/tuples/TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/tuples/TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory.java
@@ -20,20 +20,26 @@
 package org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.tuples;
 
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.ITreeIndexTupleWriterFactory;
 
 public class TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory implements ITreeIndexTupleWriterFactory {
 
-    private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
-    protected ITypeTraits[] typeTraits;
+    private static final long serialVersionUID = 2L;
+    protected final ITypeTraits[] typeTraits;
+    protected final ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits;
+    protected final INullIntrospector nullIntrospector;
 
-    public TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits) {
+    public TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits,
+            INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) {
         this.typeTraits = typeTraits;
+        this.nullTypeTraits = nullTypeTraits;
+        this.nullIntrospector = nullIntrospector;
     }
 
     @Override
     public TypeAwareTupleWriter createTupleWriter() {
-        return new TypeAwareTupleWriter(typeTraits);
+        return new TypeAwareTupleWriter(typeTraits, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
     }
 
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/dataflow/ExternalBTreeLocalResource.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/dataflow/ExternalBTreeLocalResource.java
index d94a5e1..e16baf9 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/dataflow/ExternalBTreeLocalResource.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/dataflow/ExternalBTreeLocalResource.java
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.io.IJsonSerializable;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.io.IPersistedResourceRegistry;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IMetadataPageManagerFactory;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.btree.utils.LSMBTreeUtil;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMIOOperationCallbackFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMIOOperationSchedulerProvider;
@@ -54,12 +55,13 @@
             ILSMOperationTrackerFactory opTrackerProvider, ILSMIOOperationCallbackFactory ioOpCallbackFactory,
             ILSMPageWriteCallbackFactory pageWriteCallbackFactory,
             IMetadataPageManagerFactory metadataPageManagerFactory,
-            ILSMIOOperationSchedulerProvider ioSchedulerProvider, boolean durable, boolean hasBloomFilter) {
+            ILSMIOOperationSchedulerProvider ioSchedulerProvider, boolean durable, boolean hasBloomFilter,
+            ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits, INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) {
         super(typeTraits, cmpFactories, bloomFilterKeyFields, bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, isPrimary, path,
                 storageManager, mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties, filterTypeTraits, filterCmpFactories,
                 btreeFields, filterFields, opTrackerProvider, ioOpCallbackFactory, pageWriteCallbackFactory,
                 metadataPageManagerFactory, null, ioSchedulerProvider, durable,
-                NoOpCompressorDecompressorFactory.INSTANCE, hasBloomFilter);
+                NoOpCompressorDecompressorFactory.INSTANCE, hasBloomFilter, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
     }
 
     private ExternalBTreeLocalResource(IPersistedResourceRegistry registry, JsonNode json, int[] bloomFilterKeyFields,
@@ -80,7 +82,7 @@
                 mergePolicyFactory.createMergePolicy(mergePolicyProperties, serviceCtx),
                 opTrackerProvider.getOperationTracker(serviceCtx, this), ioSchedulerProvider.getIoScheduler(serviceCtx),
                 ioOpCallbackFactory, pageWriteCallbackFactory, durable, metadataPageManagerFactory,
-                serviceCtx.getTracer());
+                serviceCtx.getTracer(), nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/dataflow/ExternalBTreeLocalResourceFactory.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/dataflow/ExternalBTreeLocalResourceFactory.java
index f398370..e4c29ba 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/dataflow/ExternalBTreeLocalResourceFactory.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/dataflow/ExternalBTreeLocalResourceFactory.java
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.io.FileReference;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IMetadataPageManagerFactory;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMIOOperationCallbackFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMIOOperationSchedulerProvider;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMMergePolicyFactory;
@@ -45,12 +46,13 @@
             IMetadataPageManagerFactory metadataPageManagerFactory,
             ILSMIOOperationSchedulerProvider ioSchedulerProvider, ILSMMergePolicyFactory mergePolicyFactory,
             Map<String, String> mergePolicyProperties, boolean durable, int[] bloomFilterKeyFields,
-            double bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, boolean isPrimary, int[] btreeFields, boolean hasBloomFilter) {
+            double bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, boolean isPrimary, int[] btreeFields, boolean hasBloomFilter,
+            ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits, INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) {
         super(storageManager, typeTraits, cmpFactories, filterTypeTraits, filterCmpFactories, filterFields,
                 opTrackerFactory, ioOpCallbackFactory, pageWriteCallbackFactory, metadataPageManagerFactory, null,
                 ioSchedulerProvider, mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties, durable, bloomFilterKeyFields,
                 bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, isPrimary, btreeFields, NoOpCompressorDecompressorFactory.INSTANCE,
-                hasBloomFilter);
+                hasBloomFilter, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -59,6 +61,6 @@
                 bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, isPrimary, fileRef.getRelativePath(), storageManager, mergePolicyFactory,
                 mergePolicyProperties, filterTypeTraits, filterCmpFactories, btreeFields, bloomFilterKeyFields,
                 opTrackerProvider, ioOpCallbackFactory, pageWriteCallbackFactory, metadataPageManagerFactory,
-                ioSchedulerProvider, durable, hasBloomFilter);
+                ioSchedulerProvider, durable, hasBloomFilter, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
     }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/dataflow/ExternalBTreeWithBuddyLocalResource.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/dataflow/ExternalBTreeWithBuddyLocalResource.java
index bf4b06c..863ae56 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/dataflow/ExternalBTreeWithBuddyLocalResource.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/dataflow/ExternalBTreeWithBuddyLocalResource.java
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.io.IJsonSerializable;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.io.IPersistedResourceRegistry;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IMetadataPageManagerFactory;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.btree.utils.LSMBTreeUtil;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMIOOperationCallbackFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMIOOperationSchedulerProvider;
@@ -57,12 +58,13 @@
             ILSMOperationTrackerFactory opTrackerProvider, ILSMIOOperationCallbackFactory ioOpCallbackFactory,
             ILSMPageWriteCallbackFactory pageWriteCallbackFactory,
             IMetadataPageManagerFactory metadataPageManagerFactory,
-            ILSMIOOperationSchedulerProvider ioSchedulerProvider, boolean durable, boolean hasBloomFilter) {
+            ILSMIOOperationSchedulerProvider ioSchedulerProvider, boolean durable, boolean hasBloomFilter,
+            ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits, INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) {
         super(typeTraits, cmpFactories, buddyBtreeFields, bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, isPrimary, path, storageManager,
                 mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties, filterTypeTraits, filterCmpFactories, btreeFields,
                 filterFields, opTrackerProvider, ioOpCallbackFactory, pageWriteCallbackFactory,
                 metadataPageManagerFactory, null, ioSchedulerProvider, durable,
-                NoOpCompressorDecompressorFactory.INSTANCE, hasBloomFilter);
+                NoOpCompressorDecompressorFactory.INSTANCE, hasBloomFilter, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
     }
 
     private ExternalBTreeWithBuddyLocalResource(IPersistedResourceRegistry registry, JsonNode json,
@@ -83,7 +85,7 @@
                 mergePolicyFactory.createMergePolicy(mergePolicyProperties, serviceCtx),
                 opTrackerProvider.getOperationTracker(serviceCtx, this), ioSchedulerProvider.getIoScheduler(serviceCtx),
                 ioOpCallbackFactory, pageWriteCallbackFactory, bloomFilterKeyFields, durable,
-                metadataPageManagerFactory, serviceCtx.getTracer());
+                metadataPageManagerFactory, serviceCtx.getTracer(), nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/dataflow/ExternalBTreeWithBuddyLocalResourceFactory.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/dataflow/ExternalBTreeWithBuddyLocalResourceFactory.java
index 91ebee1..39c8aed 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/dataflow/ExternalBTreeWithBuddyLocalResourceFactory.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/dataflow/ExternalBTreeWithBuddyLocalResourceFactory.java
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.io.FileReference;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IMetadataPageManagerFactory;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMIOOperationCallbackFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMIOOperationSchedulerProvider;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMMergePolicyFactory;
@@ -45,12 +46,13 @@
             IMetadataPageManagerFactory metadataPageManagerFactory,
             ILSMIOOperationSchedulerProvider ioSchedulerProvider, ILSMMergePolicyFactory mergePolicyFactory,
             Map<String, String> mergePolicyProperties, boolean durable, int[] buddyBtreeFields,
-            double bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, boolean isPrimary, int[] btreeFields, boolean hasBloomFilter) {
+            double bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, boolean isPrimary, int[] btreeFields, boolean hasBloomFilter,
+            ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits, INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) {
         super(storageManager, typeTraits, cmpFactories, filterTypeTraits, filterCmpFactories, filterFields,
                 opTrackerProvider, ioOpCallbackFactory, pageWriteCallbackFactory, metadataPageManagerFactory, null,
                 ioSchedulerProvider, mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties, durable, buddyBtreeFields,
                 bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, isPrimary, btreeFields, NoOpCompressorDecompressorFactory.INSTANCE,
-                hasBloomFilter);
+                hasBloomFilter, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -59,6 +61,6 @@
                 bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, isPrimary, fileRef.getRelativePath(), storageManager, mergePolicyFactory,
                 mergePolicyProperties, filterTypeTraits, filterCmpFactories, btreeFields, filterFields,
                 opTrackerProvider, ioOpCallbackFactory, pageWriteCallbackFactory, metadataPageManagerFactory,
-                ioSchedulerProvider, durable, hasBloomFilter);
+                ioSchedulerProvider, durable, hasBloomFilter, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
     }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/dataflow/LSMBTreeLocalResource.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/dataflow/LSMBTreeLocalResource.java
index 6098a1d..656ae02 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/dataflow/LSMBTreeLocalResource.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/dataflow/LSMBTreeLocalResource.java
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.io.IJsonSerializable;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.io.IPersistedResourceRegistry;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IMetadataPageManagerFactory;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.btree.utils.LSMBTreeUtil;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMIOOperationCallbackFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMIOOperationSchedulerProvider;
@@ -68,10 +69,12 @@
             ILSMPageWriteCallbackFactory pageWriteCallbackFactory,
             IMetadataPageManagerFactory metadataPageManagerFactory, IVirtualBufferCacheProvider vbcProvider,
             ILSMIOOperationSchedulerProvider ioSchedulerProvider, boolean durable,
-            ICompressorDecompressorFactory compressorDecompressorFactory, boolean hasBloomFilter) {
+            ICompressorDecompressorFactory compressorDecompressorFactory, boolean hasBloomFilter,
+            ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits, INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) {
         super(path, storageManager, typeTraits, cmpFactories, filterTypeTraits, filterCmpFactories, filterFields,
                 opTrackerProvider, ioOpCallbackFactory, pageWriteCallbackFactory, metadataPageManagerFactory,
-                vbcProvider, ioSchedulerProvider, mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties, durable);
+                vbcProvider, ioSchedulerProvider, mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties, durable, nullTypeTraits,
+                nullIntrospector);
         this.bloomFilterKeyFields = bloomFilterKeyFields;
         this.bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate = bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate;
         this.isPrimary = isPrimary;
@@ -108,7 +111,7 @@
                 opTrackerProvider.getOperationTracker(serviceCtx, this), ioSchedulerProvider.getIoScheduler(serviceCtx),
                 ioOpCallbackFactory, pageWriteCallbackFactory, isPrimary, filterTypeTraits, filterCmpFactories,
                 btreeFields, filterFields, durable, metadataPageManagerFactory, updateAware, serviceCtx.getTracer(),
-                compressorDecompressorFactory, hasBloomFilter);
+                compressorDecompressorFactory, hasBloomFilter, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/dataflow/LSMBTreeLocalResourceFactory.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/dataflow/LSMBTreeLocalResourceFactory.java
index a2c16b8..e926a48 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/dataflow/LSMBTreeLocalResourceFactory.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/dataflow/LSMBTreeLocalResourceFactory.java
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.io.FileReference;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IMetadataPageManagerFactory;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMIOOperationCallbackFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMIOOperationSchedulerProvider;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMMergePolicyFactory;
@@ -57,10 +58,12 @@
             ILSMIOOperationSchedulerProvider ioSchedulerProvider, ILSMMergePolicyFactory mergePolicyFactory,
             Map<String, String> mergePolicyProperties, boolean durable, int[] bloomFilterKeyFields,
             double bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, boolean isPrimary, int[] btreeFields,
-            ICompressorDecompressorFactory compressorDecompressorFactory, boolean hasBloomFilter) {
+            ICompressorDecompressorFactory compressorDecompressorFactory, boolean hasBloomFilter,
+            ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits, INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) {
         super(storageManager, typeTraits, cmpFactories, filterTypeTraits, filterCmpFactories, filterFields,
                 opTrackerFactory, ioOpCallbackFactory, pageWriteCallbackFactory, metadataPageManagerFactory,
-                vbcProvider, ioSchedulerProvider, mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties, durable);
+                vbcProvider, ioSchedulerProvider, mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties, durable, nullTypeTraits,
+                nullIntrospector);
         this.hasBloomFilter = hasBloomFilter;
         this.bloomFilterKeyFields = bloomFilterKeyFields;
         this.bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate = bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate;
@@ -75,7 +78,7 @@
                 isPrimary, fileRef.getRelativePath(), storageManager, mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties,
                 filterTypeTraits, filterCmpFactories, btreeFields, filterFields, opTrackerProvider, ioOpCallbackFactory,
                 pageWriteCallbackFactory, metadataPageManagerFactory, vbcProvider, ioSchedulerProvider, durable,
-                compressorDecompressorFactory, hasBloomFilter);
+                compressorDecompressorFactory, hasBloomFilter, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
     }
 
     private void readObject(java.io.ObjectInputStream in) throws IOException, ClassNotFoundException {
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/tuples/LSMBTreeCopyTupleWriter.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/tuples/LSMBTreeCopyTupleWriter.java
index 7c924b5..76916ec 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/tuples/LSMBTreeCopyTupleWriter.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/tuples/LSMBTreeCopyTupleWriter.java
@@ -21,11 +21,14 @@
 
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
 import org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.accessors.ITupleReference;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 
 public class LSMBTreeCopyTupleWriter extends LSMBTreeTupleWriter {
-    public LSMBTreeCopyTupleWriter(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, int numKeyFields, boolean updateAware) {
+
+    public LSMBTreeCopyTupleWriter(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, int numKeyFields, boolean updateAware,
+            ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits, INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) {
         // Third parameter is never used locally, just give false.
-        super(typeTraits, numKeyFields, false, updateAware);
+        super(typeTraits, numKeyFields, false, updateAware, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/tuples/LSMBTreeCopyTupleWriterFactory.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/tuples/LSMBTreeCopyTupleWriterFactory.java
index 02cd900..dd43ef4 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/tuples/LSMBTreeCopyTupleWriterFactory.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/tuples/LSMBTreeCopyTupleWriterFactory.java
@@ -22,18 +22,20 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.btree.tuples.BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.btree.tuples.BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 
 public class LSMBTreeCopyTupleWriterFactory extends BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory {
     private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
     private final int numKeyFields;
 
-    public LSMBTreeCopyTupleWriterFactory(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, int numKeyFields, boolean updateAware) {
-        super(typeTraits, updateAware);
+    public LSMBTreeCopyTupleWriterFactory(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, int numKeyFields, boolean updateAware,
+            ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits, INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) {
+        super(typeTraits, updateAware, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
         this.numKeyFields = numKeyFields;
     }
 
     @Override
     public BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter createTupleWriter() {
-        return new LSMBTreeCopyTupleWriter(typeTraits, numKeyFields, updateAware);
+        return new LSMBTreeCopyTupleWriter(typeTraits, numKeyFields, updateAware, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
     }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/tuples/LSMBTreeTupleReference.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/tuples/LSMBTreeTupleReference.java
index 2a5e232..e5c365a 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/tuples/LSMBTreeTupleReference.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/tuples/LSMBTreeTupleReference.java
@@ -33,8 +33,9 @@
     private boolean resetFieldCount = false;
     private final int numKeyFields;
 
-    public LSMBTreeTupleReference(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, int numKeyFields, boolean updateAware) {
-        super(typeTraits, updateAware);
+    public LSMBTreeTupleReference(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, int numKeyFields, boolean updateAware,
+            ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits) {
+        super(typeTraits, updateAware, nullTypeTraits);
         this.numKeyFields = numKeyFields;
     }
 
@@ -94,4 +95,10 @@
     public int getTupleStart() {
         return tupleStartOff;
     }
+
+    @Override
+    protected int getAdjustedFieldIdx(int fieldIdx) {
+        // 2 bits when update-aware: 1 for antimatter and 1 for the update, otherwise, only 1 bit for the antimatter
+        return updateAware ? fieldIdx + 2 : fieldIdx + 1;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/tuples/LSMBTreeTupleWriter.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/tuples/LSMBTreeTupleWriter.java
index 09ced10..bcbf93f 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/tuples/LSMBTreeTupleWriter.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/tuples/LSMBTreeTupleWriter.java
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
 import org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.accessors.ITupleReference;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.btree.tuples.BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.util.BitOperationUtils;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMTreeTupleWriter;
 
@@ -33,8 +34,9 @@
     private boolean isAntimatter;
     private final int numKeyFields;
 
-    public LSMBTreeTupleWriter(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, int numKeyFields, boolean isAntimatter, boolean updateAware) {
-        super(typeTraits, updateAware);
+    public LSMBTreeTupleWriter(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, int numKeyFields, boolean isAntimatter, boolean updateAware,
+            ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits, INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) {
+        super(typeTraits, updateAware, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
         this.numKeyFields = numKeyFields;
         this.isAntimatter = isAntimatter;
     }
@@ -56,7 +58,7 @@
 
     @Override
     public LSMBTreeTupleReference createTupleReference() {
-        return new LSMBTreeTupleReference(typeTraits, numKeyFields, updateAware);
+        return new LSMBTreeTupleReference(typeTraits, numKeyFields, updateAware, nullTypeTraits);
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -83,6 +85,7 @@
     public int writeTuple(ITupleReference tuple, byte[] targetBuf, int targetOff) {
         int bytesWritten = -1;
         if (isAntimatter) {
+            // TODO(ali): check this with secondary primary-key index
             bytesWritten = super.writeTupleFields(tuple, 0, numKeyFields, targetBuf, targetOff);
             // Set antimatter bit to 1.
             BitOperationUtils.setBit(targetBuf, targetOff, ANTIMATTER_BIT_OFFSET);
@@ -100,4 +103,10 @@
     public void setAntimatter(boolean isDelete) {
         this.isAntimatter = isDelete;
     }
+
+    @Override
+    protected int getAdjustedFieldIdx(int fieldIdx) {
+        // 2 bits when update-aware: 1 for antimatter and 1 for the update, otherwise, only 1 bit for the antimatter
+        return updateAware ? fieldIdx + 2 : fieldIdx + 1;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/tuples/LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/tuples/LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory.java
index ad4f6eb..03bce23 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/tuples/LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/tuples/LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory.java
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.btree.tuples.BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.btree.tuples.BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 
 public class LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory extends BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory {
 
@@ -30,15 +31,16 @@
     private final boolean isAntimatter;
 
     public LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, int numKeyFields, boolean isAntimatter,
-            boolean updateAware) {
-        super(typeTraits, updateAware);
+            boolean updateAware, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits, INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) {
+        super(typeTraits, updateAware, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
         this.numKeyFields = numKeyFields;
         this.isAntimatter = isAntimatter;
     }
 
     @Override
     public BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter createTupleWriter() {
-        return new LSMBTreeTupleWriter(typeTraits, numKeyFields, isAntimatter, updateAware);
+        return new LSMBTreeTupleWriter(typeTraits, numKeyFields, isAntimatter, updateAware, nullTypeTraits,
+                nullIntrospector);
     }
 
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/utils/LSMBTreeUtil.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/utils/LSMBTreeUtil.java
index 021f416..018c0d3 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/utils/LSMBTreeUtil.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/utils/LSMBTreeUtil.java
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.btree.impls.DiskBTree;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.btree.tuples.BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IMetadataPageManagerFactory;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.ITreeIndexFrameFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.tuples.TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.btree.impls.ExternalBTree;
@@ -76,15 +77,16 @@
             boolean needKeyDupCheck, ITypeTraits[] filterTypeTraits, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] filterCmpFactories,
             int[] btreeFields, int[] filterFields, boolean durable, IMetadataPageManagerFactory freePageManagerFactory,
             boolean updateAware, ITracer tracer, ICompressorDecompressorFactory compressorDecompressorFactory,
-            boolean hasBloomFilter) throws HyracksDataException {
-        LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory insertTupleWriterFactory =
-                new LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, cmpFactories.length, false, updateAware);
-        LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory deleteTupleWriterFactory =
-                new LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, cmpFactories.length, true, updateAware);
-        LSMBTreeCopyTupleWriterFactory copyTupleWriterFactory =
-                new LSMBTreeCopyTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, cmpFactories.length, updateAware);
-        LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory bulkLoadTupleWriterFactory =
-                new LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, cmpFactories.length, false, updateAware);
+            boolean hasBloomFilter, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits, INullIntrospector nullIntrospector)
+            throws HyracksDataException {
+        LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory insertTupleWriterFactory = new LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits,
+                cmpFactories.length, false, updateAware, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
+        LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory deleteTupleWriterFactory = new LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits,
+                cmpFactories.length, true, updateAware, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
+        LSMBTreeCopyTupleWriterFactory copyTupleWriterFactory = new LSMBTreeCopyTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits,
+                cmpFactories.length, updateAware, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
+        LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory bulkLoadTupleWriterFactory = new LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits,
+                cmpFactories.length, false, updateAware, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
 
         ITreeIndexFrameFactory insertLeafFrameFactory = new BTreeNSMLeafFrameFactory(insertTupleWriterFactory);
         ITreeIndexFrameFactory copyTupleLeafFrameFactory = new BTreeNSMLeafFrameFactory(copyTupleWriterFactory);
@@ -103,7 +105,8 @@
         LSMComponentFilterFrameFactory filterFrameFactory = null;
         LSMComponentFilterManager filterManager = null;
         if (filterCmpFactories != null) {
-            TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory filterTupleWriterFactory = new TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(filterTypeTraits);
+            TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory filterTupleWriterFactory =
+                    new TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(filterTypeTraits, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
             filterHelper = new ComponentFilterHelper(filterTupleWriterFactory, filterCmpFactories);
             filterFrameFactory = new LSMComponentFilterFrameFactory(filterTupleWriterFactory);
             filterManager = new LSMComponentFilterManager(filterFrameFactory);
@@ -136,21 +139,21 @@
             int[] bloomFilterKeyFields, double bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, ILSMMergePolicy mergePolicy,
             ILSMOperationTracker opTracker, ILSMIOOperationScheduler ioScheduler,
             ILSMIOOperationCallbackFactory ioOpCallbackFactory, ILSMPageWriteCallbackFactory pageWriteCallbackFactory,
-            boolean durable, IMetadataPageManagerFactory freePageManagerFactory, ITracer tracer)
-            throws HyracksDataException {
-        LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory insertTupleWriterFactory =
-                new LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, cmpFactories.length, false, false);
-        LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory deleteTupleWriterFactory =
-                new LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, cmpFactories.length, true, false);
-        LSMBTreeCopyTupleWriterFactory copyTupleWriterFactory =
-                new LSMBTreeCopyTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, cmpFactories.length, false);
+            boolean durable, IMetadataPageManagerFactory freePageManagerFactory, ITracer tracer,
+            ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits, INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) throws HyracksDataException {
+        LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory insertTupleWriterFactory = new LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits,
+                cmpFactories.length, false, false, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
+        LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory deleteTupleWriterFactory = new LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits,
+                cmpFactories.length, true, false, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
+        LSMBTreeCopyTupleWriterFactory copyTupleWriterFactory = new LSMBTreeCopyTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits,
+                cmpFactories.length, false, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
         ITreeIndexFrameFactory insertLeafFrameFactory = new BTreeNSMLeafFrameFactory(insertTupleWriterFactory);
         ITreeIndexFrameFactory copyTupleLeafFrameFactory = new BTreeNSMLeafFrameFactory(copyTupleWriterFactory);
         ITreeIndexFrameFactory deleteLeafFrameFactory = new BTreeNSMLeafFrameFactory(deleteTupleWriterFactory);
         ITreeIndexFrameFactory interiorFrameFactory = new BTreeNSMInteriorFrameFactory(insertTupleWriterFactory);
         // This is the tuple writer that can do both inserts and deletes
-        LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory transactionTupleWriterFactory =
-                new LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, cmpFactories.length, false, false);
+        LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory transactionTupleWriterFactory = new LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits,
+                cmpFactories.length, false, false, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
         // This is the leaf frame factory for transaction components since it
         // can be used for both inserts and deletes
         ITreeIndexFrameFactory transactionLeafFrameFactory =
@@ -185,7 +188,8 @@
             double bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, ILSMMergePolicy mergePolicy, ILSMOperationTracker opTracker,
             ILSMIOOperationScheduler ioScheduler, ILSMIOOperationCallbackFactory ioOpCallbackFactory,
             ILSMPageWriteCallbackFactory pageWriteCallbackFactory, int[] buddyBTreeFields, boolean durable,
-            IMetadataPageManagerFactory freePageManagerFactory, ITracer tracer) throws HyracksDataException {
+            IMetadataPageManagerFactory freePageManagerFactory, ITracer tracer, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits,
+            INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) throws HyracksDataException {
         ITypeTraits[] buddyBtreeTypeTraits = new ITypeTraits[buddyBTreeFields.length];
         IBinaryComparatorFactory[] buddyBtreeCmpFactories = new IBinaryComparatorFactory[buddyBTreeFields.length];
         for (int i = 0; i < buddyBtreeTypeTraits.length; i++) {
@@ -193,15 +197,15 @@
             buddyBtreeCmpFactories[i] = cmpFactories[buddyBTreeFields[i]];
         }
         BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory buddyBtreeTupleWriterFactory =
-                new BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(buddyBtreeTypeTraits, false);
+                new BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(buddyBtreeTypeTraits, false, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
         ITreeIndexFrameFactory buddyBtreeInteriorFrameFactory =
                 new BTreeNSMInteriorFrameFactory(buddyBtreeTupleWriterFactory);
         ITreeIndexFrameFactory buddyBtreeLeafFrameFactory = new BTreeNSMLeafFrameFactory(buddyBtreeTupleWriterFactory);
 
-        LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory insertTupleWriterFactory =
-                new LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, cmpFactories.length, false, false);
-        LSMBTreeCopyTupleWriterFactory copyTupleWriterFactory =
-                new LSMBTreeCopyTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, cmpFactories.length, false);
+        LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory insertTupleWriterFactory = new LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits,
+                cmpFactories.length, false, false, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
+        LSMBTreeCopyTupleWriterFactory copyTupleWriterFactory = new LSMBTreeCopyTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits,
+                cmpFactories.length, false, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
         ITreeIndexFrameFactory insertLeafFrameFactory = new BTreeNSMLeafFrameFactory(insertTupleWriterFactory);
         ITreeIndexFrameFactory copyTupleLeafFrameFactory = new BTreeNSMLeafFrameFactory(copyTupleWriterFactory);
         ITreeIndexFrameFactory interiorFrameFactory = new BTreeNSMInteriorFrameFactory(insertTupleWriterFactory);
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/dataflow/LsmResource.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/dataflow/LsmResource.java
index fbd74dc..d905a0a 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/dataflow/LsmResource.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/dataflow/LsmResource.java
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.io.IPersistedResourceRegistry;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IMetadataPageManagerFactory;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMIOOperationCallbackFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMIOOperationSchedulerProvider;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMMergePolicyFactory;
@@ -49,7 +50,7 @@
  */
 public abstract class LsmResource implements IResource {
 
-    private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
+    private static final long serialVersionUID = 2L;
     protected static final ObjectMapper OBJECT_MAPPER = new ObjectMapper();
     protected String path;
     protected final IStorageManager storageManager;
@@ -67,6 +68,8 @@
     protected final ILSMMergePolicyFactory mergePolicyFactory;
     protected final Map<String, String> mergePolicyProperties;
     protected final boolean durable;
+    protected final ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits;
+    protected final INullIntrospector nullIntrospector;
 
     public LsmResource(String path, IStorageManager storageManager, ITypeTraits[] typeTraits,
             IBinaryComparatorFactory[] cmpFactories, ITypeTraits[] filterTypeTraits,
@@ -75,7 +78,8 @@
             ILSMPageWriteCallbackFactory pageWriteCallbackFactory,
             IMetadataPageManagerFactory metadataPageManagerFactory, IVirtualBufferCacheProvider vbcProvider,
             ILSMIOOperationSchedulerProvider ioSchedulerProvider, ILSMMergePolicyFactory mergePolicyFactory,
-            Map<String, String> mergePolicyProperties, boolean durable) {
+            Map<String, String> mergePolicyProperties, boolean durable, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits,
+            INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) {
         this.path = path;
         this.storageManager = storageManager;
         this.typeTraits = typeTraits;
@@ -92,6 +96,8 @@
         this.mergePolicyFactory = mergePolicyFactory;
         this.mergePolicyProperties = mergePolicyProperties;
         this.durable = durable;
+        this.nullTypeTraits = nullTypeTraits;
+        this.nullIntrospector = nullIntrospector;
     }
 
     protected LsmResource(IPersistedResourceRegistry registry, JsonNode json) throws HyracksDataException {
@@ -156,6 +162,16 @@
         mergePolicyFactory = (ILSMMergePolicyFactory) registry.deserialize(json.get("mergePolicyFactory"));
         mergePolicyProperties = OBJECT_MAPPER.convertValue(json.get("mergePolicyProperties"), Map.class);
         durable = json.get("durable").asBoolean();
+        if (json.hasNonNull("nullTypeTraits")) {
+            nullTypeTraits = (ITypeTraits) registry.deserialize(json.get("nullTypeTraits"));
+        } else {
+            nullTypeTraits = null;
+        }
+        if (json.hasNonNull("nullIntrospector")) {
+            nullIntrospector = (INullIntrospector) registry.deserialize(json.get("nullIntrospector"));
+        } else {
+            nullIntrospector = null;
+        }
     }
 
     protected void appendToJson(final ObjectNode json, IPersistedResourceRegistry registry)
@@ -206,6 +222,16 @@
         json.set("mergePolicyFactory", mergePolicyFactory.toJson(registry));
         json.putPOJO("mergePolicyProperties", mergePolicyProperties);
         json.put("durable", durable);
+        if (nullTypeTraits != null) {
+            json.set("nullTypeTraits", nullTypeTraits.toJson(registry));
+        } else {
+            json.set("nullTypeTraits", null);
+        }
+        if (nullIntrospector != null) {
+            json.set("nullIntrospector", nullIntrospector.toJson(registry));
+        } else {
+            json.set("nullIntrospector", null);
+        }
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/dataflow/LsmResourceFactory.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/dataflow/LsmResourceFactory.java
index a138f01..e97a779 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/dataflow/LsmResourceFactory.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/dataflow/LsmResourceFactory.java
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.IBinaryComparatorFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IMetadataPageManagerFactory;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMIOOperationCallbackFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMIOOperationSchedulerProvider;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMMergePolicyFactory;
@@ -34,7 +35,7 @@
 
 public abstract class LsmResourceFactory implements IResourceFactory {
 
-    private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
+    private static final long serialVersionUID = 2L;
     protected final IStorageManager storageManager;
     protected final ITypeTraits[] typeTraits;
     protected final IBinaryComparatorFactory[] cmpFactories;
@@ -50,6 +51,8 @@
     protected final ILSMMergePolicyFactory mergePolicyFactory;
     protected final Map<String, String> mergePolicyProperties;
     protected final boolean durable;
+    protected final ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits;
+    protected final INullIntrospector nullIntrospector;
 
     public LsmResourceFactory(IStorageManager storageManager, ITypeTraits[] typeTraits,
             IBinaryComparatorFactory[] cmpFactories, ITypeTraits[] filterTypeTraits,
@@ -58,7 +61,8 @@
             ILSMPageWriteCallbackFactory pageWriteCallbackFactory,
             IMetadataPageManagerFactory metadataPageManagerFactory, IVirtualBufferCacheProvider vbcProvider,
             ILSMIOOperationSchedulerProvider ioSchedulerProvider, ILSMMergePolicyFactory mergePolicyFactory,
-            Map<String, String> mergePolicyProperties, boolean durable) {
+            Map<String, String> mergePolicyProperties, boolean durable, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits,
+            INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) {
         this.storageManager = storageManager;
         this.typeTraits = typeTraits;
         this.cmpFactories = cmpFactories;
@@ -74,5 +78,7 @@
         this.mergePolicyFactory = mergePolicyFactory;
         this.mergePolicyProperties = mergePolicyProperties;
         this.durable = durable;
+        this.nullTypeTraits = nullTypeTraits;
+        this.nullIntrospector = nullIntrospector;
     }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/dataflow/LSMInvertedIndexLocalResource.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/dataflow/LSMInvertedIndexLocalResource.java
index 0af1f3f..8550385 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/dataflow/LSMInvertedIndexLocalResource.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/dataflow/LSMInvertedIndexLocalResource.java
@@ -94,8 +94,7 @@
 
         super(path, storageManager, typeTraits, cmpFactories, filterTypeTraits, filterCmpFactories, filterFields,
                 opTrackerProvider, ioOpCallbackFactory, pageWriteCallbackFactory, metadataPageManagerFactory,
-                vbcProvider, ioSchedulerProvider, mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties, durable);
-
+                vbcProvider, ioSchedulerProvider, mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties, durable, null, null);
         this.tokenTypeTraits = tokenTypeTraits;
         this.tokenCmpFactories = tokenCmpFactories;
         this.tokenizerFactory = tokenizerFactory;
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/dataflow/LSMInvertedIndexLocalResourceFactory.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/dataflow/LSMInvertedIndexLocalResourceFactory.java
index 09c9699..79c6123 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/dataflow/LSMInvertedIndexLocalResourceFactory.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/dataflow/LSMInvertedIndexLocalResourceFactory.java
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@
             int[] invertedIndexFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps, double bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate) {
         super(storageManager, typeTraits, cmpFactories, filterTypeTraits, filterCmpFactories, filterFields,
                 opTrackerFactory, ioOpCallbackFactory, pageWriteCallbackFactory, metadataPageManagerFactory,
-                vbcProvider, ioSchedulerProvider, mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties, durable);
+                vbcProvider, ioSchedulerProvider, mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties, durable, null, null);
         this.tokenTypeTraits = tokenTypeTraits;
         this.tokenCmpFactories = tokenCmpFactories;
         // ToDo: totally replace tokenizerFactory with full-text config
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/impls/LSMInvertedIndex.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/impls/LSMInvertedIndex.java
index de65e3e..f2d5a37 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/impls/LSMInvertedIndex.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/impls/LSMInvertedIndex.java
@@ -120,10 +120,10 @@
         for (IVirtualBufferCache virtualBufferCache : virtualBufferCaches) {
             InMemoryInvertedIndex memInvIndex =
                     createInMemoryInvertedIndex(virtualBufferCache, new VirtualFreePageManager(virtualBufferCache), i);
-            BTree deleteKeysBTree =
-                    BTreeUtils.createBTree(virtualBufferCache, new VirtualFreePageManager(virtualBufferCache),
-                            invListTypeTraits, invListCmpFactories, BTreeLeafFrameType.REGULAR_NSM,
-                            ioManager.resolveAbsolutePath(fileManager.getBaseDir() + "_virtual_del_" + i), false);
+            BTree deleteKeysBTree = BTreeUtils.createBTree(virtualBufferCache,
+                    new VirtualFreePageManager(virtualBufferCache), invListTypeTraits, invListCmpFactories,
+                    BTreeLeafFrameType.REGULAR_NSM,
+                    ioManager.resolveAbsolutePath(fileManager.getBaseDir() + "_virtual_del_" + i), false, null, null);
             LSMInvertedIndexMemoryComponent mutableComponent = new LSMInvertedIndexMemoryComponent(this, memInvIndex,
                     deleteKeysBTree, virtualBufferCache, filterHelper == null ? null : filterHelper.createFilter());
             memoryComponents.add(mutableComponent);
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/inmemory/InMemoryInvertedIndex.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/inmemory/InMemoryInvertedIndex.java
index 6998861..c2e07b3 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/inmemory/InMemoryInvertedIndex.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/inmemory/InMemoryInvertedIndex.java
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@
             btreeCmpFactories[tokenTypeTraits.length + i] = invListCmpFactories[i];
         }
         this.btree = BTreeUtils.createBTree(virtualBufferCache, virtualFreePageManager, btreeTypeTraits,
-                btreeCmpFactories, BTreeLeafFrameType.REGULAR_NSM, btreeFileRef, false);
+                btreeCmpFactories, BTreeLeafFrameType.REGULAR_NSM, btreeFileRef, false, null, null);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/OnDiskInvertedIndex.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/OnDiskInvertedIndex.java
index 0f26435..7a45c5d 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/OnDiskInvertedIndex.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/OnDiskInvertedIndex.java
@@ -127,7 +127,8 @@
         this.tokenTypeTraits = tokenTypeTraits;
         this.tokenCmpFactories = tokenCmpFactories;
         this.btree = BTreeUtils.createDiskBTree(bufferCache, getBTreeTypeTraits(tokenTypeTraits), tokenCmpFactories,
-                BTreeLeafFrameType.REGULAR_NSM, btreeFile, pageManagerFactory.createPageManager(bufferCache), false);
+                BTreeLeafFrameType.REGULAR_NSM, btreeFile, pageManagerFactory.createPageManager(bufferCache), false,
+                null, null);
         this.numTokenFields = btree.getComparatorFactories().length;
         this.numInvListKeys = invListCmpFactories.length;
         this.invListsFile = invListsFile;
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/variablesize/VariableSizeElementInvertedListBuilder.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/variablesize/VariableSizeElementInvertedListBuilder.java
index cfbb779..3ce26c5 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/variablesize/VariableSizeElementInvertedListBuilder.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/variablesize/VariableSizeElementInvertedListBuilder.java
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@
         for (int i = 0; i < invListFields.length; i++) {
             allFields[i + tokenTypeTraits.length] = invListFields[i];
         }
-        this.writer = new TypeAwareTupleWriter(allFields);
+        this.writer = new TypeAwareTupleWriter(allFields, null, null);
 
         InvertedIndexUtils.verifyHasVarSizeTypeTrait(invListFields);
     }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/variablesize/VariableSizeElementOnDiskInvertedListCursor.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/variablesize/VariableSizeElementOnDiskInvertedListCursor.java
index ee2bc58..a5515b3 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/variablesize/VariableSizeElementOnDiskInvertedListCursor.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/variablesize/VariableSizeElementOnDiskInvertedListCursor.java
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@
         super(bufferCache, fileId, invListFields, stats);
         this.isInit = true;
         this.tupleReference = new VariableSizeInvertedListTupleReference(invListFields);
-        this.tupleWriter = new TypeAwareTupleWriter(invListFields);
+        this.tupleWriter = new TypeAwareTupleWriter(invListFields, null, null);
     }
 
     public VariableSizeElementOnDiskInvertedListCursor(IBufferCache bufferCache, int fileId,
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@
         currentElementIxForScan = 0;
         isInit = true;
         this.tupleReference = new VariableSizeInvertedListTupleReference(invListFields);
-        this.tupleWriter = new TypeAwareTupleWriter(invListFields);
+        this.tupleWriter = new TypeAwareTupleWriter(invListFields, null, null);
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/variablesize/VariableSizeInvertedListSearchResultFrameTupleAccessor.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/variablesize/VariableSizeInvertedListSearchResultFrameTupleAccessor.java
index ab71c0a..75d0cfe 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/variablesize/VariableSizeInvertedListSearchResultFrameTupleAccessor.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/variablesize/VariableSizeInvertedListSearchResultFrameTupleAccessor.java
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@
             throws HyracksDataException {
         super(frameSize, fields);
 
-        this.tupleWriter = new TypeAwareTupleWriter(fields);
+        this.tupleWriter = new TypeAwareTupleWriter(fields, null, null);
         this.tupleReference = new VariableSizeInvertedListTupleReference(fields);
     }
 
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/variablesize/VariableSizeInvertedListTupleReference.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/variablesize/VariableSizeInvertedListTupleReference.java
index 8e1db66..1e69076 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/variablesize/VariableSizeInvertedListTupleReference.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/variablesize/VariableSizeInvertedListTupleReference.java
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@
     public VariableSizeInvertedListTupleReference(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits) throws HyracksDataException {
         super(typeTraits);
 
-        this.tupleReference = new TypeAwareTupleReference(typeTraits);
+        this.tupleReference = new TypeAwareTupleReference(typeTraits, null);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/search/InvertedIndexSearchResult.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/search/InvertedIndexSearchResult.java
index 707d85d..6958fd5 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/search/InvertedIndexSearchResult.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/search/InvertedIndexSearchResult.java
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@
     public InvertedIndexSearchResult(ITypeTraits[] invListFields, IHyracksTaskContext ctx,
             ISimpleFrameBufferManager bufferManager) throws HyracksDataException {
         this.invListFields = invListFields;
-        this.tupleWriter = new TypeAwareTupleWriter(invListFields);
+        this.tupleWriter = new TypeAwareTupleWriter(invListFields, null, null);
         initTypeTraits(invListFields);
         this.ctx = ctx;
         appender = new InvertedListSearchResultFrameTupleAppender(ctx.getInitialFrameSize());
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/util/InvertedIndexUtils.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/util/InvertedIndexUtils.java
index dcde832..bee6be6 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/util/InvertedIndexUtils.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/util/InvertedIndexUtils.java
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@
             IBinaryComparatorFactory[] invListCmpFactories, IBufferCache diskBufferCache,
             IPageManagerFactory freePageManagerFactory) throws HyracksDataException {
         BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory tupleWriterFactory =
-                new BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(invListTypeTraits, false);
+                new BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(invListTypeTraits, false, null, null);
         ITreeIndexFrameFactory leafFrameFactory =
                 BTreeUtils.getLeafFrameFactory(tupleWriterFactory, BTreeLeafFrameType.REGULAR_NSM);
         ITreeIndexFrameFactory interiorFrameFactory = new BTreeNSMInteriorFrameFactory(tupleWriterFactory);
@@ -174,7 +174,8 @@
         LSMComponentFilterFrameFactory filterFrameFactory = null;
         LSMComponentFilterManager filterManager = null;
         if (filterCmpFactories != null) {
-            TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory filterTupleWriterFactory = new TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(filterTypeTraits);
+            TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory filterTupleWriterFactory =
+                    new TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(filterTypeTraits, null, null);
             filterHelper = new ComponentFilterHelper(filterTupleWriterFactory, filterCmpFactories);
             filterFrameFactory = new LSMComponentFilterFrameFactory(filterTupleWriterFactory);
             filterManager = new LSMComponentFilterManager(filterFrameFactory);
@@ -225,7 +226,8 @@
         LSMComponentFilterFrameFactory filterFrameFactory = null;
         LSMComponentFilterManager filterManager = null;
         if (filterCmpFactories != null) {
-            TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory filterTupleWriterFactory = new TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(filterTypeTraits);
+            TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory filterTupleWriterFactory =
+                    new TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(filterTypeTraits, null, null);
             filterHelper = new ComponentFilterHelper(filterTupleWriterFactory, filterCmpFactories);
             filterFrameFactory = new LSMComponentFilterFrameFactory(filterTupleWriterFactory);
             filterManager = new LSMComponentFilterManager(filterFrameFactory);
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/LSMRTreeLocalResource.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/LSMRTreeLocalResource.java
index bfae1cd..c7a59f4 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/LSMRTreeLocalResource.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/LSMRTreeLocalResource.java
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@
             boolean isPointMBR, double bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate) {
         super(path, storageManager, typeTraits, rtreeCmpFactories, filterTypeTraits, filterCmpFactories, filterFields,
                 opTrackerProvider, ioOpCallbackFactory, pageWriteCallbackFactory, metadataPageManagerFactory,
-                vbcProvider, ioSchedulerProvider, mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties, durable);
+                vbcProvider, ioSchedulerProvider, mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties, durable, null, null);
         this.btreeCmpFactories = btreeCmpFactories;
         this.valueProviderFactories = valueProviderFactories;
         this.rtreePolicyType = rtreePolicyType;
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/LSMRTreeLocalResourceFactory.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/LSMRTreeLocalResourceFactory.java
index 635f1ac..31f78d8 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/LSMRTreeLocalResourceFactory.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/LSMRTreeLocalResourceFactory.java
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@
             boolean isPointMBR, double bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate) {
         super(storageManager, typeTraits, cmpFactories, filterTypeTraits, filterCmpFactories, filterFields,
                 opTrackerProvider, ioOpCallbackFactory, pageWriteCallbackFactory, metadataPageManagerFactory,
-                vbcProvider, ioSchedulerProvider, mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties, durable);
+                vbcProvider, ioSchedulerProvider, mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties, durable, null, null);
         this.btreeCmpFactories = btreeCmpFactories;
         this.valueProviderFactories = valueProviderFactories;
         this.rtreePolicyType = rtreePolicyType;
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterLocalResource.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterLocalResource.java
index e4a8287..a0d0220 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterLocalResource.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterLocalResource.java
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@
             ILinearizeComparatorFactory linearizeCmpFactory, int[] rtreeFields, boolean isPointMBR, boolean durable) {
         super(path, storageManager, typeTraits, rtreeCmpFactories, filterTypeTraits, filterCmpFactories, filterFields,
                 opTrackerProvider, ioOpCallbackFactory, pageWriteCallbackFactory, metadataPageManagerFactory,
-                vbcProvider, ioSchedulerProvider, mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties, durable);
+                vbcProvider, ioSchedulerProvider, mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties, durable, null, null);
         this.btreeCmpFactories = btreeCmpFactories;
         this.valueProviderFactories = valueProviderFactories;
         this.rtreePolicyType = rtreePolicyType;
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterLocalResourceFactory.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterLocalResourceFactory.java
index 6edf877..ed4c5b5 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterLocalResourceFactory.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterLocalResourceFactory.java
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@
             IBinaryComparatorFactory[] btreeComparatorFactories) {
         super(storageManager, rteeTypeTraits, rtreeCmpFactories, filterTypeTraits, filterCmpFactories, filterFields,
                 opTrackerFactory, ioOpCallbackFactory, pageWriteCallbackFactory, metadataPageManagerFactory,
-                vbcProvider, ioSchedulerProvider, mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties, durable);
+                vbcProvider, ioSchedulerProvider, mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties, durable, null, null);
         this.valueProviderFactories = valueProviderFactories;
         this.rtreePolicyType = rtreePolicyType;
         this.linearizeCmpFactory = linearizeCmpFactory;
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/tuples/LSMRTreeTupleReferenceForPointMBR.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/tuples/LSMRTreeTupleReferenceForPointMBR.java
index e28d5a2..ef9eb47 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/tuples/LSMRTreeTupleReferenceForPointMBR.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/tuples/LSMRTreeTupleReferenceForPointMBR.java
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.rtree.tuples.RTreeTypeAwareTupleReference;
 
 public class LSMRTreeTupleReferenceForPointMBR extends RTreeTypeAwareTupleReference implements ILSMTreeTupleReference {
+
     private final int inputKeyFieldCount; //double field count for mbr secondary key of an input tuple
     private final int inputTotalFieldCount; //total field count (key + value fields) of an input tuple.
     private final int storedKeyFieldCount; //double field count to be stored for the mbr secondary key
@@ -140,6 +141,7 @@
 
     @Override
     public boolean isAntimatter() {
+        // TODO(ali): antimatterAware should be checked?
         // Check antimatter bit.
         return BitOperationUtils.getBit(buf, tupleStartOff, ANTIMATTER_BIT_OFFSET);
     }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/tuples/LSMRTreeTupleWriterForPointMBR.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/tuples/LSMRTreeTupleWriterForPointMBR.java
index ce6bdeb..ae2d642 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/tuples/LSMRTreeTupleWriterForPointMBR.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/tuples/LSMRTreeTupleWriterForPointMBR.java
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@
  */
 
 public class LSMRTreeTupleWriterForPointMBR extends RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter implements ILSMTreeTupleWriter {
+
     private final int inputKeyFieldCount; //double field count for mbr secondary key of an input tuple
     private final int valueFieldCount; //value(or payload or primary key) field count (same for an input tuple and a stored tuple)
     private final int inputTotalFieldCount; //total field count (key + value fields) of an input tuple.
@@ -157,6 +158,7 @@
     }
 
     protected void setAntimatterBit(byte[] targetBuf, int targetOff) {
+        // TODO(ali): antimatterAware should be checked?
         // Set antimatter bit to 1.
         BitOperationUtils.setBit(targetBuf, targetOff, ANTIMATTER_BIT_OFFSET);
     }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/utils/LSMRTreeUtils.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/utils/LSMRTreeUtils.java
index ba6015d..cf44b2f 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/utils/LSMRTreeUtils.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/utils/LSMRTreeUtils.java
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@
             rtreeLeafFrameTupleWriterFactory = rtreeInteriorFrameTupleWriterFactory;
         }
         BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory btreeTupleWriterFactory =
-                new BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(btreeTypeTraits, false);
+                new BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(btreeTypeTraits, false, null, null);
         RTreeFrameFactory rtreeInteriorFrameFactory = new RTreeNSMInteriorFrameFactory(
                 rtreeInteriorFrameTupleWriterFactory, valueProviderFactories, rtreePolicyType, isPointMBR);
         RTreeFrameFactory rtreeLeafFrameFactory = new RTreeNSMLeafFrameFactory(rtreeLeafFrameTupleWriterFactory,
@@ -127,7 +127,8 @@
         LSMComponentFilterFrameFactory filterFrameFactory = null;
         LSMComponentFilterManager filterManager = null;
         if (filterCmpFactories != null) {
-            TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory filterTupleWriterFactory = new TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(filterTypeTraits);
+            TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory filterTupleWriterFactory =
+                    new TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(filterTypeTraits, null, null);
             filterHelper = new ComponentFilterHelper(filterTupleWriterFactory, filterCmpFactories);
             filterFrameFactory = new LSMComponentFilterFrameFactory(filterTupleWriterFactory);
             filterManager = new LSMComponentFilterManager(filterFrameFactory);
@@ -217,7 +218,8 @@
         LSMComponentFilterFrameFactory filterFrameFactory = null;
         LSMComponentFilterManager filterManager = null;
         if (filterCmpFactories != null) {
-            TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory filterTupleWriterFactory = new TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(filterTypeTraits);
+            TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory filterTupleWriterFactory =
+                    new TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(filterTypeTraits, null, null);
             filterHelper = new ComponentFilterHelper(filterTupleWriterFactory, filterCmpFactories);
             filterFrameFactory = new LSMComponentFilterFrameFactory(filterTupleWriterFactory);
             filterManager = new LSMComponentFilterManager(filterFrameFactory);
@@ -264,7 +266,7 @@
             rtreeLeafFrameTupleWriterFactory = rtreeInteriorFrameTupleWriterFactory;
         }
         BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory btreeTupleWriterFactory =
-                new BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(btreeTypeTraits, false);
+                new BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(btreeTypeTraits, false, null, null);
         RTreeFrameFactory rtreeInteriorFrameFactory = new RTreeNSMInteriorFrameFactory(
                 rtreeInteriorFrameTupleWriterFactory, valueProviderFactories, rtreePolicyType, isPointMBR);
         RTreeFrameFactory rtreeLeafFrameFactory = new RTreeNSMLeafFrameFactory(rtreeLeafFrameTupleWriterFactory,
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/tuples/RTreeTypeAwareTupleReference.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/tuples/RTreeTypeAwareTupleReference.java
index 61e2326..8f7f3f0 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/tuples/RTreeTypeAwareTupleReference.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/tuples/RTreeTypeAwareTupleReference.java
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
 public class RTreeTypeAwareTupleReference extends TypeAwareTupleReference implements ITreeIndexTupleReference {
 
     public RTreeTypeAwareTupleReference(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits) {
-        super(typeTraits);
+        super(typeTraits, null);
     }
 
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/tuples/RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/tuples/RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter.java
index 40b0481..42a9662 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/tuples/RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/tuples/RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter.java
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
 public class RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter extends TypeAwareTupleWriter {
 
     public RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits) {
-        super(typeTraits);
+        super(typeTraits, null, null);
     }
 
     public int writeTupleFields(ITreeIndexTupleReference[] refs, int startField, ByteBuffer targetBuf, int targetOff) {
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/tuples/RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/tuples/RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory.java
index 4536a0c..0069cc3 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/tuples/RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/tuples/RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory.java
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
     private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
 
     public RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits) {
-        super(typeTraits);
+        super(typeTraits, null, null);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/BTreeExamplesTest.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/BTreeExamplesTest.java
index 8c0f5a5..9d91e14 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/BTreeExamplesTest.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/BTreeExamplesTest.java
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@
         LinkedMetaDataPageManager freePageManager =
                 new LinkedMetaDataPageManager(harness.getBufferCache(), metaFrameFactory);
         return BTreeUtils.createBTree(harness.getBufferCache(), typeTraits, cmpFactories,
-                BTreeLeafFrameType.REGULAR_NSM, harness.getFileReference(), freePageManager, false);
+                BTreeLeafFrameType.REGULAR_NSM, harness.getFileReference(), freePageManager, false, null, null);
     }
 
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/BTreeModificationOperationCallbackTest.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/BTreeModificationOperationCallbackTest.java
index ad9198c..786a6af 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/BTreeModificationOperationCallbackTest.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/BTreeModificationOperationCallbackTest.java
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@
         IMetadataPageManager freePageManager = freePageManagerFactory.createPageManager(harness.getBufferCache());
         index = BTreeUtils.createBTree(harness.getBufferCache(), SerdeUtils.serdesToTypeTraits(keySerdes),
                 SerdeUtils.serdesToComparatorFactories(keySerdes, keySerdes.length), BTreeLeafFrameType.REGULAR_NSM,
-                harness.getFileReference(), freePageManager, false);
+                harness.getFileReference(), freePageManager, false, null, null);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/BTreeSearchCursorTest.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/BTreeSearchCursorTest.java
index 2e2f306..82cd909 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/BTreeSearchCursorTest.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/BTreeSearchCursorTest.java
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@
     public static final int FIELD_COUNT = 2;
     public static final ITypeTraits[] TYPE_TRAITS = { IntegerPointable.TYPE_TRAITS, IntegerPointable.TYPE_TRAITS };
     public static final BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory TUPLE_WRITER_FACTORY =
-            new BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(TYPE_TRAITS, false);
+            new BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(TYPE_TRAITS, false, null, null);
     public static final ITreeIndexMetadataFrameFactory META_FRAME_FACTORY = new LIFOMetaDataFrameFactory();
     public static final int KEY_FIELDS_COUNT = 1;
     public static final IBinaryComparatorFactory[] CMP_FACTORIES = { IntegerBinaryComparatorFactory.INSTANCE };
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/BTreeSearchOperationCallbackTest.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/BTreeSearchOperationCallbackTest.java
index 89399bd..a7b4c4d 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/BTreeSearchOperationCallbackTest.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/BTreeSearchOperationCallbackTest.java
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@
                 new LinkedMetaDataPageManager(harness.getBufferCache(), metaFrameFactory);
         index = BTreeUtils.createBTree(harness.getBufferCache(), SerdeUtils.serdesToTypeTraits(keySerdes),
                 SerdeUtils.serdesToComparatorFactories(keySerdes, keySerdes.length), BTreeLeafFrameType.REGULAR_NSM,
-                harness.getFileReference(), freePageManager, false);
+                harness.getFileReference(), freePageManager, false, null, null);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/BTreeStatsTest.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/BTreeStatsTest.java
index 7a24727..97e5e46 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/BTreeStatsTest.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/BTreeStatsTest.java
@@ -84,7 +84,8 @@
         int keyFieldCount = 1;
         IBinaryComparatorFactory[] cmpFactories = new IBinaryComparatorFactory[keyFieldCount];
         cmpFactories[0] = IntegerBinaryComparatorFactory.INSTANCE;
-        BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory tupleWriterFactory = new BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, false);
+        BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory tupleWriterFactory =
+                new BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, false, null, null);
         ITreeIndexFrameFactory leafFrameFactory = new BTreeNSMLeafFrameFactory(tupleWriterFactory);
         ITreeIndexFrameFactory interiorFrameFactory = new BTreeNSMInteriorFrameFactory(tupleWriterFactory);
         ITreeIndexMetadataFrameFactory metaFrameFactory = new LIFOMetaDataFrameFactory();
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/BTreeUpdateSearchTest.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/BTreeUpdateSearchTest.java
index 5b86b4f..720dd59 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/BTreeUpdateSearchTest.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/BTreeUpdateSearchTest.java
@@ -74,7 +74,8 @@
         ISerializerDeserializer[] recDescSers =
                 { IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE, IntegerSerializerDeserializer.INSTANCE };
 
-        BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory tupleWriterFactory = new BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, false);
+        BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory tupleWriterFactory =
+                new BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, false, null, null);
         ITreeIndexFrameFactory leafFrameFactory = new BTreeNSMLeafFrameFactory(tupleWriterFactory);
         ITreeIndexFrameFactory interiorFrameFactory = new BTreeNSMInteriorFrameFactory(tupleWriterFactory);
         ITreeIndexMetadataFrameFactory metaFrameFactory = new LIFOMetaDataFrameFactory();
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/FieldPrefixNSMTest.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/FieldPrefixNSMTest.java
index fe05828..e9b9e7f 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/FieldPrefixNSMTest.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/FieldPrefixNSMTest.java
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@
         ICachedPage page = bufferCache.pin(BufferedFileHandle.getDiskPageId(btreeFileId, 0), true);
         try {
 
-            BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter tupleWriter = new BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter(typeTraits, false);
+            BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter tupleWriter = new BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter(typeTraits, false, null, null);
             BTreeFieldPrefixNSMLeafFrame frame = new BTreeFieldPrefixNSMLeafFrame(tupleWriter);
             frame.setPage(page);
             frame.initBuffer((byte) 0);
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/multithread/BTreeMultiThreadTest.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/multithread/BTreeMultiThreadTest.java
index dcdbdc6..6b94b03 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/multithread/BTreeMultiThreadTest.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/multithread/BTreeMultiThreadTest.java
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@
             int[] bloomFilterKeyFields) throws HyracksDataException {
         return BTreeUtils.createBTree(harness.getBufferCache(), typeTraits, cmpFactories,
                 BTreeLeafFrameType.REGULAR_NSM, harness.getFileReference(),
-                harness.getPageManagerFactory().createPageManager(harness.getBufferCache()), false);
+                harness.getPageManagerFactory().createPageManager(harness.getBufferCache()), false, null, null);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/util/BTreeTestContext.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/util/BTreeTestContext.java
index 9d66b64..eaa1c28 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/util/BTreeTestContext.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/btree/util/BTreeTestContext.java
@@ -56,7 +56,8 @@
             IPageManager pageManager) throws Exception {
         ITypeTraits[] typeTraits = SerdeUtils.serdesToTypeTraits(fieldSerdes);
         IBinaryComparatorFactory[] cmpFactories = SerdeUtils.serdesToComparatorFactories(fieldSerdes, numKeyFields);
-        BTree btree = BTreeUtils.createBTree(bufferCache, typeTraits, cmpFactories, leafType, file, pageManager, false);
+        BTree btree = BTreeUtils.createBTree(bufferCache, typeTraits, cmpFactories, leafType, file, pageManager, false,
+                null, null);
         BTreeTestContext testCtx = new BTreeTestContext(fieldSerdes, btree);
         return testCtx;
     }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeExamplesTest.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeExamplesTest.java
index 1d41280..3313443 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeExamplesTest.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeExamplesTest.java
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@
                 harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(), harness.getIOOperationCallbackFactory(),
                 harness.getPageWriteCallbackFactory(), true, filterTypeTraits, filterCmpFactories, btreeFields,
                 filterFields, true, harness.getMetadataPageManagerFactory(), false, ITracer.NONE,
-                NoOpCompressorDecompressorFactory.INSTANCE, bloomFilterKeyFields != null);
+                NoOpCompressorDecompressorFactory.INSTANCE, bloomFilterKeyFields != null, null, null);
     }
 
     @Before
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeModificationOperationCallbackTest.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeModificationOperationCallbackTest.java
index 8d8ec23..2476761 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeModificationOperationCallbackTest.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeModificationOperationCallbackTest.java
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@
                 NoOpOperationTrackerFactory.INSTANCE.getOperationTracker(null, null), harness.getIOScheduler(),
                 harness.getIOOperationCallbackFactory(), harness.getPageWriteCallbackFactory(), true, null, null, null,
                 null, true, harness.getMetadataPageManagerFactory(), false, ITracer.NONE,
-                NoOpCompressorDecompressorFactory.INSTANCE, HAS_BLOOM_FILTER);
+                NoOpCompressorDecompressorFactory.INSTANCE, HAS_BLOOM_FILTER, null, null);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeSearchOperationCallbackTest.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeSearchOperationCallbackTest.java
index ab068ae..6dec9f4 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeSearchOperationCallbackTest.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeSearchOperationCallbackTest.java
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@
                 NoOpOperationTrackerFactory.INSTANCE.getOperationTracker(null, null), harness.getIOScheduler(),
                 harness.getIOOperationCallbackFactory(), harness.getPageWriteCallbackFactory(), true, null, null, null,
                 null, true, harness.getMetadataPageManagerFactory(), false, ITracer.NONE,
-                NoOpCompressorDecompressorFactory.INSTANCE, HAS_BLOOM_FILTER);
+                NoOpCompressorDecompressorFactory.INSTANCE, HAS_BLOOM_FILTER, null, null);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeUpdateInPlaceTest.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeUpdateInPlaceTest.java
index 2954854..0a4b37b 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeUpdateInPlaceTest.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeUpdateInPlaceTest.java
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@
                 NoOpOperationTrackerFactory.INSTANCE.getOperationTracker(null, null), harness.getIOScheduler(),
                 harness.getIOOperationCallbackFactory(), harness.getPageWriteCallbackFactory(), true, null, null, null,
                 null, true, harness.getMetadataPageManagerFactory(), true, ITracer.NONE,
-                NoOpCompressorDecompressorFactory.INSTANCE, HAS_BLOOM_FILTER);
+                NoOpCompressorDecompressorFactory.INSTANCE, HAS_BLOOM_FILTER, null, null);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/impl/TestLsmBtreeLocalResource.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/impl/TestLsmBtreeLocalResource.java
index 3450531..8e2d6dd 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/impl/TestLsmBtreeLocalResource.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/impl/TestLsmBtreeLocalResource.java
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@
                 storageManager, mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties, filterTypeTraits, filterCmpFactories,
                 btreeFields, filterFields, opTrackerProvider, ioOpCallbackFactory, pageWriteCallbackFactory,
                 metadataPageManagerFactory, vbcProvider, ioSchedulerProvider, durable,
-                NoOpCompressorDecompressorFactory.INSTANCE, hasBloomFilter);
+                NoOpCompressorDecompressorFactory.INSTANCE, hasBloomFilter, null, null);
     }
 
     protected TestLsmBtreeLocalResource(IPersistedResourceRegistry registry, JsonNode json, int[] bloomFilterKeyFields,
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/impl/TestLsmBtreeLocalResourceFactory.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/impl/TestLsmBtreeLocalResourceFactory.java
index 229b027..7d9b24a 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/impl/TestLsmBtreeLocalResourceFactory.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/impl/TestLsmBtreeLocalResourceFactory.java
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@
                 opTrackerFactory, ioOpCallbackFactory, pageWriteCallbackFactory, metadataPageManagerFactory,
                 vbcProvider, ioSchedulerProvider, mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties, durable,
                 bloomFilterKeyFields, bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, isPrimary, btreeFields,
-                NoOpCompressorDecompressorFactory.INSTANCE, hasBloomFilter);
+                NoOpCompressorDecompressorFactory.INSTANCE, hasBloomFilter, null, null);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/impl/TestLsmBtreeUtil.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/impl/TestLsmBtreeUtil.java
index eebfb2b..dd42838 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/impl/TestLsmBtreeUtil.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/impl/TestLsmBtreeUtil.java
@@ -68,11 +68,11 @@
             int[] btreeFields, int[] filterFields, boolean durable, IMetadataPageManagerFactory freePageManagerFactory,
             boolean updateAware, ITracer tracer) throws HyracksDataException {
         LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory insertTupleWriterFactory =
-                new LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, cmpFactories.length, false, updateAware);
+                new LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, cmpFactories.length, false, updateAware, null, null);
         LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory deleteTupleWriterFactory =
-                new LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, cmpFactories.length, true, updateAware);
+                new LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, cmpFactories.length, true, updateAware, null, null);
         LSMBTreeCopyTupleWriterFactory copyTupleWriterFactory =
-                new LSMBTreeCopyTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, cmpFactories.length, updateAware);
+                new LSMBTreeCopyTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, cmpFactories.length, updateAware, null, null);
         ITreeIndexFrameFactory insertLeafFrameFactory = new BTreeNSMLeafFrameFactory(insertTupleWriterFactory);
         ITreeIndexFrameFactory copyTupleLeafFrameFactory = new BTreeNSMLeafFrameFactory(copyTupleWriterFactory);
         ITreeIndexFrameFactory deleteLeafFrameFactory = new BTreeNSMLeafFrameFactory(deleteTupleWriterFactory);
@@ -88,7 +88,8 @@
         LSMComponentFilterFrameFactory filterFrameFactory = null;
         LSMComponentFilterManager filterManager = null;
         if (filterCmpFactories != null) {
-            TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory filterTupleWriterFactory = new TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(filterTypeTraits);
+            TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory filterTupleWriterFactory =
+                    new TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(filterTypeTraits, null, null);
             filterHelper = new ComponentFilterHelper(filterTupleWriterFactory, filterCmpFactories);
             filterFrameFactory = new LSMComponentFilterFrameFactory(filterTupleWriterFactory);
             filterManager = new LSMComponentFilterManager(filterFrameFactory);
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/multithread/LSMBTreeMultiThreadTest.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/multithread/LSMBTreeMultiThreadTest.java
index fb1244f..66af4b2 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/multithread/LSMBTreeMultiThreadTest.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/multithread/LSMBTreeMultiThreadTest.java
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@
                 harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(), harness.getIOOperationCallbackFactory(),
                 harness.getPageWriteCallbackFactory(), true, null, null, null, null, true,
                 harness.getMetadataPageManagerFactory(), false, ITracer.NONE,
-                NoOpCompressorDecompressorFactory.INSTANCE, bloomFilterKeyFields != null);
+                NoOpCompressorDecompressorFactory.INSTANCE, bloomFilterKeyFields != null, null, null);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/perf/BTreeRunner.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/perf/BTreeRunner.java
index 60a054e..baa5508 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/perf/BTreeRunner.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/perf/BTreeRunner.java
@@ -49,6 +49,6 @@
         ITreeIndexMetadataFrameFactory metaFrameFactory = new LIFOMetaDataFrameFactory();
         LinkedMetaDataPageManager freePageManager = new LinkedMetaDataPageManager(bufferCache, metaFrameFactory);
         btree = BTreeUtils.createBTree(bufferCache, typeTraits, cmpFactories, BTreeLeafFrameType.REGULAR_NSM, file,
-                freePageManager, false);
+                freePageManager, false, null, null);
     }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/perf/ConcurrentSkipListRunner.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/perf/ConcurrentSkipListRunner.java
index c476a8c..c57badc 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/perf/ConcurrentSkipListRunner.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/perf/ConcurrentSkipListRunner.java
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@
             this.dataGen = dataGen;
             this.numBatches = numBatches;
             this.skipList = skipList;
-            tupleWriterFactory = new TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits);
+            tupleWriterFactory = new TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, null, null);
             tupleWriter = tupleWriterFactory.createTupleWriter();
             int numTuples = numBatches * batchSize;
             tuples = new TypeAwareTupleReference[numTuples];
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/perf/InMemoryBTreeRunner.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/perf/InMemoryBTreeRunner.java
index 3307093..1eb4646 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/perf/InMemoryBTreeRunner.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/perf/InMemoryBTreeRunner.java
@@ -68,7 +68,8 @@
     protected void init(int pageSize, int numPages, ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] cmpFactories)
             throws HyracksDataException {
         bufferCache = new VirtualBufferCache(new HeapBufferAllocator(), pageSize, numPages);
-        BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory tupleWriterFactory = new BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, false);
+        BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory tupleWriterFactory =
+                new BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, false, null, null);
         ITreeIndexFrameFactory leafFrameFactory = new BTreeNSMLeafFrameFactory(tupleWriterFactory);
         ITreeIndexFrameFactory interiorFrameFactory = new BTreeNSMInteriorFrameFactory(tupleWriterFactory);
         IPageManager freePageManager = new VirtualFreePageManager(bufferCache);
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/perf/InMemorySortRunner.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/perf/InMemorySortRunner.java
index 4501485..1455fb3 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/perf/InMemorySortRunner.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/perf/InMemorySortRunner.java
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@
         this.batchSize = batchSize;
         this.typeTraits = typeTraits;
         tupleCmp = new TupleComparator(cmp);
-        tupleWriterFactory = new TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits);
+        tupleWriterFactory = new TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, null, null);
         tupleWriter = tupleWriterFactory.createTupleWriter();
         int numTuples = numBatches * batchSize;
         tuples = new ArrayList<TypeAwareTupleReference>();
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@
             this.dataGen = dataGen;
             this.numBatches = numBatches;
             this.skipList = skipList;
-            tupleWriterFactory = new TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits);
+            tupleWriterFactory = new TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, null, null);
             tupleWriter = tupleWriterFactory.createTupleWriter();
             int numTuples = numBatches * batchSize;
             tuples = new TypeAwareTupleReference[numTuples];
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/perf/LSMTreeRunner.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/perf/LSMTreeRunner.java
index f487bf1..1b46fd7 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/perf/LSMTreeRunner.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/perf/LSMTreeRunner.java
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@
                 new ThreadCountingTracker(), ioScheduler, NoOpIOOperationCallbackFactory.INSTANCE,
                 NoOpPageWriteCallbackFactory.INSTANCE, true, null, null, null, null, true,
                 TestStorageManagerComponentHolder.getMetadataPageManagerFactory(), false, ITracer.NONE,
-                NoOpCompressorDecompressorFactory.INSTANCE, bloomFilterKeyFields != null);
+                NoOpCompressorDecompressorFactory.INSTANCE, bloomFilterKeyFields != null, null, null);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/tuples/LSMBTreeTuplesTest.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/tuples/LSMBTreeTuplesTest.java
index b81167b..0a34c45 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/tuples/LSMBTreeTuplesTest.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/tuples/LSMBTreeTuplesTest.java
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@
             for (int numFields = numKeyFields; numFields <= maxFieldSerdes.length; numFields++) {
                 // Create and write tuple to bytes using an LSMBTreeTupleWriter.
                 LSMBTreeTupleWriter maxMatterTupleWriter =
-                        new LSMBTreeTupleWriter(maxTypeTraits, numKeyFields, false, false);
+                        new LSMBTreeTupleWriter(maxTypeTraits, numKeyFields, false, false, null, null);
                 ITupleReference maxTuple = TupleUtils.createTuple(maxFieldSerdes, (Object[]) maxFields);
                 ByteBuffer maxMatterBuf = writeTuple(maxTuple, maxMatterTupleWriter);
                 // Tuple reference should work for both matter and antimatter tuples (doesn't matter which factory creates it).
@@ -84,10 +84,12 @@
                 }
                 // Create and write tuple to bytes using an LSMBTreeTupleWriter.
                 ITupleReference tuple = TupleUtils.createTuple(fieldSerdes, (Object[]) fields);
-                LSMBTreeTupleWriter matterTupleWriter = new LSMBTreeTupleWriter(typeTraits, numKeyFields, false, false);
+                LSMBTreeTupleWriter matterTupleWriter =
+                        new LSMBTreeTupleWriter(typeTraits, numKeyFields, false, false, null, null);
                 LSMBTreeTupleWriter antimatterTupleWriter =
-                        new LSMBTreeTupleWriter(typeTraits, numKeyFields, true, false);
-                LSMBTreeCopyTupleWriter copyTupleWriter = new LSMBTreeCopyTupleWriter(typeTraits, numKeyFields, false);
+                        new LSMBTreeTupleWriter(typeTraits, numKeyFields, true, false, null, null);
+                LSMBTreeCopyTupleWriter copyTupleWriter =
+                        new LSMBTreeCopyTupleWriter(typeTraits, numKeyFields, false, null, null);
                 ByteBuffer matterBuf = writeTuple(tuple, matterTupleWriter);
                 ByteBuffer antimatterBuf = writeTuple(tuple, antimatterTupleWriter);
 
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/util/LSMBTreeTestContext.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/util/LSMBTreeTestContext.java
index 6da04e7..928f60c 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/util/LSMBTreeTestContext.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/util/LSMBTreeTestContext.java
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@
                     cmpFactories, bloomFilterKeyFields, bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, mergePolicy, opTracker,
                     ioScheduler, ioOpCallbackFactory, pageWriteCallbackFactory, needKeyDupCheck, filterTypeTraits,
                     filterCmp, btreefields, filterfields, true, metadataPageManagerFactory, updateAware, ITracer.NONE,
-                    NoOpCompressorDecompressorFactory.INSTANCE, true);
+                    NoOpCompressorDecompressorFactory.INSTANCE, true, null, null);
         } else {
             lsmTree = LSMBTreeUtil.createLSMTree(ioManager, virtualBufferCaches, file, diskBufferCache, typeTraits,
                     cmpFactories, bloomFilterKeyFields, bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, mergePolicy, opTracker,
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@
                     true, metadataPageManagerFactory,
                     updateAware, new Tracer(LSMBTreeTestContext.class.getSimpleName(),
                             ITraceCategoryRegistry.CATEGORIES_ALL, new TraceCategoryRegistry()),
-                    NoOpCompressorDecompressorFactory.INSTANCE, true);
+                    NoOpCompressorDecompressorFactory.INSTANCE, true, null, null);
         }
         LSMBTreeTestContext testCtx = new LSMBTreeTestContext(fieldSerdes, lsmTree, filtered);
         return testCtx;
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/test/LSMComponentFilterReferenceTest.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/test/LSMComponentFilterReferenceTest.java
index 143204f..612ca4b 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/test/LSMComponentFilterReferenceTest.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/test/LSMComponentFilterReferenceTest.java
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@
     @Test
     public void test() throws HyracksDataException {
         LSMComponentFilterReference filter = new LSMComponentFilterReference(
-                new TypeAwareTupleWriter(new ITypeTraits[] { IntegerPointable.TYPE_TRAITS }));
+                new TypeAwareTupleWriter(new ITypeTraits[] { IntegerPointable.TYPE_TRAITS }, null, null));
         Assert.assertEquals(filter.getLength(), 0);
         Assert.assertFalse(filter.isMaxTupleSet() || filter.isMinTupleSet());
         filter.writeMaxTuple(TupleUtils.createIntegerTuple(false, Integer.MAX_VALUE));
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@
         Assert.assertTrue(filter.getLength() == 20);
         byte[] serFilter = filter.getByteArray();
         LSMComponentFilterReference deserFilter = new LSMComponentFilterReference(
-                new TypeAwareTupleWriter((new ITypeTraits[] { IntegerPointable.TYPE_TRAITS })));
+                new TypeAwareTupleWriter(new ITypeTraits[] { IntegerPointable.TYPE_TRAITS }, null, null));
         deserFilter.set(serFilter, 0, 20);
         Assert.assertTrue(deserFilter.isMaxTupleSet() && deserFilter.isMinTupleSet());
         Assert.assertEquals(