diff --git a/asterix-external-data/src/main/assembly/binary-assembly-libjar.xml b/asterix-external-data/src/main/assembly/binary-assembly-libjar.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d76174a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-external-data/src/main/assembly/binary-assembly-libjar.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+<assembly>
+  <id>binary-assembly</id>
+  <formats>
+    <format>jar</format>
+  </formats>
+  <includeBaseDirectory>false</includeBaseDirectory>
+  <fileSets>
+    <fileSet>
+      <directory>target/test-classes</directory>
+      <outputDirectory></outputDirectory>
+      <includes>
+        <include>**</include>
+      </includes>
+      <excludes>
+        <exclude>**.xml</exclude>
+      </excludes>
+    </fileSet>
+  </fileSets>
+</assembly>
diff --git a/asterix-external-data/src/main/assembly/binary-assembly-libzip.xml b/asterix-external-data/src/main/assembly/binary-assembly-libzip.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6116b39
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-external-data/src/main/assembly/binary-assembly-libzip.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+<assembly>
+  <id>binary-assembly</id>
+  <formats>
+    <format>zip</format>
+  </formats>
+  <includeBaseDirectory>false</includeBaseDirectory>
+  <fileSets>
+    <fileSet>
+      <directory>target</directory>
+      <outputDirectory></outputDirectory>
+      <includes>
+        <include>*external*.jar</include>
+      </includes>
+    </fileSet>
+    <fileSet>
+      <directory>src/test/resources</directory>
+      <outputDirectory></outputDirectory>
+      <includes>
+        <include>*.xml</include>
+      </includes>
+    </fileSet>
+  </fileSets>
+</assembly>
diff --git a/asterix-external-data/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/library/AllTypesFactory.java b/asterix-external-data/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/library/AllTypesFactory.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f095321
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-external-data/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/library/AllTypesFactory.java
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2009-2013 by The Regents of the University of California
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * you may obtain a copy of the License from
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library;
+
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.IExternalFunction;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.IFunctionFactory;
+
+public class AllTypesFactory implements IFunctionFactory {
+
+    @Override
+    public IExternalFunction getExternalFunction() {
+        return new AllTypesFunction();
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/asterix-external-data/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/library/AllTypesFunction.java b/asterix-external-data/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/library/AllTypesFunction.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c5063db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-external-data/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/library/AllTypesFunction.java
@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2009-2013 by The Regents of the University of California
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * you may obtain a copy of the License from
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library;
+
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.IExternalScalarFunction;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.IFunctionHelper;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.java.JObjects.JBoolean;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.java.JObjects.JCircle;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.java.JObjects.JDate;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.java.JObjects.JDateTime;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.java.JObjects.JDouble;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.java.JObjects.JDuration;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.java.JObjects.JFloat;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.java.JObjects.JInt;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.java.JObjects.JLine;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.java.JObjects.JOrderedList;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.java.JObjects.JPoint;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.java.JObjects.JPoint3D;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.java.JObjects.JPolygon;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.java.JObjects.JRecord;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.java.JObjects.JString;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.java.JObjects.JTime;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.java.JObjects.JUnorderedList;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.java.JTypeTag;
+
+public class AllTypesFunction implements IExternalScalarFunction {
+
+	private JOrderedList newFieldList;
+
+	@Override
+	public void initialize(IFunctionHelper functionHelper) {
+		newFieldList = new JOrderedList(functionHelper.getObject(JTypeTag.INT));
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	public void deinitialize() {
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	public void evaluate(IFunctionHelper functionHelper) throws Exception {
+		newFieldList.clear();
+		JRecord inputRecord = (JRecord) functionHelper.getArgument(0);
+		JInt id = (JInt) inputRecord.getValueByName("id");
+		JString name = (JString) inputRecord.getValueByName("name");
+		JFloat age = (JFloat) inputRecord.getValueByName("age");
+		JDouble salary = (JDouble) inputRecord.getValueByName("salary");
+		JBoolean married = (JBoolean) inputRecord.getValueByName("married");
+		JUnorderedList interest = (JUnorderedList) inputRecord
+				.getValueByName("interests");
+		JOrderedList children = (JOrderedList) inputRecord
+				.getValueByName("children");
+		JRecord address = (JRecord) inputRecord.getValueByName("address");
+		JDate dob = (JDate) inputRecord.getValueByName("dob");
+		JTime time = (JTime) inputRecord.getValueByName("time");
+		JDateTime dateTime = (JDateTime) inputRecord.getValueByName("datetime");
+		JDuration duration = (JDuration) inputRecord.getValueByName("duration");
+		JPoint location2d = (JPoint) inputRecord.getValueByName("location2d");
+		JPoint3D location3d = (JPoint3D) inputRecord
+				.getValueByName("location3d");
+		JLine line = (JLine) inputRecord.getValueByName("line");
+		JPolygon polygon = (JPolygon) inputRecord.getValueByName("polygon");
+		JCircle circle = (JCircle) inputRecord.getValueByName("circle");
+
+		JRecord result = (JRecord) functionHelper.getResultObject();
+		result.setField("id", id);
+		result.setField("name", name);
+		result.setField("age", age);
+		result.setField("salary", salary);
+		result.setField("married", married);
+		result.setField("interests", interest);
+		result.setField("children", children);
+		JInt zipCode = (JInt) functionHelper.getObject(JTypeTag.INT);
+		zipCode.setValue(92841);
+		address.addField("Zipcode", zipCode);
+		result.setField("address", address);
+		result.setField("dob", dob);
+		result.setField("time", time);
+		result.setField("datetime", dateTime);
+		result.setField("duration", duration);
+		result.setField("location2d", location2d);
+		result.setField("location3d", location3d);
+		result.setField("line", line);
+		result.setField("polygon", polygon);
+		result.setField("circle", circle);
+
+		JString newFieldString = (JString) functionHelper
+				.getObject(JTypeTag.STRING);
+		newFieldString.setValue("processed");
+		result.addField("status", newFieldString);
+
+		/*
+		 * JString element = (JString)
+		 * functionHelper.getObject(JTypeTag.STRING); element.setValue("raman");
+		 * newFieldList.add(element); result.addField("mylist", newFieldList);
+		 */
+
+		JString newFieldString2 = (JString) functionHelper
+				.getObject(JTypeTag.STRING);
+		newFieldString2.setValue("this is working");
+		result.addField("working", newFieldString);
+		functionHelper.setResult(result);
+	}
+}
diff --git a/asterix-external-data/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/library/ParseTweetFactory.java b/asterix-external-data/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/library/ParseTweetFactory.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d868f20
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-external-data/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/library/ParseTweetFactory.java
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2009-2013 by The Regents of the University of California
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * you may obtain a copy of the License from
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library;
+
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.IExternalScalarFunction;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.IFunctionFactory;
+
+public class ParseTweetFactory implements IFunctionFactory {
+
+    @Override
+    public IExternalScalarFunction getExternalFunction() {
+        return new ParseTweetFunction();
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/asterix-external-data/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/library/ParseTweetFunction.java b/asterix-external-data/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/library/ParseTweetFunction.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..431b367
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-external-data/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/library/ParseTweetFunction.java
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2009-2013 by The Regents of the University of California
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * you may obtain a copy of the License from
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library;
+
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.IExternalScalarFunction;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.IFunctionHelper;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.java.JObjects.JInt;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.java.JObjects.JOrderedList;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.java.JObjects.JRecord;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.java.JObjects.JString;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.java.JTypeTag;
+
+public class ParseTweetFunction implements IExternalScalarFunction {
+
+	private JOrderedList list = null;
+
+	@Override
+	public void initialize(IFunctionHelper functionHelper) {
+		list = new JOrderedList(functionHelper.getObject(JTypeTag.STRING));
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	public void deinitialize() {
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	public void evaluate(IFunctionHelper functionHelper) throws Exception {
+		list.clear();
+		JRecord inputRecord = (JRecord) functionHelper.getArgument(0);
+		JInt id = (JInt) inputRecord.getValueByName("id");
+		JString text = (JString) inputRecord.getValueByName("text");
+
+		String[] tokens = text.getValue().split(" ");
+		for (String tk : tokens) {
+			if (tk.startsWith("#")) {
+				JString newField = (JString) functionHelper
+						.getObject(JTypeTag.STRING);
+				newField.setValue(tk);
+				list.add(newField);
+			}
+		}
+		JRecord result = (JRecord) functionHelper.getResultObject();
+		result.setField("id", id);
+		result.setField("text", text);
+		result.setField("topics", list);
+		functionHelper.setResult(result);
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/asterix-external-data/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/library/SumFactory.java b/asterix-external-data/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/library/SumFactory.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a49da61
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-external-data/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/library/SumFactory.java
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2009-2013 by The Regents of the University of California
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * you may obtain a copy of the License from
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library;
+
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.IExternalScalarFunction;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.IFunctionFactory;
+
+public class SumFactory implements IFunctionFactory {
+
+	@Override
+	public IExternalScalarFunction getExternalFunction() {
+		return new SumFunction();
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/asterix-external-data/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/library/SumFunction.java b/asterix-external-data/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/library/SumFunction.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0a4eca6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-external-data/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/library/SumFunction.java
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2009-2013 by The Regents of the University of California
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * you may obtain a copy of the License from
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library;
+
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.IExternalScalarFunction;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.IFunctionHelper;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.java.JObjects.JInt;
+
+public class SumFunction implements IExternalScalarFunction {
+
+    private JInt result;
+
+    @Override
+    public void deinitialize() {
+        System.out.println(" De Initialized");
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void evaluate(IFunctionHelper functionHelper) throws Exception {
+        int arg0 = ((JInt) functionHelper.getArgument(0)).getValue();
+        int arg1 = ((JInt) functionHelper.getArgument(1)).getValue();
+        result.setValue(arg0 + arg1);
+        functionHelper.setResult(result);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void initialize(IFunctionHelper functionHelper) {
+        result = (JInt) functionHelper.getResultObject();
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/asterix-external-data/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/library/UpperCaseFactory.java b/asterix-external-data/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/library/UpperCaseFactory.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2c5f607
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-external-data/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/library/UpperCaseFactory.java
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2009-2013 by The Regents of the University of California
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * you may obtain a copy of the License from
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library;
+
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.IExternalFunction;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.IFunctionFactory;
+
+public class UpperCaseFactory implements IFunctionFactory {
+
+    @Override
+    public IExternalFunction getExternalFunction() {
+        return new UpperCaseFunction();
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/asterix-external-data/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/library/UpperCaseFunction.java b/asterix-external-data/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/library/UpperCaseFunction.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8100abf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-external-data/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/library/UpperCaseFunction.java
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2009-2013 by The Regents of the University of California
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * you may obtain a copy of the License from
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library;
+
+import java.util.Random;
+
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.IExternalScalarFunction;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.IFunctionHelper;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.java.JTypeTag;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.java.JObjects.JInt;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.java.JObjects.JRecord;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.java.JObjects.JString;
+
+/**
+ * Accepts an input record of type Open{ id: int32, text: string }
+ * 
+ * Converts the text field into upper case and appends an additional field -
+ * "substring" with value as a random substring of the text field.
+ * 
+ * Return Type Open{ id: int32, text: string }
+ * 
+ */
+public class UpperCaseFunction implements IExternalScalarFunction {
+
+	private Random random;
+
+	@Override
+	public void initialize(IFunctionHelper functionHelper) {
+		random = new Random();
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	public void deinitialize() {
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	public void evaluate(IFunctionHelper functionHelper) throws Exception {
+		JRecord inputRecord = (JRecord) functionHelper.getArgument(0);
+		JInt id = (JInt) inputRecord.getValueByName("id");
+		JString text = (JString) inputRecord.getValueByName("text");
+		text.setValue(text.getValue().toUpperCase());
+		JRecord result = (JRecord) functionHelper.getResultObject();
+		result.setField("id", id);
+		result.setField("text", text);
+		JString newField = (JString) functionHelper.getObject(JTypeTag.STRING);
+		newField.setValue(text.getValue().substring(
+				random.nextInt(text.getValue().length())));
+		result.addField("substring", newField);
+		functionHelper.setResult(result);
+	}
+}
diff --git a/asterix-external-data/src/test/resources/text_functions.xml b/asterix-external-data/src/test/resources/text_functions.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2efd88a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-external-data/src/test/resources/text_functions.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+<library xmlns="library">
+<language>JAVA</language>
+  <functions>
+   <function>
+     <function_type>SCALAR</function_type>
+     <name>parseTweet</name>
+     <arguments>TweetType</arguments>
+     <return_type>TweetType</return_type>
+     <definition>com.external.ParseTweetFactory</definition>
+  </function>
+   <function>
+     <function_type>SCALAR</function_type>
+     <name>mysum</name>
+     <arguments>AINT32,AINT32</arguments>
+     <return_type>AINT32</return_type>
+     <definition>com.external.SumFactory</definition>
+  </function>
+  <function>
+    <function_type>SCALAR</function_type>
+    <name>toUpper</name>
+    <arguments>TextType</arguments>
+    <return_type>TextType</return_type>
+    <definition>com.external.UpperCaseFactory</definition>
+  </function>
+  <function>
+    <function_type>SCALAR</function_type>
+    <name>allTypes</name>
+    <arguments>AllType</arguments>
+    <return_type>AllType</return_type>
+    <definition>com.external.AllTypesFactory</definition>
+  </function>
+</functions>
+</library>