diff --git a/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/aql/translator/AqlTranslator.java b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/aql/translator/AqlTranslator.java
index 855ee19..6acf6c1 100644
--- a/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/aql/translator/AqlTranslator.java
+++ b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/aql/translator/AqlTranslator.java
@@ -744,7 +744,7 @@
             for (int j = 0; j < datasets.size(); j++) {
                 String datasetName = datasets.get(j).getDatasetName();
                 DatasetType dsType = datasets.get(j).getDatasetType();
-                if (dsType == DatasetType.INTERNAL || dsType == DatasetType.FEED) {
+                if (dsType == DatasetType.INTERNAL || dsType == DatasetType.FEED || dsType == DatasetType.EXTERNAL) {
 
                     List<Index> indexes = MetadataManager.INSTANCE.getDatasetIndexes(mdTxnCtx, dataverseName,
                             datasetName);
@@ -857,7 +857,7 @@
                 }
             }
 
-            if (ds.getDatasetType() == DatasetType.INTERNAL || ds.getDatasetType() == DatasetType.FEED) {
+            if (ds.getDatasetType() == DatasetType.INTERNAL || ds.getDatasetType() == DatasetType.FEED || ds.getDatasetType() == DatasetType.EXTERNAL) {
 
                 //#. prepare jobs to drop the datatset and the indexes in NC
                 List<Index> indexes = MetadataManager.INSTANCE.getDatasetIndexes(mdTxnCtx, dataverseName, datasetName);
@@ -958,7 +958,7 @@
                         + dataverseName);
             }
 
-            if (ds.getDatasetType() == DatasetType.INTERNAL || ds.getDatasetType() == DatasetType.FEED) {
+            if (ds.getDatasetType() == DatasetType.INTERNAL || ds.getDatasetType() == DatasetType.FEED || ds.getDatasetType() == DatasetType.EXTERNAL) {
                 indexName = stmtIndexDrop.getIndexName().getValue();
                 Index index = MetadataManager.INSTANCE.getIndex(mdTxnCtx, dataverseName, datasetName, indexName);
                 if (index == null) {
@@ -996,8 +996,8 @@
                 //#. finally, delete the existing index
                 MetadataManager.INSTANCE.dropIndex(mdTxnCtx, dataverseName, datasetName, indexName);
             } else {
-                throw new AlgebricksException(datasetName
-                        + " is an external dataset. Indexes are not maintained for external datasets.");
+                //throw new AlgebricksException(datasetName
+                //        + " is an external dataset. Indexes are not maintained for external datasets.");
             }
             MetadataManager.INSTANCE.commitTransaction(mdTxnCtx);
 
diff --git a/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/adapter/factory/HDFSAdapterFactory.java b/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/adapter/factory/HDFSAdapterFactory.java
index 7e63e84..e9d2175 100644
--- a/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/adapter/factory/HDFSAdapterFactory.java
+++ b/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/adapter/factory/HDFSAdapterFactory.java
@@ -210,20 +210,20 @@
 		ITypeTraits[] tt = new ITypeTraits[numOfPrimaryKeys];
 		if(optimize)
 		{
-			serde[0] = AqlSerializerDeserializerProvider.INSTANCE.getNonTaggedSerializerDeserializer(BuiltinType.AINT32);
+			serde[0] = AqlSerializerDeserializerProvider.INSTANCE.getSerializerDeserializer(BuiltinType.AINT32);
 			tt[0] = AqlTypeTraitProvider.INSTANCE.getTypeTrait(BuiltinType.AINT32);
 		}
 		else
 		{
-			serde[0] = AqlSerializerDeserializerProvider.INSTANCE.getNonTaggedSerializerDeserializer(BuiltinType.ASTRING);
+			serde[0] = AqlSerializerDeserializerProvider.INSTANCE.getSerializerDeserializer(BuiltinType.ASTRING);
 			tt[0] = AqlTypeTraitProvider.INSTANCE.getTypeTrait(BuiltinType.ASTRING);
 		}
-		serde[1] = AqlSerializerDeserializerProvider.INSTANCE.getNonTaggedSerializerDeserializer(BuiltinType.AINT64);
+		serde[1] = AqlSerializerDeserializerProvider.INSTANCE.getSerializerDeserializer(BuiltinType.AINT64);
 		tt[1] = AqlTypeTraitProvider.INSTANCE.getTypeTrait(BuiltinType.AINT64);
 		if(isRCFile)
 		{
 			//we add the row number for rc-files
-			serde[2] = AqlSerializerDeserializerProvider.INSTANCE.getNonTaggedSerializerDeserializer(BuiltinType.AINT32);
+			serde[2] = AqlSerializerDeserializerProvider.INSTANCE.getSerializerDeserializer(BuiltinType.AINT32);
 			tt[2] = AqlTypeTraitProvider.INSTANCE.getTypeTrait(BuiltinType.AINT32);
 		}
 		return new RecordDescriptor(serde, tt);
diff --git a/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/util/ExternalIndexHashPartitionComputerFactory.java b/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/util/ExternalIndexHashPartitionComputerFactory.java
index 85814f5..29fcfb1 100644
--- a/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/util/ExternalIndexHashPartitionComputerFactory.java
+++ b/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/util/ExternalIndexHashPartitionComputerFactory.java
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@
 public class ExternalIndexHashPartitionComputerFactory implements ITuplePartitionComputerFactory{
 	private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
 	private final int[] hashFields;
-	private transient ByteBuffer serializedLong;
 	private final int bytesInHDFSBlock = 67108864;
 	private final IBinaryHashFunctionFactory[] hashFunctionFactories;
 	@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
@@ -41,8 +40,8 @@
 		for (int i = 0; i < hashFunctionFactories.length; ++i) {
 			hashFunctions[i] = hashFunctionFactories[i].createBinaryHashFunction();
 		}
-		serializedLong = ByteBuffer.allocate(8);
 		return new ITuplePartitionComputer() {
+			private ByteBuffer serializedLong = ByteBuffer.allocate(8);;
 			private AInt64 byteLocation;
 			private ByteBufferInputStream bbis = new ByteBufferInputStream();
 			private DataInputStream dis = new DataInputStream(bbis);
@@ -61,7 +60,7 @@
 					int fEnd = accessor.getFieldEndOffset(tIndex, fIdx);
 					if(j == 1)
 					{
-						//clear the buffer
+						//reset the buffer
 						serializedLong.clear();
 						//read byte location
 						bbis.setByteBuffer(accessor.getBuffer() , accessor.getTupleStartOffset(tIndex) + accessor.getFieldSlotsLength() + accessor.getFieldStartOffset(tIndex, hashFields[1]));
diff --git a/asterix-maven-plugins/lexer-generator-maven-plugin/src/main/resources/Lexer.java b/asterix-maven-plugins/lexer-generator-maven-plugin/src/main/resources/Lexer.java
index ac97e0b..92d1c8e 100644
--- a/asterix-maven-plugins/lexer-generator-maven-plugin/src/main/resources/Lexer.java
+++ b/asterix-maven-plugins/lexer-generator-maven-plugin/src/main/resources/Lexer.java
@@ -54,6 +54,8 @@
 			// ================================================================================            
 
 			public int next() throws [LEXER_NAME]Exception, IOException{
+		if(bufpos < 0)
+			readNextChar();
 		char currentChar = buffer[bufpos];
 		while (currentChar == ' ' || currentChar=='\t' || currentChar == '\n' || currentChar=='\r')
 			currentChar = readNextChar(); 
@@ -71,7 +73,14 @@
 
 	//used before processing a new patch in the inputStream
 	public void reset(){
-		bufpos = endOf_USED_Buffer = 0;         // -- -- -- reuse the buffer
+		line           = 1;
+		column         = 0;
+		bufpos         = -1;
+		endOf_UNUSED_Buffer = bufsize;
+		endOf_USED_Buffer = 0;
+		prevCharIsCR   = false;
+		prevCharIsLF   = false;
+		tokenBegin     = -1;
 	}
 
 	// ================================================================================
@@ -96,7 +105,6 @@
 		buffer         = new char[bufsize];
 		tokenBegin     = -1;
 		maxUnusedBufferSize = 4096/2;
-		readNextChar();
 	}
 
 	public String getLastTokenImage() {
diff --git a/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/declared/AqlMetadataProvider.java b/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/declared/AqlMetadataProvider.java
index d37bf8f..6dd0f16 100644
--- a/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/declared/AqlMetadataProvider.java
+++ b/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/declared/AqlMetadataProvider.java
@@ -1611,9 +1611,20 @@
         }
 
         int numPartitions = 0;
-        InternalDatasetDetails datasetDetails = (InternalDatasetDetails) dataset.getDatasetDetails();
-        List<String> nodeGroup = MetadataManager.INSTANCE.getNodegroup(mdTxnCtx, datasetDetails.getNodeGroupName())
-                .getNodeNames();
+        List<String> nodeGroup = null;
+        if(dataset.getDatasetType() == DatasetType.EXTERNAL)
+		{
+			ExternalDatasetDetails datasetDetails = (ExternalDatasetDetails) dataset.getDatasetDetails();
+			nodeGroup = MetadataManager.INSTANCE.getNodegroup(mdTxnCtx, datasetDetails.getNodeGroupName())
+					.getNodeNames();
+		}
+		else
+		{
+			InternalDatasetDetails datasetDetails = (InternalDatasetDetails) dataset.getDatasetDetails();
+			nodeGroup = MetadataManager.INSTANCE.getNodegroup(mdTxnCtx, datasetDetails.getNodeGroupName())
+					.getNodeNames();
+		}
+
         for (String nd : nodeGroup) {
             numPartitions += AsterixClusterProperties.INSTANCE.getNumberOfIODevices(nd);
         }
diff --git a/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/entities/ExternalDatasetDetails.java b/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/entities/ExternalDatasetDetails.java
index 87fc5a5..849c6bd 100644
--- a/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/entities/ExternalDatasetDetails.java
+++ b/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/entities/ExternalDatasetDetails.java
@@ -40,13 +40,13 @@
 
     private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
     private final String adapter;
-    private final Map<String, String> properties;
+    private final Map<String,String> properties;
     private final String nodeGroupName;
 
-    private final static ARecordType externalRecordType = MetadataRecordTypes.EXTERNAL_DETAILS_RECORDTYPE;
+	private final static ARecordType externalRecordType = MetadataRecordTypes.EXTERNAL_DETAILS_RECORDTYPE;
     private final static ARecordType propertyRecordType = MetadataRecordTypes.DATASOURCE_ADAPTER_PROPERTIES_RECORDTYPE;
 
-    public ExternalDatasetDetails(String adapter, Map<String, String> properties, String nodeGroupName) {
+    public ExternalDatasetDetails(String adapter, Map<String,String> properties, String nodeGroupName) {
         this.properties = properties;
         this.adapter = adapter;
         this.nodeGroupName = nodeGroupName;
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@
         this.nodeGroupName = null;
     }
 
-    public String getAdapter() {
+	public String getAdapter() {
         return adapter;
     }
 
@@ -66,15 +66,15 @@
         return properties;
     }
 
+    public String getNodeGroupName() {
+		return nodeGroupName;
+	}
+    
     @Override
     public DatasetType getDatasetType() {
         return DatasetType.EXTERNAL;
     }
 
-    public String getNodeGroupName() {
-		return nodeGroupName;
-	}
-    
     @Override
     public void writeDatasetDetailsRecordType(DataOutput out) throws HyracksDataException {
         IARecordBuilder externalRecordBuilder = new RecordBuilder();
@@ -102,16 +102,15 @@
             writePropertyTypeRecord(name, value, itemValue.getDataOutput());
             listBuilder.addItem(itemValue);
         }
+        fieldValue.reset();
+        listBuilder.write(fieldValue.getDataOutput(), true);
+        externalRecordBuilder.addField(MetadataRecordTypes.EXTERNAL_DETAILS_ARECORD_PROPERTIES_FIELD_INDEX, fieldValue);
         
         //write field 2
         fieldValue.reset();
         aString.setValue(getNodeGroupName());
         stringSerde.serialize(aString, fieldValue.getDataOutput());
         externalRecordBuilder.addField(MetadataRecordTypes.EXTERNAL_DETAILS_ARECORD_GROUPNAME_FIELD_INDEX, fieldValue);
-        
-        fieldValue.reset();
-        listBuilder.write(fieldValue.getDataOutput(), true);
-        externalRecordBuilder.addField(MetadataRecordTypes.EXTERNAL_DETAILS_ARECORD_PROPERTIES_FIELD_INDEX, fieldValue);
 
         try {
             externalRecordBuilder.write(out, true);