diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/.settings/org.eclipse.jdt.core.prefs b/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/.settings/org.eclipse.jdt.core.prefs
index 8496bf4..450f5c4 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/.settings/org.eclipse.jdt.core.prefs
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/.settings/org.eclipse.jdt.core.prefs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#Thu Jul 29 14:49:35 PDT 2010
+#Fri May 20 19:34:04 PDT 2011
 eclipse.preferences.version=1
 org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.codegen.targetPlatform=1.6
 org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.compliance=1.6
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/comparators/DoubleBinaryComparatorFactory.java b/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/comparators/DoubleBinaryComparatorFactory.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..983dcb8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/comparators/DoubleBinaryComparatorFactory.java
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+package edu.uci.ics.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.comparators;
+
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.IBinaryComparator;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.IBinaryComparatorFactory;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.marshalling.DoubleSerializerDeserializer;
+
+public class DoubleBinaryComparatorFactory implements IBinaryComparatorFactory {
+    private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
+
+    public static final DoubleBinaryComparatorFactory INSTANCE = new DoubleBinaryComparatorFactory();
+
+    private DoubleBinaryComparatorFactory() {
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public IBinaryComparator createBinaryComparator() {
+        return new IBinaryComparator() {
+            @Override
+            public int compare(byte[] b1, int s1, int l1, byte[] b2, int s2, int l2) {   
+                return Double.compare(DoubleSerializerDeserializer.getDouble(b1, s1), DoubleSerializerDeserializer
+                        .getDouble(b2, s2));
+            }
+        };
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/marshalling/DoubleSerializerDeserializer.java b/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/marshalling/DoubleSerializerDeserializer.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..82c80e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/marshalling/DoubleSerializerDeserializer.java
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2009-2010 by The Regents of the University of California
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * you may obtain a copy of the License from
+ * 
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ * 
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package edu.uci.ics.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.marshalling;
+
+import java.io.DataInput;
+import java.io.DataOutput;
+import java.io.IOException;
+
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ISerializerDeserializer;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
+
+public class DoubleSerializerDeserializer implements ISerializerDeserializer<Double> {
+    private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
+
+    public static final DoubleSerializerDeserializer INSTANCE = new DoubleSerializerDeserializer();
+
+    private DoubleSerializerDeserializer() {
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Double deserialize(DataInput in) throws HyracksDataException {
+        try {
+            return in.readDouble();
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            throw new HyracksDataException(e);
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void serialize(Double instance, DataOutput out) throws HyracksDataException {
+        try {
+            out.writeDouble(instance.doubleValue());
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            throw new HyracksDataException(e);
+        }
+    }
+
+    public static double getDouble(byte[] bytes, int offset) {
+        return Double.longBitsToDouble(getLongBits(bytes, offset));
+    }
+
+    public static int getIntBits(byte[] bytes, int offset) {
+        return IntegerSerializerDeserializer.getInt(bytes, offset);
+    }
+
+    public static long getLongBits(byte[] bytes, int offset) {
+        return Integer64SerializerDeserializer.getLong(bytes, offset);
+    }
+    
+    
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/marshalling/Integer64SerializerDeserializer.java b/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/marshalling/Integer64SerializerDeserializer.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..effc092
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/marshalling/Integer64SerializerDeserializer.java
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+package edu.uci.ics.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.marshalling;
+
+import java.io.DataInput;
+import java.io.DataOutput;
+import java.io.IOException;
+
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ISerializerDeserializer;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
+
+public class Integer64SerializerDeserializer implements ISerializerDeserializer<Long> {
+
+    private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
+
+    public static final Integer64SerializerDeserializer INSTANCE = new Integer64SerializerDeserializer();
+
+    private Integer64SerializerDeserializer() {
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Long deserialize(DataInput in) throws HyracksDataException {
+        try {
+            return in.readLong();
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            throw new HyracksDataException(e);
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void serialize(Long instance, DataOutput out) throws HyracksDataException {
+        try {
+            out.writeLong(instance.longValue());
+        } catch (IOException ioe) {
+            throw new HyracksDataException(ioe);
+        }
+    }
+
+    public static long getLong(byte[] bytes, int offset) {
+        return (((long) (bytes[offset] & 0xff)) << 56) + (((long) (bytes[offset + 1] & 0xff)) << 48)
+                + (((long) (bytes[offset + 2] & 0xff)) << 40) + (((long) (bytes[offset + 3] & 0xff)) << 32)
+                + (((long) (bytes[offset + 4] & 0xff)) << 24) + (((long) (bytes[offset + 5] & 0xff)) << 16)
+                + (((long) (bytes[offset + 6] & 0xff)) << 8) + (((long) (bytes[offset + 7] & 0xff)) << 0);
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/util/StringUtils.java b/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/util/StringUtils.java
index dbe6386..d11245b 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/util/StringUtils.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/dataflow/common/data/util/StringUtils.java
@@ -14,56 +14,199 @@
  */
 package edu.uci.ics.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.util;
 
+import java.io.DataOutput;
+import java.io.IOException;
+
 public class StringUtils {
-    public static int charSize(byte[] b, int s) {
-        int c = (int) b[s] & 0xff;
-        switch (c >> 4) {
-            case 0:
-            case 1:
-            case 2:
-            case 3:
-            case 4:
-            case 5:
-            case 6:
-            case 7:
-                return 1;
+	public static char charAt(byte[] b, int s) {
+		int c = b[s] & 0xff;
+		switch (c >> 4) {
+		case 0:
+		case 1:
+		case 2:
+		case 3:
+		case 4:
+		case 5:
+		case 6:
+		case 7:
+			return (char) c;
 
-            case 12:
-            case 13:
-                return 2;
+		case 12:
+		case 13:
+			return (char) (((c & 0x1F) << 6) | ((b[s + 1]) & 0x3F));
 
-            case 14:
-                return 3;
-        }
-        throw new IllegalStateException();
-    }
+		case 14:
+			return (char) (((c & 0x0F) << 12) | (((b[s + 1]) & 0x3F) << 6) | (((b[s + 2]) & 0x3F) << 0));
 
-    public static char charAt(byte[] b, int s) {
-        int c = (int) b[s] & 0xff;
-        switch (c >> 4) {
-            case 0:
-            case 1:
-            case 2:
-            case 3:
-            case 4:
-            case 5:
-            case 6:
-            case 7:
-                return (char) c;
+		default:
+			throw new IllegalArgumentException();
+		}
+	}
 
-            case 12:
-            case 13:
-                return (char) (((c & 0x1F) << 6) | (((int) b[s + 1]) & 0x3F));
+	public static int charSize(byte[] b, int s) {
+		int c = b[s] & 0xff;
+		switch (c >> 4) {
+		case 0:
+		case 1:
+		case 2:
+		case 3:
+		case 4:
+		case 5:
+		case 6:
+		case 7:
+			return 1;
 
-            case 14:
-                return (char) (((c & 0x0F) << 12) | ((((int) b[s + 1]) & 0x3F) << 6) | ((((int) b[s + 2]) & 0x3F) << 0));
+		case 12:
+		case 13:
+			return 2;
 
-            default:
-                throw new IllegalArgumentException();
-        }
-    }
+		case 14:
+			return 3;
+		}
+		throw new IllegalStateException();
+	}
 
-    public static int getUTFLen(byte[] b, int s) {
-        return ((b[s] & 0xff) << 8) + ((b[s + 1] & 0xff) << 0);
-    }
+	public static int getModifiedUTF8Len(char c) {
+		if (c >= 0x0000 && c <= 0x007F) {
+			return 1;
+		} else if (c <= 0x07FF) {
+			return 2;
+		} else {
+			return 3;
+		}
+	}
+
+	public static int getStrLen(byte[] b, int s) {
+		int pos = s + 2;
+		int end = pos + getUTFLen(b, s);
+		int charCount = 0;
+		while (pos < end) {
+			charCount++;
+			pos += charSize(b, pos);
+		}
+		return charCount;
+	}
+
+	public static int getUTFLen(byte[] b, int s) {
+		return ((b[s] & 0xff) << 8) + ((b[s + 1] & 0xff) << 0);
+	}
+
+	public static char toLowerCase(char c) {
+		switch (c) {
+		case 'A':
+			return 'a';
+		case 'B':
+			return 'b';
+		case 'C':
+			return 'c';
+		case 'D':
+			return 'd';
+		case 'E':
+			return 'e';
+		case 'F':
+			return 'f';
+		case 'G':
+			return 'g';
+		case 'H':
+			return 'h';
+		case 'I':
+			return 'i';
+		case 'J':
+			return 'j';
+		case 'K':
+			return 'k';
+		case 'L':
+			return 'l';
+		case 'M':
+			return 'm';
+		case 'N':
+			return 'n';
+		case 'O':
+			return 'o';
+		case 'P':
+			return 'p';
+		case 'Q':
+			return 'q';
+		case 'R':
+			return 'r';
+		case 'S':
+			return 's';
+		case 'T':
+			return 't';
+		case 'U':
+			return 'u';
+		case 'V':
+			return 'v';
+		case 'W':
+			return 'w';
+		case 'X':
+			return 'x';
+		case 'Y':
+			return 'y';
+		case 'Z':
+			return 'z';
+		case 'Ä':
+			return 'ä';
+		case 'Ǟ':
+			return 'ǟ';
+		case 'Ë':
+			return 'ë';
+		case 'Ḧ':
+			return 'ḧ';
+		case 'Ï':
+			return 'ï';
+		case 'Ḯ':
+			return 'ḯ';
+		case 'Ö':
+			return 'ö';
+		case 'Ȫ':
+			return 'ȫ';
+		case 'Ṏ':
+			return 'ṏ';
+		case 'Ü':
+			return 'ü';
+		case 'Ǖ':
+			return 'ǖ';
+		case 'Ǘ':
+			return 'ǘ';
+		case 'Ǚ':
+			return 'ǚ';
+		case 'Ǜ':
+			return 'ǜ';
+		case 'Ṳ':
+			return 'ṳ';
+		case 'Ṻ':
+			return 'ṻ';
+		case 'Ẅ':
+			return 'ẅ';
+		case 'Ẍ':
+			return 'ẍ';
+		case 'Ÿ':
+			return 'ÿ';
+		default:
+			// since I probably missed some chars above
+			// use Java to convert to lower case to be safe
+			return Character.toLowerCase(c);
+		}
+	}
+
+	public static void writeCharAsModifiedUTF8(char c, DataOutput dos)
+			throws IOException {
+
+		if (c >= 0x0000 && c <= 0x007F) {
+			dos.writeByte(c);
+		} else if (c <= 0x07FF) {
+			dos.writeByte((byte) (0xC0 | ((c >> 6) & 0x3F)));
+			dos.writeByte((byte) (0x80 | (c & 0x3F)));
+		} else {
+			dos.writeByte((byte) (0xE0 | ((c >> 12) & 0x0F)));
+			dos.writeByte((byte) (0x80 | ((c >> 6) & 0x3F)));
+			dos.writeByte((byte) (0x80 | (c & 0x3F)));
+		}
+	}
+
+	public static void writeUTF8Len(int len, DataOutput dos) throws IOException {
+		dos.write((len >>> 8) & 0xFF);
+		dos.write((len >>> 0) & 0xFF);
+	}
 }
\ No newline at end of file