diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-hdfs/hyracks-hdfs-core/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/hdfs/scheduler/Scheduler.java b/hyracks/hyracks-hdfs/hyracks-hdfs-core/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/hdfs/scheduler/Scheduler.java
index 6d31855..6688eae 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-hdfs/hyracks-hdfs-core/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/hdfs/scheduler/Scheduler.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-hdfs/hyracks-hdfs-core/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/hdfs/scheduler/Scheduler.java
@@ -151,6 +151,10 @@
      * @throws HyracksDataException
      */
     public String[] getLocationConstraints(InputSplit[] splits) throws HyracksException {
+        if (splits == null) {
+            /**deal the case when the splits array is null*/
+            return new String[] {};
+        }
         int[] workloads = new int[NCs.length];
         Arrays.fill(workloads, 0);
         String[] locations = new String[splits.length];
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-hdfs/hyracks-hdfs-core/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/hdfs2/scheduler/Scheduler.java b/hyracks/hyracks-hdfs/hyracks-hdfs-core/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/hdfs2/scheduler/Scheduler.java
index cb97ca1..cde187d 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-hdfs/hyracks-hdfs-core/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/hdfs2/scheduler/Scheduler.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-hdfs/hyracks-hdfs-core/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/hdfs2/scheduler/Scheduler.java
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.client.NodeControllerInfo;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksException;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.hdfs.api.INcCollectionBuilder;
 
 /**
  * The scheduler conduct data-local scheduling for data reading on HDFS.
@@ -53,6 +54,17 @@
     public Scheduler(Map<String, NodeControllerInfo> ncNameToNcInfos) throws HyracksException {
         scheduler = new edu.uci.ics.hyracks.hdfs.scheduler.Scheduler(ncNameToNcInfos);
     }
+    
+    /**
+     * The constructor of the scheduler.
+     * 
+     * @param ncNameToNcInfos
+     *            the mapping from nc names to nc infos
+     * @throws HyracksException
+     */
+    public Scheduler(Map<String, NodeControllerInfo> ncNameToNcInfos, INcCollectionBuilder builder) throws HyracksException {
+        scheduler = new edu.uci.ics.hyracks.hdfs.scheduler.Scheduler(ncNameToNcInfos, builder);
+    }
 
     /**
      * Set location constraints for a file scan operator with a list of file splits
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-hdfs/hyracks-hdfs-core/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/hdfs/scheduler/SchedulerTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-hdfs/hyracks-hdfs-core/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/hdfs/scheduler/SchedulerTest.java
index 90967a0..1f394a9 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-hdfs/hyracks-hdfs-core/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/hdfs/scheduler/SchedulerTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-hdfs/hyracks-hdfs-core/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/hdfs/scheduler/SchedulerTest.java
@@ -277,4 +277,65 @@
 
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Test boundary cases where splits array is empty or null
+     * 
+     * @throws Exception
+     */
+    public void testSchedulercBoundary() throws Exception {
+        Map<String, NodeControllerInfo> ncNameToNcInfos = new HashMap<String, NodeControllerInfo>();
+        ncNameToNcInfos.put("nc1", new NodeControllerInfo("nc1", NodeStatus.ALIVE, new NetworkAddress(InetAddress
+                .getByName("10.0.0.1").getAddress(), 5099), new NetworkAddress(InetAddress.getByName("10.0.0.1")
+                .getAddress(), 5098)));
+        ncNameToNcInfos.put("nc2", new NodeControllerInfo("nc2", NodeStatus.ALIVE, new NetworkAddress(InetAddress
+                .getByName("10.0.0.2").getAddress(), 5099), new NetworkAddress(InetAddress.getByName("10.0.0.2")
+                .getAddress(), 5098)));
+        ncNameToNcInfos.put("nc3", new NodeControllerInfo("nc3", NodeStatus.ALIVE, new NetworkAddress(InetAddress
+                .getByName("10.0.0.3").getAddress(), 5099), new NetworkAddress(InetAddress.getByName("10.0.0.3")
+                .getAddress(), 5098)));
+        ncNameToNcInfos.put("nc4", new NodeControllerInfo("nc4", NodeStatus.ALIVE, new NetworkAddress(InetAddress
+                .getByName("10.0.0.4").getAddress(), 5099), new NetworkAddress(InetAddress.getByName("10.0.0.4")
+                .getAddress(), 5098)));
+        ncNameToNcInfos.put("nc5", new NodeControllerInfo("nc5", NodeStatus.ALIVE, new NetworkAddress(InetAddress
+                .getByName("10.0.0.5").getAddress(), 5099), new NetworkAddress(InetAddress.getByName("10.0.0.5")
+                .getAddress(), 5098)));
+        ncNameToNcInfos.put("nc6", new NodeControllerInfo("nc6", NodeStatus.ALIVE, new NetworkAddress(InetAddress
+                .getByName("10.0.0.6").getAddress(), 5099), new NetworkAddress(InetAddress.getByName("10.0.0.6")
+                .getAddress(), 5098)));
+
+        /** test empty file splits */
+        InputSplit[] fileSplits = new InputSplit[0];
+        String[] expectedResults = new String[] {};
+
+        Scheduler scheduler = new Scheduler(ncNameToNcInfos);
+        String[] locationConstraints = scheduler.getLocationConstraints(fileSplits);
+
+        for (int i = 0; i < locationConstraints.length; i++) {
+            Assert.assertEquals(locationConstraints[i], expectedResults[i]);
+        }
+
+        ClusterTopology topology = parseTopology();
+        scheduler = new Scheduler(ncNameToNcInfos, topology);
+        locationConstraints = scheduler.getLocationConstraints(fileSplits);
+        for (int i = 0; i < locationConstraints.length; i++) {
+            Assert.assertEquals(locationConstraints[i], expectedResults[i]);
+        }
+
+        fileSplits = null;
+        expectedResults = new String[] {};
+
+        scheduler = new Scheduler(ncNameToNcInfos);
+        locationConstraints = scheduler.getLocationConstraints(fileSplits);
+        for (int i = 0; i < locationConstraints.length; i++) {
+            Assert.assertEquals(locationConstraints[i], expectedResults[i]);
+        }
+
+        scheduler = new Scheduler(ncNameToNcInfos, topology);
+        locationConstraints = scheduler.getLocationConstraints(fileSplits);
+        for (int i = 0; i < locationConstraints.length; i++) {
+            Assert.assertEquals(locationConstraints[i], expectedResults[i]);
+        }
+
+    }
+
 }