diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-algebra/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/translator/util/FunctionCollection.java b/asterixdb/asterix-algebra/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/translator/util/FunctionCollection.java
index f833692..92ca977 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-algebra/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/translator/util/FunctionCollection.java
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-algebra/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/translator/util/FunctionCollection.java
@@ -130,9 +130,12 @@
 import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.constructors.AYearMonthDurationConstructorDescriptor;
 import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.constructors.ClosedRecordConstructorDescriptor;
 import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.constructors.OpenRecordConstructorDescriptor;
+import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.constructors.OrderedListConstructorDescriptor;
+import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.constructors.UnorderedListConstructorDescriptor;
 import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.AndDescriptor;
 import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.AnyCollectionMemberDescriptor;
 import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.CastTypeDescriptor;
+import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.CastTypeLaxDescriptor;
 import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.CheckUnknownDescriptor;
 import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.CodePointToStringDescriptor;
 import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.CountHashedGramTokensDescriptor;
@@ -160,7 +163,6 @@
 import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.IfMissingDescriptor;
 import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.IfMissingOrNullDescriptor;
 import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.IfNullDescriptor;
-import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.CastTypeLaxDescriptor;
 import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.InjectFailureDescriptor;
 import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.IsArrayDescriptor;
 import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.IsBooleanDescriptor;
@@ -200,7 +202,6 @@
 import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.NumericTruncDescriptor;
 import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.NumericUnaryMinusDescriptor;
 import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.OrDescriptor;
-import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.constructors.OrderedListConstructorDescriptor;
 import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.PrefixLenJaccardDescriptor;
 import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.SimilarityJaccardCheckDescriptor;
 import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.SimilarityJaccardDescriptor;
@@ -247,8 +248,11 @@
 import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.SubstringBeforeDescriptor;
 import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.SubstringDescriptor;
 import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.SwitchCaseDescriptor;
+import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.ToBigIntDescriptor;
+import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.ToBooleanDescriptor;
+import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.ToDoubleDescriptor;
+import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.ToStringDescriptor;
 import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.UUIDDescriptor;
-import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.constructors.UnorderedListConstructorDescriptor;
 import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.WordTokensDescriptor;
 import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.binary.BinaryConcatDescriptor;
 import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.binary.BinaryLengthDescriptor;
@@ -693,6 +697,10 @@
         functionsToInjectUnkownHandling.add(IsStringDescriptor.FACTORY);
         functionsToInjectUnkownHandling.add(IsArrayDescriptor.FACTORY);
         functionsToInjectUnkownHandling.add(IsObjectDescriptor.FACTORY);
+        functionsToInjectUnkownHandling.add(ToBooleanDescriptor.FACTORY);
+        functionsToInjectUnkownHandling.add(ToStringDescriptor.FACTORY);
+        functionsToInjectUnkownHandling.add(ToDoubleDescriptor.FACTORY);
+        functionsToInjectUnkownHandling.add(ToBigIntDescriptor.FACTORY);
 
         // Cast function
         functionsToInjectUnkownHandling.add(CastTypeDescriptor.FACTORY);
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/types/to_bigint_01/to_bigint_01.1.query.aql b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/types/to_bigint_01/to_bigint_01.1.query.aql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..837cb86
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/types/to_bigint_01/to_bigint_01.1.query.aql
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+/*
+ * 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.
+ */
+{
+ "t1": tobigint(false),
+ "t2": to-bigint(true),
+ "t3": to_bigint(int8("8")),
+ "t4": to_bigint(int16("16")),
+ "t5": to_bigint(int32("32")),
+ "t6": to_bigint(int64("64")),
+ "t7": to_bigint(float("1e100")),
+ "t8": to_bigint(double("1e1000")),
+ "t9": to_bigint("512"),
+ "t10": is_null(to_bigint("foo")),
+ "t11": is_null(to_bigint([])),
+ "t12": is_null(to_bigint({{}})),
+ "t13": is_null(to_bigint({})),
+ "t14": is_null(to_bigint(null)),
+ "t15": is_missing(to_bigint(missing))
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/types/to_bigint_02/to_bigint_02.1.query.aql b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/types/to_bigint_02/to_bigint_02.1.query.aql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..13f482f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/types/to_bigint_02/to_bigint_02.1.query.aql
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+/*
+ * 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.
+ */
+{
+ "t": to_bigint(date("2017-06-30"))
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/types/to_boolean_01/to_boolean_01.1.query.aql b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/types/to_boolean_01/to_boolean_01.1.query.aql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3e52730
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/types/to_boolean_01/to_boolean_01.1.query.aql
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+/*
+ * 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.
+ */
+{
+ "t1": toboolean(false),
+ "t2": to-boolean(true),
+
+ "t3": to_boolean(int8("0")),
+ "t4": to_boolean(int8("10")),
+
+ "t5": to_boolean(int16("0")),
+ "t6": to_boolean(int16("10")),
+
+ "t7": to_boolean(int32("0")),
+ "t8": to_boolean(int32("10")),
+
+ "t9": to_boolean(int64("0")),
+ "t10": to_boolean(int64("10")),
+
+ "t11": to_boolean(float("NaN")),
+ "t12": to_boolean(float("0.0")),
+ "t13": to_boolean(float("-0.0")),
+ "t14": to_boolean(float("2.5")),
+
+ "t15": to_boolean(double("NaN")),
+ "t16": to_boolean(double("0.0")),
+ "t17": to_boolean(double("-0.0")),
+ "t18": to_boolean(double("2.5")),
+
+ "t19": to_boolean(""),
+ "t20": to_boolean(" "),
+ "t21": to_boolean("false"),
+
+ "t22": to_boolean([]),
+ "t23": to_boolean([0]),
+
+ "t24": to_boolean({{}}),
+ "t25": to_boolean({{0}}),
+
+ "t26": to_boolean({}),
+ "t27": to_boolean({ "foo":0 }),
+
+ "t28": is_null(to_boolean(null)),
+ "t29": is_missing(to_boolean(missing))
+}
+
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/types/to_boolean_02/to_boolean_02.1.query.aql b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/types/to_boolean_02/to_boolean_02.1.query.aql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5be147e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/types/to_boolean_02/to_boolean_02.1.query.aql
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+/*
+ * 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.
+ */
+{
+  "t": to_boolean(date("2017-06-30"))
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/types/to_double_01/to_double_01.1.query.aql b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/types/to_double_01/to_double_01.1.query.aql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f16e139
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/types/to_double_01/to_double_01.1.query.aql
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+/*
+ * 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.
+ */
+{
+ "t1": todouble(false),
+ "t2": to-double(true),
+ "t3": to_double(int8("8")),
+ "t4": to_double(int16("16")),
+ "t5": to_double(int32("32")),
+ "t6": to_double(int64("64")),
+ "t7": to_double(float("128")),
+ "t8": to_double(double("256")),
+ "t9": to_double("512"),
+ "t10": is_null(to_double("foo")),
+ "t11": is_null(to_double([])),
+ "t12": is_null(to_double({{}})),
+ "t13": is_null(to_double({})),
+ "t14": is_null(to_double(null)),
+ "t15": is_missing(to_double(missing))
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/types/to_double_02/to_double_02.1.query.aql b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/types/to_double_02/to_double_02.1.query.aql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4a31e1c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/types/to_double_02/to_double_02.1.query.aql
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+/*
+ * 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.
+ */
+{
+ "t": to_double(date("2017-06-30"))
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/types/to_string_01/to_string_01.1.query.aql b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/types/to_string_01/to_string_01.1.query.aql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2abf4c3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/types/to_string_01/to_string_01.1.query.aql
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+/*
+ * 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.
+ */
+ {
+  "t1": tostring(false),
+  "t2": to-string(true),
+  "t3": to_string(int8("8")),
+  "t4": to_string(int16("16")),
+  "t5": to_string(int32("32")),
+  "t6": to_string(int64("64")),
+  "t7": to_string(float("128")),
+  "t8": to_string(double("256")),
+  "t9": to_string("foo"),
+  "t10": is_null(to_string([])),
+  "t11": is_null(to_string({{}})),
+  "t12": is_null(to_string({})),
+  "t13": is_null(to_string(null)),
+  "t14": is_missing(to_string(missing))
+ }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/types/to_string_02/to_string_02.1.query.aql b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/types/to_string_02/to_string_02.1.query.aql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cdfec14
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/types/to_string_02/to_string_02.1.query.aql
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+/*
+ * 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.
+ */
+{
+ "t": to_string(date("2017-06-30"))
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/types/to_bigint_01/to_bigint_01.1.query.sqlpp b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/types/to_bigint_01/to_bigint_01.1.query.sqlpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5138123
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/types/to_bigint_01/to_bigint_01.1.query.sqlpp
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+/*
+ * 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.
+ */
+{
+ "t1": tobigint(false),
+ "t2": to_bigint(true),
+ "t3": to_bigint(int8("8")),
+ "t4": to_bigint(int16("16")),
+ "t5": to_bigint(int32("32")),
+ "t6": to_bigint(int64("64")),
+ "t7": to_bigint(float("1e100")),
+ "t8": to_bigint(double("1e1000")),
+ "t9": to_bigint("512"),
+ "t10": is_null(to_bigint("foo")),
+ "t11": is_null(to_bigint([])),
+ "t12": is_null(to_bigint({{}})),
+ "t13": is_null(to_bigint({})),
+ "t14": is_null(to_bigint(null)),
+ "t15": is_missing(to_bigint(missing))
+};
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/types/to_bigint_02/to_bigint_02.1.query.sqlpp b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/types/to_bigint_02/to_bigint_02.1.query.sqlpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..13f482f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/types/to_bigint_02/to_bigint_02.1.query.sqlpp
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+/*
+ * 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.
+ */
+{
+ "t": to_bigint(date("2017-06-30"))
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/types/to_boolean_01/to_boolean_01.1.query.sqlpp b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/types/to_boolean_01/to_boolean_01.1.query.sqlpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..79dc84e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/types/to_boolean_01/to_boolean_01.1.query.sqlpp
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+/*
+ * 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.
+ */
+{
+ "t1": toboolean(false),
+ "t2": to_boolean(true),
+
+ "t3": to_boolean(int8("0")),
+ "t4": to_boolean(int8("10")),
+
+ "t5": to_boolean(int16("0")),
+ "t6": to_boolean(int16("10")),
+
+ "t7": to_boolean(int32("0")),
+ "t8": to_boolean(int32("10")),
+
+ "t9": to_boolean(int64("0")),
+ "t10": to_boolean(int64("10")),
+
+ "t11": to_boolean(float("NaN")),
+ "t12": to_boolean(float("0.0")),
+ "t13": to_boolean(float("-0.0")),
+ "t14": to_boolean(float("2.5")),
+
+ "t15": to_boolean(double("NaN")),
+ "t16": to_boolean(double("0.0")),
+ "t17": to_boolean(double("-0.0")),
+ "t18": to_boolean(double("2.5")),
+
+ "t19": to_boolean(""),
+ "t20": to_boolean(" "),
+ "t21": to_boolean("false"),
+
+ "t22": to_boolean([]),
+ "t23": to_boolean([0]),
+
+ "t24": to_boolean({{}}),
+ "t25": to_boolean({{0}}),
+
+ "t26": to_boolean({}),
+ "t27": to_boolean({ "foo":0 }),
+
+ "t28": is_null(to_boolean(null)),
+ "t29": is_missing(to_boolean(missing))
+}
+
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/types/to_boolean_02/to_boolean_02.1.query.sqlpp b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/types/to_boolean_02/to_boolean_02.1.query.sqlpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5be147e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/types/to_boolean_02/to_boolean_02.1.query.sqlpp
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+/*
+ * 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.
+ */
+{
+  "t": to_boolean(date("2017-06-30"))
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/types/to_double_01/to_double_01.1.query.sqlpp b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/types/to_double_01/to_double_01.1.query.sqlpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..adbc4a1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/types/to_double_01/to_double_01.1.query.sqlpp
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+/*
+ * 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.
+ */
+{
+ "t1": todouble(false),
+ "t2": to_double(true),
+ "t3": to_double(int8("8")),
+ "t4": to_double(int16("16")),
+ "t5": to_double(int32("32")),
+ "t6": to_double(int64("64")),
+ "t7": to_double(float("128")),
+ "t8": to_double(double("256")),
+ "t9": to_double("512"),
+ "t10": is_null(to_double("foo")),
+ "t11": is_null(to_double([])),
+ "t12": is_null(to_double({{}})),
+ "t13": is_null(to_double({})),
+ "t14": is_null(to_double(null)),
+ "t15": is_missing(to_double(missing))
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/types/to_double_02/to_double_02.1.query.sqlpp b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/types/to_double_02/to_double_02.1.query.sqlpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4a31e1c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/types/to_double_02/to_double_02.1.query.sqlpp
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+/*
+ * 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.
+ */
+{
+ "t": to_double(date("2017-06-30"))
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/types/to_string_01/to_string_01.1.query.sqlpp b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/types/to_string_01/to_string_01.1.query.sqlpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8582521
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/types/to_string_01/to_string_01.1.query.sqlpp
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+/*
+ * 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.
+ */
+ {
+  "t1": tostring(false),
+  "t2": to_string(true),
+  "t3": to_string(int8("8")),
+  "t4": to_string(int16("16")),
+  "t5": to_string(int32("32")),
+  "t6": to_string(int64("64")),
+  "t7": to_string(float("128")),
+  "t8": to_string(double("256")),
+  "t9": to_string("foo"),
+  "t10": is_null(to_string([])),
+  "t11": is_null(to_string({{}})),
+  "t12": is_null(to_string({})),
+  "t13": is_null(to_string(null)),
+  "t14": is_missing(to_string(missing))
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/types/to_string_02/to_string_02.1.query.sqlpp b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/types/to_string_02/to_string_02.1.query.sqlpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cdfec14
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/types/to_string_02/to_string_02.1.query.sqlpp
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+/*
+ * 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.
+ */
+{
+ "t": to_string(date("2017-06-30"))
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/types/to_bigint_01/to_bigint_01.1.adm b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/types/to_bigint_01/to_bigint_01.1.adm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a7a42e4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/types/to_bigint_01/to_bigint_01.1.adm
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{ "t1": 0, "t2": 1, "t3": 8, "t4": 16, "t5": 32, "t6": 64, "t7": 9223372036854775807, "t8": 9223372036854775807, "t9": 512, "t10": true, "t11": true, "t12": true, "t13": true, "t14": true, "t15": true }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/types/to_boolean_01/to_boolean_01.1.adm b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/types/to_boolean_01/to_boolean_01.1.adm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e47f893
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/types/to_boolean_01/to_boolean_01.1.adm
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{ "t1": false, "t2": true, "t3": false, "t4": true, "t5": false, "t6": true, "t7": false, "t8": true, "t9": false, "t10": true, "t11": false, "t12": false, "t13": false, "t14": true, "t15": false, "t16": false, "t17": false, "t18": true, "t19": false, "t20": true, "t21": true, "t22": false, "t23": true, "t24": false, "t25": true, "t26": false, "t27": true, "t28": true, "t29": true }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/types/to_double_01/to_double_01.1.adm b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/types/to_double_01/to_double_01.1.adm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8c2b420
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/types/to_double_01/to_double_01.1.adm
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{ "t1": 0.0, "t2": 1.0, "t3": 8.0, "t4": 16.0, "t5": 32.0, "t6": 64.0, "t7": 128.0, "t8": 256.0, "t9": 512.0, "t10": true, "t11": true, "t12": true, "t13": true, "t14": true, "t15": true }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/types/to_string_01/to_string_01.1.adm b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/types/to_string_01/to_string_01.1.adm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..83dee03
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/types/to_string_01/to_string_01.1.adm
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{ "t1": "false", "t2": "true", "t3": "8", "t4": "16", "t5": "32", "t6": "64", "t7": "128.0", "t8": "256.0", "t9": "foo", "t10": true, "t11": true, "t12": true, "t13": true, "t14": true }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/testsuite.xml b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/testsuite.xml
index 0b31f17..a5e6fbb 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/testsuite.xml
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/testsuite.xml
@@ -7198,6 +7198,50 @@
         <output-dir compare="Text">promotion_opentype_field_vs_opentype_field_02</output-dir>
       </compilation-unit>
     </test-case>
+    <test-case FilePath="types">
+      <compilation-unit name="to_boolean_01">
+        <output-dir compare="Text">to_boolean_01</output-dir>
+      </compilation-unit>
+    </test-case>
+    <test-case FilePath="types">
+      <compilation-unit name="to_boolean_02">
+        <output-dir compare="Text">to_boolean_02</output-dir>
+        <expected-error>ASX0002: Type mismatch</expected-error>
+      </compilation-unit>
+    </test-case>
+    <test-case FilePath="types">
+      <compilation-unit name="to_string_01">
+        <output-dir compare="Text">to_string_01</output-dir>
+      </compilation-unit>
+    </test-case>
+    <test-case FilePath="types">
+      <compilation-unit name="to_string_02">
+        <output-dir compare="Text">to_string_02</output-dir>
+        <expected-error>ASX0004: Unsupported type</expected-error>
+      </compilation-unit>
+    </test-case>
+    <test-case FilePath="types">
+      <compilation-unit name="to_double_01">
+        <output-dir compare="Text">to_double_01</output-dir>
+      </compilation-unit>
+    </test-case>
+    <test-case FilePath="types">
+      <compilation-unit name="to_double_02">
+        <output-dir compare="Text">to_double_02</output-dir>
+        <expected-error>ASX0002: Type mismatch</expected-error>
+      </compilation-unit>
+    </test-case>
+    <test-case FilePath="types">
+      <compilation-unit name="to_bigint_01">
+        <output-dir compare="Text">to_bigint_01</output-dir>
+      </compilation-unit>
+    </test-case>
+    <test-case FilePath="types">
+      <compilation-unit name="to_bigint_02">
+        <output-dir compare="Text">to_bigint_02</output-dir>
+        <expected-error>ASX0002: Type mismatch</expected-error>
+      </compilation-unit>
+    </test-case>
   </test-group>
   <test-group name="materialization">
     <test-case FilePath="materialization">
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/testsuite_sqlpp.xml b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/testsuite_sqlpp.xml
index 93ba5b0..0ad80c0 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/testsuite_sqlpp.xml
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/testsuite_sqlpp.xml
@@ -8492,6 +8492,50 @@
         <output-dir compare="Text">ifmissingornull</output-dir>
       </compilation-unit>
     </test-case>
+    <test-case FilePath="types">
+      <compilation-unit name="to_boolean_01">
+        <output-dir compare="Text">to_boolean_01</output-dir>
+      </compilation-unit>
+    </test-case>
+    <test-case FilePath="types">
+      <compilation-unit name="to_boolean_02">
+        <output-dir compare="Text">to_boolean_02</output-dir>
+        <expected-error>ASX0002: Type mismatch</expected-error>
+      </compilation-unit>
+    </test-case>
+    <test-case FilePath="types">
+      <compilation-unit name="to_string_01">
+        <output-dir compare="Text">to_string_01</output-dir>
+      </compilation-unit>
+    </test-case>
+    <test-case FilePath="types">
+      <compilation-unit name="to_string_02">
+        <output-dir compare="Text">to_string_02</output-dir>
+        <expected-error>ASX0004: Unsupported type</expected-error>
+      </compilation-unit>
+    </test-case>
+    <test-case FilePath="types">
+      <compilation-unit name="to_double_01">
+        <output-dir compare="Text">to_double_01</output-dir>
+      </compilation-unit>
+    </test-case>
+    <test-case FilePath="types">
+      <compilation-unit name="to_double_02">
+        <output-dir compare="Text">to_double_02</output-dir>
+        <expected-error>ASX0002: Type mismatch</expected-error>
+      </compilation-unit>
+    </test-case>
+    <test-case FilePath="types">
+      <compilation-unit name="to_bigint_01">
+        <output-dir compare="Text">to_bigint_01</output-dir>
+      </compilation-unit>
+    </test-case>
+    <test-case FilePath="types">
+      <compilation-unit name="to_bigint_02">
+        <output-dir compare="Text">to_bigint_02</output-dir>
+        <expected-error>ASX0002: Type mismatch</expected-error>
+      </compilation-unit>
+    </test-case>
   </test-group>
   <test-group name="materialization">
     <test-case FilePath="materialization">
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-doc/src/main/markdown/builtins/11_type.md b/asterixdb/asterix-doc/src/main/markdown/builtins/11_type.md
index 7e8a7fe..5cb22d4 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-doc/src/main/markdown/builtins/11_type.md
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-doc/src/main/markdown/builtins/11_type.md
@@ -261,3 +261,142 @@
 
  The function has an alias `isunknown`.
 
+
+### to_boolean ###
+  * Syntax:
+
+        to_boolean(expr)
+
+  * Converts input value to a `boolean` value
+  * Arguments:
+     * `expr` : an expression
+  * Return Value:
+     * if the argument is `missing` then `missing` is returned
+     * if the argument is `null` then `null` is returned
+     * if the argument is of `boolean` type then it is returned as is
+     * if the argument is of numeric type then `false` is returned if it is `0` or `NaN`, otherwise `true`
+     * if the argument is of `string` type then `false` is returned if it's empty, otherwise `true`
+     * if the argument is of `array` or `multiset` type then `false` is returned if it's size is `0`, otherwise `true`
+     * if the argument is of `object` type then `false` is returned if it has no fields, otherwise `true`
+     * type error is raised for all other input types
+
+ * Example:
+
+        {
+          "v1": to_boolean(0),
+          "v2": to_boolean(1),
+          "v3": to_boolean(""),
+          "v4": to_boolean("asterix")
+        };
+
+ * The expected result is:
+
+        { "v1": false, "v2": true, "v3": false, "v4": true }
+
+ The function has an alias `toboolean`.
+
+
+### to_bigint ###
+  * Syntax:
+
+        to_bigint(expr)
+
+  * Converts input value to an integer value
+  * Arguments:
+     * `expr` : an expression
+  * Return Value:
+     * if the argument is `missing` then `missing` is returned
+     * if the argument is `null` then `null` is returned
+     * if the argument is of `boolean` type then `1` is returned if it is `true`, `0` if it is `false`
+     * if the argument is of numeric integer type then it is returned as the same value of `bigint` type
+     * if the argument is of numeric `float`/`double` type then it is converted to `bigint` type
+     * if the argument is of `string` type and can be parsed as integer then that integer value is returned,
+       otherwise `null` is returned
+     * if the argument is of `array`/`multiset`/`object` type then `null` is returned
+     * type error is raised for all other input types
+
+ * Example:
+
+        {
+          "v1": to_bigint(false),
+          "v2": to_bigint(true),
+          "v3": to_bigint(10),
+          "v4": to_bigint(float("1e100")),
+          "v5": to_bigint(double("1e1000")),
+          "v6": to_bigint("20")
+        };
+
+ * The expected result is:
+
+        { "v1": 0, "v2": 1, "v3": 10, "v4": 9223372036854775807, "v5": 9223372036854775807, "v6": 20 }
+
+ The function has an alias `tobigint`.
+
+
+### to_double ###
+  * Syntax:
+
+        to_double(expr)
+
+  * Converts input value to a `double` value
+  * Arguments:
+     * `expr` : an expression
+  * Return Value:
+     * if the argument is `missing` then `missing` is returned
+     * if the argument is `null` then `null` is returned
+     * if the argument is of `boolean` type then `1.0` is returned if it is `true`, `0.0` if it is `false`
+     * if the argument is of numeric type then it is returned as the value of `double` type
+     * if the argument is of `string` type and can be parsed as `double` then that `double` value is returned,
+       otherwise `null` is returned
+     * if the argument is of `array`/`multiset`/`object` type then `null` is returned
+     * type error is raised for all other input types
+
+ * Example:
+
+        {
+          "v1": to_double(false),
+          "v2": to_double(true),
+          "v3": to_double(10),
+          "v4": to_double(11.5),
+          "v5": to_double("12.5")
+        };
+
+ * The expected result is:
+
+        { "v1": 0.0, "v2": 1.0, "v3": 10.0, "v4": 11.5, "v5": 12.5 }
+
+ The function has an alias `todouble`.
+
+
+### to_string ###
+  * Syntax:
+
+        to_string(expr)
+
+  * Converts input value to a string value
+  * Arguments:
+     * `expr` : an expression
+  * Return Value:
+     * if the argument is `missing` then `missing` is returned
+     * if the argument is `null` then `null` is returned
+     * if the argument is of `boolean` type then `"true"` is returned if it is `true`, `"false"` if it is `false`
+     * if the argument is of numeric type then its string representation is returned
+     * if the argument is of `string` type then it is returned as is
+     * if the argument is of `array`/`multiset`/`object` type then `null` is returned
+     * type error is raised for all other input types
+
+ * Example:
+
+        {
+          "v1": to_string(false),
+          "v2": to_string(true),
+          "v3": to_string(10),
+          "v4": to_string(11.5),
+          "v5": to_string("asterix")
+        };
+
+ * The expected result is:
+
+        { "v1": "false", "v2": "true", "v3": "10", "v4": "11.5", "v5": "asterix" }
+
+ The function has an alias `tostring`.
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-lang-common/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/lang/common/util/CommonFunctionMapUtil.java b/asterixdb/asterix-lang-common/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/lang/common/util/CommonFunctionMapUtil.java
index 6a0c05e..092de98 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-lang-common/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/lang/common/util/CommonFunctionMapUtil.java
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-lang-common/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/lang/common/util/CommonFunctionMapUtil.java
@@ -65,6 +65,10 @@
         FUNCTION_NAME_MAP.put("ifmissing", "if-missing"); // ifmissing, internal: if-missing
         FUNCTION_NAME_MAP.put("ifnull", "if-null"); // ifnull, internal: if-null
         FUNCTION_NAME_MAP.put("ifmissingornull", "if-missing-or-null"); // ifmissingornull, internal: is-missing-or-null
+        FUNCTION_NAME_MAP.put("toboolean", "to-boolean"); // toboolean, internal: to-boolean
+        FUNCTION_NAME_MAP.put("tostring", "to-string"); // tostring, internal: to-string
+        FUNCTION_NAME_MAP.put("todouble", "to-double"); // todouble, internal: to-double
+        FUNCTION_NAME_MAP.put("tobigint", "to-bigint"); // tobigint, internal: to-bigint
 
         // Object functions
         FUNCTION_NAME_MAP.put("record-merge", "object-merge"); // record-merge, internal: object-merge
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-om/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/dataflow/data/nontagged/serde/ARecordSerializerDeserializer.java b/asterixdb/asterix-om/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/dataflow/data/nontagged/serde/ARecordSerializerDeserializer.java
index 6aee698..fafa397 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-om/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/dataflow/data/nontagged/serde/ARecordSerializerDeserializer.java
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-om/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/dataflow/data/nontagged/serde/ARecordSerializerDeserializer.java
@@ -308,8 +308,7 @@
     public static int getFieldOffsetByName(byte[] serRecord, int start, int len, byte[] fieldName, int nstart)
             throws HyracksDataException {
         // 5 is the index of the byte that determines whether the record is expanded or not, i.e. it has an open part.
-        // a record with len < 5 is empty
-        if (serRecord[start] != ATypeTag.SERIALIZED_RECORD_TYPE_TAG || len <= 5 || serRecord[start + 5] != 1) {
+        if (hasNoFields(serRecord, start, len) || serRecord[start + 5] != 1) {
             return -1;
         }
         // 6 is the index of the first byte of the openPartOffset value.
@@ -367,6 +366,11 @@
         return -1; // no field with this name.
     }
 
+    public static boolean hasNoFields(byte[] serRecord, int start, int len) {
+        // a record with len <= 6 is empty
+        return serRecord[start] != ATypeTag.SERIALIZED_RECORD_TYPE_TAG || len <= 6;
+    }
+
     @Override
     public String toString() {
         return " ";
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-om/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/om/functions/BuiltinFunctions.java b/asterixdb/asterix-om/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/om/functions/BuiltinFunctions.java
index dbcef6c..695483b 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-om/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/om/functions/BuiltinFunctions.java
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-om/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/om/functions/BuiltinFunctions.java
@@ -804,6 +804,15 @@
     public static final FunctionIdentifier IF_MISSING_OR_NULL = new FunctionIdentifier(FunctionConstants.ASTERIX_NS,
             "if-missing-or-null", FunctionIdentifier.VARARGS);
 
+    public static final FunctionIdentifier TO_BOOLEAN =
+            new FunctionIdentifier(FunctionConstants.ASTERIX_NS, "to-boolean", 1);
+    public static final FunctionIdentifier TO_STRING =
+            new FunctionIdentifier(FunctionConstants.ASTERIX_NS, "to-string", 1);
+    public static final FunctionIdentifier TO_DOUBLE =
+            new FunctionIdentifier(FunctionConstants.ASTERIX_NS, "to-double", 1);
+    public static final FunctionIdentifier TO_BIGINT =
+            new FunctionIdentifier(FunctionConstants.ASTERIX_NS, "to-bigint", 1);
+
     public static final FunctionIdentifier EXTERNAL_LOOKUP = new FunctionIdentifier(FunctionConstants.ASTERIX_NS,
             "external-lookup", FunctionIdentifier.VARARGS);
 
@@ -982,6 +991,11 @@
         addFunction(RANGE, AInt64TypeComputer.INSTANCE, true);
         addFunction(RECTANGLE_CONSTRUCTOR, ARectangleTypeComputer.INSTANCE, true);
 
+        addFunction(TO_BOOLEAN, ABooleanTypeComputer.INSTANCE, true);
+        addFunction(TO_STRING, AStringTypeComputer.INSTANCE, true);
+        addFunction(TO_DOUBLE, ADoubleTypeComputer.INSTANCE, true);
+        addFunction(TO_BIGINT, AInt64TypeComputer.INSTANCE, true);
+
         // Aggregate Functions
         addFunction(MAX, MinMaxAggTypeComputer.INSTANCE, true);
         addPrivateFunction(LOCAL_MAX, MinMaxAggTypeComputer.INSTANCE, true);
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/runtime/evaluators/constructors/ABooleanConstructorDescriptor.java b/asterixdb/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/runtime/evaluators/constructors/ABooleanConstructorDescriptor.java
index 5ef78d3..2f981b9 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/runtime/evaluators/constructors/ABooleanConstructorDescriptor.java
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/runtime/evaluators/constructors/ABooleanConstructorDescriptor.java
@@ -18,32 +18,15 @@
  */
 package org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.constructors;
 
-import java.io.DataOutput;
-import java.io.IOException;
-
-import org.apache.asterix.formats.nontagged.BinaryComparatorFactoryProvider;
-import org.apache.asterix.formats.nontagged.SerializerDeserializerProvider;
-import org.apache.asterix.om.base.ABoolean;
 import org.apache.asterix.om.functions.BuiltinFunctions;
 import org.apache.asterix.om.functions.IFunctionDescriptor;
 import org.apache.asterix.om.functions.IFunctionDescriptorFactory;
-import org.apache.asterix.om.types.ATypeTag;
-import org.apache.asterix.om.types.BuiltinType;
 import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.base.AbstractScalarFunctionDynamicDescriptor;
-import org.apache.asterix.runtime.exceptions.InvalidDataFormatException;
-import org.apache.asterix.runtime.exceptions.TypeMismatchException;
 import org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.core.algebra.functions.FunctionIdentifier;
 import org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.runtime.base.IScalarEvaluator;
 import org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.runtime.base.IScalarEvaluatorFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.context.IHyracksTaskContext;
-import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.IBinaryComparator;
-import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ISerializerDeserializer;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
-import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.api.IPointable;
-import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive.VoidPointable;
-import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.util.ArrayBackedValueStorage;
-import org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.accessors.IFrameTupleReference;
-import org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringUtil;
 
 public class ABooleanConstructorDescriptor extends AbstractScalarFunctionDynamicDescriptor {
     private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
@@ -61,62 +44,18 @@
 
             @Override
             public IScalarEvaluator createScalarEvaluator(IHyracksTaskContext ctx) throws HyracksDataException {
-                return new IScalarEvaluator() {
-                    private ArrayBackedValueStorage resultStorage = new ArrayBackedValueStorage();
-                    private DataOutput out = resultStorage.getDataOutput();
-                    private IPointable inputArg = new VoidPointable();
-                    private IScalarEvaluator eval = args[0].createScalarEvaluator(ctx);
-                    private final byte[] TRUE = UTF8StringUtil.writeStringToBytes("true");
-                    private final byte[] FALSE = UTF8StringUtil.writeStringToBytes("false");
-                    IBinaryComparator utf8BinaryComparator =
-                            BinaryComparatorFactoryProvider.UTF8STRING_POINTABLE_INSTANCE.createBinaryComparator();
-                    @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
-                    private ISerializerDeserializer<ABoolean> booleanSerde =
-                            SerializerDeserializerProvider.INSTANCE.getSerializerDeserializer(BuiltinType.ABOOLEAN);
-
+                return new AbstractBooleanConstructorEvaluator(args[0].createScalarEvaluator(ctx)) {
                     @Override
-                    public void evaluate(IFrameTupleReference tuple, IPointable result) throws HyracksDataException {
-                        try {
-                            eval.evaluate(tuple, inputArg);
-                            byte[] serString = inputArg.getByteArray();
-                            int startOffset = inputArg.getStartOffset();
-                            int len = inputArg.getLength();
-
-                            byte tt = serString[startOffset];
-                            if (tt == ATypeTag.SERIALIZED_BOOLEAN_TYPE_TAG) {
-                                result.set(inputArg);
-                            } else if (tt == ATypeTag.SERIALIZED_STRING_TYPE_TAG) {
-                                resultStorage.reset();
-                                if (utf8BinaryComparator.compare(serString, startOffset + 1, len - 1, TRUE, 0,
-                                        TRUE.length) == 0) {
-                                    booleanSerde.serialize(ABoolean.TRUE, out);
-                                    result.set(resultStorage);
-                                } else if (utf8BinaryComparator.compare(serString, startOffset + 1, len - 1, FALSE, 0,
-                                        FALSE.length) == 0) {
-                                    booleanSerde.serialize(ABoolean.FALSE, out);
-                                    result.set(resultStorage);
-                                } else {
-                                    throw new InvalidDataFormatException(getIdentifier(),
-                                            ATypeTag.SERIALIZED_BOOLEAN_TYPE_TAG);
-                                }
-                            } else {
-                                throw new TypeMismatchException(getIdentifier(), 0, tt,
-                                        ATypeTag.SERIALIZED_STRING_TYPE_TAG);
-                            }
-                        } catch (IOException e) {
-                            throw new InvalidDataFormatException(getIdentifier(), e,
-                                    ATypeTag.SERIALIZED_BOOLEAN_TYPE_TAG);
-                        }
+                    protected FunctionIdentifier getIdentifier() {
+                        return ABooleanConstructorDescriptor.this.getIdentifier();
                     }
                 };
             }
         };
-
     }
 
     @Override
     public FunctionIdentifier getIdentifier() {
         return BuiltinFunctions.BOOLEAN_CONSTRUCTOR;
     }
-
 }
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/runtime/evaluators/constructors/ADoubleConstructorDescriptor.java b/asterixdb/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/runtime/evaluators/constructors/ADoubleConstructorDescriptor.java
index 299a452..87df400 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/runtime/evaluators/constructors/ADoubleConstructorDescriptor.java
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/runtime/evaluators/constructors/ADoubleConstructorDescriptor.java
@@ -18,34 +18,15 @@
  */
 package org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.constructors;
 
-import java.io.DataOutput;
-import java.io.IOException;
-
-import org.apache.asterix.formats.nontagged.BinaryComparatorFactoryProvider;
-import org.apache.asterix.formats.nontagged.SerializerDeserializerProvider;
-import org.apache.asterix.om.base.ADouble;
-import org.apache.asterix.om.base.AMutableDouble;
 import org.apache.asterix.om.functions.BuiltinFunctions;
 import org.apache.asterix.om.functions.IFunctionDescriptor;
 import org.apache.asterix.om.functions.IFunctionDescriptorFactory;
-import org.apache.asterix.om.types.ATypeTag;
-import org.apache.asterix.om.types.BuiltinType;
 import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.base.AbstractScalarFunctionDynamicDescriptor;
-import org.apache.asterix.runtime.exceptions.InvalidDataFormatException;
-import org.apache.asterix.runtime.exceptions.TypeMismatchException;
 import org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.core.algebra.functions.FunctionIdentifier;
 import org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.runtime.base.IScalarEvaluator;
 import org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.runtime.base.IScalarEvaluatorFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.context.IHyracksTaskContext;
-import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.IBinaryComparator;
-import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ISerializerDeserializer;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
-import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.api.IPointable;
-import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive.UTF8StringPointable;
-import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive.VoidPointable;
-import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.util.ArrayBackedValueStorage;
-import org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.accessors.IFrameTupleReference;
-import org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringUtil;
 
 public class ADoubleConstructorDescriptor extends AbstractScalarFunctionDynamicDescriptor {
     private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
@@ -63,59 +44,10 @@
 
             @Override
             public IScalarEvaluator createScalarEvaluator(IHyracksTaskContext ctx) throws HyracksDataException {
-                return new IScalarEvaluator() {
-                    private final ArrayBackedValueStorage resultStorage = new ArrayBackedValueStorage();
-                    private final DataOutput out = resultStorage.getDataOutput();
-                    private final IPointable inputArg = new VoidPointable();
-                    private IScalarEvaluator eval = args[0].createScalarEvaluator(ctx);
-                    private final byte[] POSITIVE_INF = UTF8StringUtil.writeStringToBytes("INF");
-                    private final byte[] NEGATIVE_INF = UTF8StringUtil.writeStringToBytes("-INF");
-                    private final byte[] NAN = UTF8StringUtil.writeStringToBytes("NaN");
-                    IBinaryComparator utf8BinaryComparator =
-                            BinaryComparatorFactoryProvider.UTF8STRING_POINTABLE_INSTANCE.createBinaryComparator();
-                    private AMutableDouble aDouble = new AMutableDouble(0);
-                    @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
-                    private ISerializerDeserializer<ADouble> doubleSerde =
-                            SerializerDeserializerProvider.INSTANCE.getSerializerDeserializer(BuiltinType.ADOUBLE);
-
-                    private final UTF8StringPointable utf8Ptr = new UTF8StringPointable();
-
+                return new AbstractDoubleConstructorEvaluator(args[0].createScalarEvaluator(ctx)) {
                     @Override
-                    public void evaluate(IFrameTupleReference tuple, IPointable result) throws HyracksDataException {
-                        try {
-                            eval.evaluate(tuple, inputArg);
-                            byte[] serString = inputArg.getByteArray();
-                            int offset = inputArg.getStartOffset();
-                            int len = inputArg.getLength();
-
-                            byte tt = serString[offset];
-                            if (tt == ATypeTag.SERIALIZED_DOUBLE_TYPE_TAG) {
-                                result.set(inputArg);
-                            } else if (tt == ATypeTag.SERIALIZED_STRING_TYPE_TAG) {
-                                resultStorage.reset();
-                                if (utf8BinaryComparator.compare(serString, offset + 1, len - 1, POSITIVE_INF, 0,
-                                        5) == 0) {
-                                    aDouble.setValue(Double.POSITIVE_INFINITY);
-                                } else if (utf8BinaryComparator.compare(serString, offset + 1, len - 1, NEGATIVE_INF, 0,
-                                        6) == 0) {
-                                    aDouble.setValue(Double.NEGATIVE_INFINITY);
-                                } else if (utf8BinaryComparator.compare(serString, offset + 1, len - 1, NAN, 0,
-                                        5) == 0) {
-                                    aDouble.setValue(Double.NaN);
-                                } else {
-                                    utf8Ptr.set(serString, offset + 1, len - 1);
-                                    aDouble.setValue(Double.parseDouble(utf8Ptr.toString()));
-                                }
-                                doubleSerde.serialize(aDouble, out);
-                                result.set(resultStorage);
-                            } else {
-                                throw new TypeMismatchException(getIdentifier(), 0, tt,
-                                        ATypeTag.SERIALIZED_STRING_TYPE_TAG);
-                            }
-                        } catch (IOException e) {
-                            throw new InvalidDataFormatException(getIdentifier(), e,
-                                    ATypeTag.SERIALIZED_DATETIME_TYPE_TAG);
-                        }
+                    protected FunctionIdentifier getIdentifier() {
+                        return ADoubleConstructorDescriptor.this.getIdentifier();
                     }
                 };
             }
@@ -126,5 +58,4 @@
     public FunctionIdentifier getIdentifier() {
         return BuiltinFunctions.DOUBLE_CONSTRUCTOR;
     }
-
 }
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/runtime/evaluators/constructors/AInt64ConstructorDescriptor.java b/asterixdb/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/runtime/evaluators/constructors/AInt64ConstructorDescriptor.java
index a2dc8b2..61a35b6 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/runtime/evaluators/constructors/AInt64ConstructorDescriptor.java
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/runtime/evaluators/constructors/AInt64ConstructorDescriptor.java
@@ -18,31 +18,15 @@
  */
 package org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.constructors;
 
-import java.io.DataOutput;
-import java.io.IOException;
-
-import org.apache.asterix.formats.nontagged.SerializerDeserializerProvider;
-import org.apache.asterix.om.base.AInt64;
-import org.apache.asterix.om.base.AMutableInt64;
 import org.apache.asterix.om.functions.BuiltinFunctions;
 import org.apache.asterix.om.functions.IFunctionDescriptor;
 import org.apache.asterix.om.functions.IFunctionDescriptorFactory;
-import org.apache.asterix.om.types.ATypeTag;
-import org.apache.asterix.om.types.BuiltinType;
 import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.base.AbstractScalarFunctionDynamicDescriptor;
-import org.apache.asterix.runtime.exceptions.InvalidDataFormatException;
-import org.apache.asterix.runtime.exceptions.TypeMismatchException;
 import org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.core.algebra.functions.FunctionIdentifier;
 import org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.runtime.base.IScalarEvaluator;
 import org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.runtime.base.IScalarEvaluatorFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.context.IHyracksTaskContext;
-import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ISerializerDeserializer;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
-import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.api.IPointable;
-import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive.UTF8StringPointable;
-import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive.VoidPointable;
-import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.util.ArrayBackedValueStorage;
-import org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.accessors.IFrameTupleReference;
 
 public class AInt64ConstructorDescriptor extends AbstractScalarFunctionDynamicDescriptor {
     private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
@@ -60,96 +44,18 @@
 
             @Override
             public IScalarEvaluator createScalarEvaluator(IHyracksTaskContext ctx) throws HyracksDataException {
-                return new IScalarEvaluator() {
-
-                    private ArrayBackedValueStorage resultStorage = new ArrayBackedValueStorage();
-                    private DataOutput out = resultStorage.getDataOutput();
-                    private IPointable inputArg = new VoidPointable();
-                    private IScalarEvaluator eval = args[0].createScalarEvaluator(ctx);
-                    private long value;
-                    private int offset;
-                    private boolean positive;
-                    private AMutableInt64 aInt64 = new AMutableInt64(0);
-                    @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
-                    private ISerializerDeserializer<AInt64> int64Serde = SerializerDeserializerProvider.INSTANCE
-                            .getSerializerDeserializer(BuiltinType.AINT64);
-                    private final UTF8StringPointable utf8Ptr = new UTF8StringPointable();
-
+                return new AbstractInt64ConstructorEvaluator(args[0].createScalarEvaluator(ctx)) {
                     @Override
-                    public void evaluate(IFrameTupleReference tuple, IPointable result) throws HyracksDataException {
-                        try {
-                            eval.evaluate(tuple, inputArg);
-                            byte[] serString = inputArg.getByteArray();
-                            int startOffset = inputArg.getStartOffset();
-                            int len = inputArg.getLength();
-
-                            byte tt = serString[startOffset];
-                            if (tt == ATypeTag.SERIALIZED_INT64_TYPE_TAG) {
-                                result.set(inputArg);
-                            } else if (tt == ATypeTag.SERIALIZED_STRING_TYPE_TAG) {
-                                resultStorage.reset();
-                                utf8Ptr.set(serString, startOffset + 1, len - 1);
-                                offset = utf8Ptr.getCharStartOffset();
-                                //accumulating value in negative domain
-                                //otherwise Long.MIN_VALUE = -(Long.MAX_VALUE + 1) would have caused overflow
-                                value = 0;
-                                positive = true;
-                                long limit = -Long.MAX_VALUE;
-                                if (serString[offset] == '+') {
-                                    offset++;
-                                } else if (serString[offset] == '-') {
-                                    offset++;
-                                    positive = false;
-                                    limit = Long.MIN_VALUE;
-                                }
-                                int end = startOffset + len;
-                                for (; offset < end; offset++) {
-                                    int digit;
-                                    if (serString[offset] >= '0' && serString[offset] <= '9') {
-                                        value *= 10;
-                                        digit = serString[offset] - '0';
-                                    } else if (serString[offset] == 'i' && serString[offset + 1] == '6'
-                                            && serString[offset + 2] == '4' && offset + 3 == end) {
-                                        break;
-                                    } else {
-                                        throw new InvalidDataFormatException(getIdentifier(),
-                                                ATypeTag.SERIALIZED_INT64_TYPE_TAG);
-                                    }
-                                    if (value < limit + digit) {
-                                        throw new InvalidDataFormatException(getIdentifier(),
-                                                ATypeTag.SERIALIZED_INT64_TYPE_TAG);
-                                    }
-                                    value -= digit;
-                                }
-                                if (value > 0) {
-                                    throw new InvalidDataFormatException(getIdentifier(),
-                                            ATypeTag.SERIALIZED_INT64_TYPE_TAG);
-                                }
-                                if (value < 0 && positive) {
-                                    value *= -1;
-                                }
-
-                                aInt64.setValue(value);
-                                int64Serde.serialize(aInt64, out);
-                                result.set(resultStorage);
-                            } else {
-                                throw new TypeMismatchException(getIdentifier(), 0, tt,
-                                        ATypeTag.SERIALIZED_STRING_TYPE_TAG);
-                            }
-                        } catch (IOException e) {
-                            throw new InvalidDataFormatException(getIdentifier(), e,
-                                    ATypeTag.SERIALIZED_INT64_TYPE_TAG);
-                        }
+                    public FunctionIdentifier getIdentifier() {
+                        return AInt64ConstructorDescriptor.this.getIdentifier();
                     }
                 };
             }
         };
-
     }
 
     @Override
     public FunctionIdentifier getIdentifier() {
         return BuiltinFunctions.INT64_CONSTRUCTOR;
     }
-
 }
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/runtime/evaluators/constructors/AStringConstructorDescriptor.java b/asterixdb/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/runtime/evaluators/constructors/AStringConstructorDescriptor.java
index 3c59c4c..00b5475 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/runtime/evaluators/constructors/AStringConstructorDescriptor.java
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/runtime/evaluators/constructors/AStringConstructorDescriptor.java
@@ -18,34 +18,15 @@
  */
 package org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.constructors;
 
-import java.io.DataOutput;
-import java.io.IOException;
-
-import org.apache.asterix.dataflow.data.nontagged.serde.ABooleanSerializerDeserializer;
-import org.apache.asterix.dataflow.data.nontagged.serde.ADoubleSerializerDeserializer;
-import org.apache.asterix.dataflow.data.nontagged.serde.AFloatSerializerDeserializer;
-import org.apache.asterix.dataflow.data.nontagged.serde.AInt16SerializerDeserializer;
-import org.apache.asterix.dataflow.data.nontagged.serde.AInt32SerializerDeserializer;
-import org.apache.asterix.dataflow.data.nontagged.serde.AInt64SerializerDeserializer;
-import org.apache.asterix.dataflow.data.nontagged.serde.AInt8SerializerDeserializer;
 import org.apache.asterix.om.functions.BuiltinFunctions;
 import org.apache.asterix.om.functions.IFunctionDescriptor;
 import org.apache.asterix.om.functions.IFunctionDescriptorFactory;
-import org.apache.asterix.om.types.ATypeTag;
 import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.base.AbstractScalarFunctionDynamicDescriptor;
-import org.apache.asterix.runtime.exceptions.InvalidDataFormatException;
-import org.apache.asterix.runtime.exceptions.UnsupportedTypeException;
 import org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.core.algebra.functions.FunctionIdentifier;
 import org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.runtime.base.IScalarEvaluator;
 import org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.runtime.base.IScalarEvaluatorFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.context.IHyracksTaskContext;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
-import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.api.IPointable;
-import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive.VoidPointable;
-import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.util.ArrayBackedValueStorage;
-import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.util.GrowableArray;
-import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.util.UTF8StringBuilder;
-import org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.accessors.IFrameTupleReference;
 
 public class AStringConstructorDescriptor extends AbstractScalarFunctionDynamicDescriptor {
 
@@ -64,98 +45,10 @@
 
             @Override
             public IScalarEvaluator createScalarEvaluator(IHyracksTaskContext ctx) throws HyracksDataException {
-                return new IScalarEvaluator() {
-
-                    private ArrayBackedValueStorage resultStorage = new ArrayBackedValueStorage();
-                    private DataOutput out = resultStorage.getDataOutput();
-                    private IPointable inputArg = new VoidPointable();
-                    private IScalarEvaluator eval = args[0].createScalarEvaluator(ctx);
-                    private UTF8StringBuilder builder = new UTF8StringBuilder();
-                    private GrowableArray baaos = new GrowableArray();
-
+                return new AbstractStringConstructorEvaluator(args[0].createScalarEvaluator(ctx)) {
                     @Override
-                    public void evaluate(IFrameTupleReference tuple, IPointable result) throws HyracksDataException {
-                        try {
-                            eval.evaluate(tuple, inputArg);
-                            byte[] serString = inputArg.getByteArray();
-                            int offset = inputArg.getStartOffset();
-                            int len = inputArg.getLength();
-
-                            ATypeTag tt = ATypeTag.VALUE_TYPE_MAPPING[serString[offset]];
-                            if (tt == ATypeTag.STRING) {
-                                result.set(inputArg);
-                            } else {
-                                resultStorage.reset();
-                                baaos.reset();
-                                builder.reset(baaos, len);
-                                int startOffset = offset + 1;
-                                switch (tt) {
-                                    case TINYINT: {
-                                        int i = AInt8SerializerDeserializer.getByte(serString, startOffset);
-                                        builder.appendString(String.valueOf(i));
-                                        break;
-                                    }
-                                    case SMALLINT: {
-                                        int i = AInt16SerializerDeserializer.getShort(serString, startOffset);
-                                        builder.appendString(String.valueOf(i));
-                                        break;
-                                    }
-                                    case INTEGER: {
-                                        int i = AInt32SerializerDeserializer.getInt(serString, startOffset);
-                                        builder.appendString(String.valueOf(i));
-                                        break;
-                                    }
-                                    case BIGINT: {
-                                        long l = AInt64SerializerDeserializer.getLong(serString, startOffset);
-                                        builder.appendString(String.valueOf(l));
-                                        break;
-                                    }
-                                    case DOUBLE: {
-                                        double d = ADoubleSerializerDeserializer.getDouble(serString, startOffset);
-                                        builder.appendString(String.valueOf(d));
-                                        break;
-                                    }
-                                    case FLOAT: {
-                                        float f = AFloatSerializerDeserializer.getFloat(serString, startOffset);
-                                        builder.appendString(String.valueOf(f));
-                                        break;
-                                    }
-                                    case BOOLEAN: {
-                                        boolean b = ABooleanSerializerDeserializer.getBoolean(serString, startOffset);
-                                        builder.appendString(String.valueOf(b));
-                                        break;
-                                    }
-
-                                    // NotYetImplemented
-                                    case CIRCLE:
-                                    case DATE:
-                                    case DATETIME:
-                                    case LINE:
-                                    case TIME:
-                                    case DURATION:
-                                    case YEARMONTHDURATION:
-                                    case DAYTIMEDURATION:
-                                    case INTERVAL:
-                                    case ARRAY:
-                                    case POINT:
-                                    case POINT3D:
-                                    case RECTANGLE:
-                                    case POLYGON:
-                                    case OBJECT:
-                                    case MULTISET:
-                                    case UUID:
-                                    default:
-                                        throw new UnsupportedTypeException(getIdentifier(), serString[offset]);
-                                }
-                                builder.finish();
-                                out.write(ATypeTag.SERIALIZED_STRING_TYPE_TAG);
-                                out.write(baaos.getByteArray(), 0, baaos.getLength());
-                                result.set(resultStorage);
-                            }
-                        } catch (IOException e) {
-                            throw new InvalidDataFormatException(getIdentifier(), e,
-                                    ATypeTag.SERIALIZED_STRING_TYPE_TAG);
-                        }
+                    protected FunctionIdentifier getIdentifier() {
+                        return AStringConstructorDescriptor.this.getIdentifier();
                     }
                 };
             }
@@ -166,5 +59,4 @@
     public FunctionIdentifier getIdentifier() {
         return BuiltinFunctions.STRING_CONSTRUCTOR;
     }
-
 }
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/runtime/evaluators/constructors/AbstractBooleanConstructorEvaluator.java b/asterixdb/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/runtime/evaluators/constructors/AbstractBooleanConstructorEvaluator.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9b9bf71
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/runtime/evaluators/constructors/AbstractBooleanConstructorEvaluator.java
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+/*
+ * 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.runtime.evaluators.constructors;
+
+import java.io.DataOutput;
+import java.io.IOException;
+
+import org.apache.asterix.formats.nontagged.BinaryComparatorFactoryProvider;
+import org.apache.asterix.formats.nontagged.SerializerDeserializerProvider;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.base.ABoolean;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.types.ATypeTag;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.types.BuiltinType;
+import org.apache.asterix.runtime.exceptions.InvalidDataFormatException;
+import org.apache.asterix.runtime.exceptions.TypeMismatchException;
+import org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.core.algebra.functions.FunctionIdentifier;
+import org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.runtime.base.IScalarEvaluator;
+import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.IBinaryComparator;
+import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ISerializerDeserializer;
+import org.apache.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.api.IPointable;
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive.VoidPointable;
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.util.ArrayBackedValueStorage;
+import org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.accessors.IFrameTupleReference;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringUtil;
+
+public abstract class AbstractBooleanConstructorEvaluator implements IScalarEvaluator {
+    @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+    protected static final ISerializerDeserializer<ABoolean> BOOLEAN_SERDE =
+            SerializerDeserializerProvider.INSTANCE.getSerializerDeserializer(BuiltinType.ABOOLEAN);
+
+    protected static final IBinaryComparator UTF8_BINARY_CMP =
+            BinaryComparatorFactoryProvider.UTF8STRING_POINTABLE_INSTANCE.createBinaryComparator();
+
+    protected static final byte[] TRUE = UTF8StringUtil.writeStringToBytes("true");
+    protected static final byte[] FALSE = UTF8StringUtil.writeStringToBytes("false");
+
+    protected final IScalarEvaluator inputEval;
+    protected final IPointable inputArg;
+    protected final ArrayBackedValueStorage resultStorage;
+    protected final DataOutput out;
+
+    protected AbstractBooleanConstructorEvaluator(IScalarEvaluator inputEval) {
+        this.inputEval = inputEval;
+        inputArg = new VoidPointable();
+        resultStorage = new ArrayBackedValueStorage();
+        out = resultStorage.getDataOutput();
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void evaluate(IFrameTupleReference tuple, IPointable result) throws HyracksDataException {
+        try {
+            inputEval.evaluate(tuple, inputArg);
+            resultStorage.reset();
+            evaluateImpl(result);
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            throw new InvalidDataFormatException(getIdentifier(), e, ATypeTag.SERIALIZED_BOOLEAN_TYPE_TAG);
+        }
+    }
+
+    protected void evaluateImpl(IPointable result) throws HyracksDataException {
+        byte[] bytes = inputArg.getByteArray();
+        int startOffset = inputArg.getStartOffset();
+        byte tt = bytes[startOffset];
+        if (tt == ATypeTag.SERIALIZED_BOOLEAN_TYPE_TAG) {
+            result.set(inputArg);
+        } else if (tt == ATypeTag.SERIALIZED_STRING_TYPE_TAG) {
+            int len = inputArg.getLength();
+            if (UTF8_BINARY_CMP.compare(bytes, startOffset + 1, len - 1, TRUE, 0, TRUE.length) == 0) {
+                setBoolean(result, true);
+            } else if (UTF8_BINARY_CMP.compare(bytes, startOffset + 1, len - 1, FALSE, 0, FALSE.length) == 0) {
+                setBoolean(result, false);
+            } else {
+                throw new InvalidDataFormatException(getIdentifier(), ATypeTag.SERIALIZED_BOOLEAN_TYPE_TAG);
+            }
+        } else {
+            throw new TypeMismatchException(getIdentifier(), 0, tt, ATypeTag.SERIALIZED_STRING_TYPE_TAG);
+        }
+    }
+
+    protected void setBoolean(IPointable result, boolean value) throws HyracksDataException {
+        BOOLEAN_SERDE.serialize(ABoolean.valueOf(value), out);
+        result.set(resultStorage);
+    }
+
+    protected abstract FunctionIdentifier getIdentifier();
+}
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/runtime/evaluators/constructors/AbstractDoubleConstructorEvaluator.java b/asterixdb/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/runtime/evaluators/constructors/AbstractDoubleConstructorEvaluator.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..332bfc2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/runtime/evaluators/constructors/AbstractDoubleConstructorEvaluator.java
@@ -0,0 +1,122 @@
+/*
+ * 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.runtime.evaluators.constructors;
+
+import java.io.DataOutput;
+import java.io.IOException;
+
+import org.apache.asterix.formats.nontagged.BinaryComparatorFactoryProvider;
+import org.apache.asterix.formats.nontagged.SerializerDeserializerProvider;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.base.ADouble;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.base.AMutableDouble;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.types.ATypeTag;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.types.BuiltinType;
+import org.apache.asterix.runtime.exceptions.InvalidDataFormatException;
+import org.apache.asterix.runtime.exceptions.TypeMismatchException;
+import org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.core.algebra.functions.FunctionIdentifier;
+import org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.runtime.base.IScalarEvaluator;
+import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.IBinaryComparator;
+import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ISerializerDeserializer;
+import org.apache.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.api.IPointable;
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive.UTF8StringPointable;
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive.VoidPointable;
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.util.ArrayBackedValueStorage;
+import org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.accessors.IFrameTupleReference;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringUtil;
+
+public abstract class AbstractDoubleConstructorEvaluator implements IScalarEvaluator {
+    @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+    protected static final ISerializerDeserializer<ADouble> DOUBLE_SERDE =
+            SerializerDeserializerProvider.INSTANCE.getSerializerDeserializer(BuiltinType.ADOUBLE);
+
+    protected static final IBinaryComparator UTF8_BINARY_CMP =
+            BinaryComparatorFactoryProvider.UTF8STRING_POINTABLE_INSTANCE.createBinaryComparator();
+
+    protected static final byte[] POSITIVE_INF = UTF8StringUtil.writeStringToBytes("INF");
+    protected static final byte[] NEGATIVE_INF = UTF8StringUtil.writeStringToBytes("-INF");
+    protected static final byte[] NAN = UTF8StringUtil.writeStringToBytes("NaN");
+
+    protected final IScalarEvaluator inputEval;
+    protected final ArrayBackedValueStorage resultStorage;
+    protected final DataOutput out;
+    protected final IPointable inputArg;
+    protected final AMutableDouble aDouble;
+    protected final UTF8StringPointable utf8Ptr;
+
+    protected AbstractDoubleConstructorEvaluator(IScalarEvaluator inputEval) {
+        this.inputEval = inputEval;
+        resultStorage = new ArrayBackedValueStorage();
+        out = resultStorage.getDataOutput();
+        inputArg = new VoidPointable();
+        aDouble = new AMutableDouble(0);
+        utf8Ptr = new UTF8StringPointable();
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void evaluate(IFrameTupleReference tuple, IPointable result) throws HyracksDataException {
+        try {
+            inputEval.evaluate(tuple, inputArg);
+            resultStorage.reset();
+            evaluateImpl(result);
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            throw new InvalidDataFormatException(getIdentifier(), e, ATypeTag.SERIALIZED_DOUBLE_TYPE_TAG);
+        }
+    }
+
+    protected void evaluateImpl(IPointable result) throws IOException {
+        byte[] bytes = inputArg.getByteArray();
+        int offset = inputArg.getStartOffset();
+        byte tt = bytes[offset];
+        if (tt == ATypeTag.SERIALIZED_DOUBLE_TYPE_TAG) {
+            result.set(inputArg);
+        } else if (tt == ATypeTag.SERIALIZED_STRING_TYPE_TAG) {
+            int len = inputArg.getLength();
+            if (UTF8_BINARY_CMP.compare(bytes, offset + 1, len - 1, POSITIVE_INF, 0, 5) == 0) {
+                setDouble(result, Double.POSITIVE_INFINITY);
+            } else if (UTF8_BINARY_CMP.compare(bytes, offset + 1, len - 1, NEGATIVE_INF, 0, 6) == 0) {
+                setDouble(result, Double.NEGATIVE_INFINITY);
+            } else if (UTF8_BINARY_CMP.compare(bytes, offset + 1, len - 1, NAN, 0, 5) == 0) {
+                setDouble(result, Double.NaN);
+            } else {
+                utf8Ptr.set(bytes, offset + 1, len - 1);
+                try {
+                    setDouble(result, Double.parseDouble(utf8Ptr.toString()));
+                } catch (NumberFormatException e) {
+                    handleUparseableString(result, e);
+                }
+            }
+        } else {
+            throw new TypeMismatchException(getIdentifier(), 0, tt, ATypeTag.SERIALIZED_STRING_TYPE_TAG);
+        }
+    }
+
+    protected void handleUparseableString(IPointable result, NumberFormatException e) throws HyracksDataException {
+        throw new InvalidDataFormatException(getIdentifier(), e, ATypeTag.SERIALIZED_DOUBLE_TYPE_TAG);
+    }
+
+    protected void setDouble(IPointable result, double value) throws HyracksDataException {
+        aDouble.setValue(value);
+        DOUBLE_SERDE.serialize(aDouble, out);
+        result.set(resultStorage);
+    }
+
+    protected abstract FunctionIdentifier getIdentifier();
+}
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/runtime/evaluators/constructors/AbstractInt64ConstructorEvaluator.java b/asterixdb/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/runtime/evaluators/constructors/AbstractInt64ConstructorEvaluator.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8cf9bed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/runtime/evaluators/constructors/AbstractInt64ConstructorEvaluator.java
@@ -0,0 +1,135 @@
+/*
+ * 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.runtime.evaluators.constructors;
+
+import java.io.DataOutput;
+import java.io.IOException;
+
+import org.apache.asterix.formats.nontagged.SerializerDeserializerProvider;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.base.AInt64;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.base.AMutableInt64;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.types.ATypeTag;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.types.BuiltinType;
+import org.apache.asterix.runtime.exceptions.InvalidDataFormatException;
+import org.apache.asterix.runtime.exceptions.TypeMismatchException;
+import org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.core.algebra.functions.FunctionIdentifier;
+import org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.runtime.base.IScalarEvaluator;
+import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ISerializerDeserializer;
+import org.apache.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.api.IPointable;
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive.UTF8StringPointable;
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive.VoidPointable;
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.util.ArrayBackedValueStorage;
+import org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.accessors.IFrameTupleReference;
+
+public abstract class AbstractInt64ConstructorEvaluator implements IScalarEvaluator {
+    @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+    protected static final ISerializerDeserializer<AInt64> INT64_SERDE =
+            SerializerDeserializerProvider.INSTANCE.getSerializerDeserializer(BuiltinType.AINT64);
+
+    protected final IScalarEvaluator inputEval;
+    protected final IPointable inputArg;
+    protected final ArrayBackedValueStorage resultStorage;
+    protected final DataOutput out;
+    protected final AMutableInt64 aInt64;
+    protected final UTF8StringPointable utf8Ptr;
+
+    protected AbstractInt64ConstructorEvaluator(IScalarEvaluator inputEval) {
+        this.inputEval = inputEval;
+        inputArg = new VoidPointable();
+        resultStorage = new ArrayBackedValueStorage();
+        out = resultStorage.getDataOutput();
+        aInt64 = new AMutableInt64(0);
+        utf8Ptr = new UTF8StringPointable();
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void evaluate(IFrameTupleReference tuple, IPointable result) throws HyracksDataException {
+        try {
+            inputEval.evaluate(tuple, inputArg);
+            resultStorage.reset();
+            evaluateImpl(result);
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            throw new InvalidDataFormatException(getIdentifier(), e, ATypeTag.SERIALIZED_INT64_TYPE_TAG);
+        }
+    }
+
+    protected void evaluateImpl(IPointable result) throws IOException {
+        byte[] bytes = inputArg.getByteArray();
+        int startOffset = inputArg.getStartOffset();
+
+        byte tt = bytes[startOffset];
+        if (tt == ATypeTag.SERIALIZED_INT64_TYPE_TAG) {
+            result.set(inputArg);
+        } else if (tt == ATypeTag.SERIALIZED_STRING_TYPE_TAG) {
+            int len = inputArg.getLength();
+            utf8Ptr.set(bytes, startOffset + 1, len - 1);
+            int offset = utf8Ptr.getCharStartOffset();
+            //accumulating value in negative domain
+            //otherwise Long.MIN_VALUE = -(Long.MAX_VALUE + 1) would have caused overflow
+            long value = 0;
+            boolean positive = true;
+            long limit = -Long.MAX_VALUE;
+            if (bytes[offset] == '+') {
+                offset++;
+            } else if (bytes[offset] == '-') {
+                offset++;
+                positive = false;
+                limit = Long.MIN_VALUE;
+            }
+            int end = startOffset + len;
+            for (; offset < end; offset++) {
+                int digit;
+                if (bytes[offset] >= '0' && bytes[offset] <= '9') {
+                    value *= 10;
+                    digit = bytes[offset] - '0';
+                } else if (bytes[offset] == 'i' && bytes[offset + 1] == '6' && bytes[offset + 2] == '4'
+                        && offset + 3 == end) {
+                    break;
+                } else {
+                    handleUnparseableString(result);
+                    return;
+                }
+                if (value < limit + digit) {
+                    handleUnparseableString(result);
+                }
+                value -= digit;
+            }
+            if (value > 0) {
+                handleUnparseableString(result);
+            }
+            if (value < 0 && positive) {
+                value *= -1;
+            }
+
+            aInt64.setValue(value);
+            INT64_SERDE.serialize(aInt64, out);
+            result.set(resultStorage);
+        } else {
+            throw new TypeMismatchException(getIdentifier(), 0, tt, ATypeTag.SERIALIZED_STRING_TYPE_TAG);
+        }
+    }
+
+    protected void handleUnparseableString(IPointable result) throws HyracksDataException {
+        throw new InvalidDataFormatException(getIdentifier(), ATypeTag.SERIALIZED_INT64_TYPE_TAG);
+    }
+
+    protected abstract FunctionIdentifier getIdentifier();
+}
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/runtime/evaluators/constructors/AbstractStringConstructorEvaluator.java b/asterixdb/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/runtime/evaluators/constructors/AbstractStringConstructorEvaluator.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6918bb9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/runtime/evaluators/constructors/AbstractStringConstructorEvaluator.java
@@ -0,0 +1,152 @@
+/*
+ * 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.runtime.evaluators.constructors;
+
+import java.io.DataOutput;
+import java.io.IOException;
+
+import org.apache.asterix.dataflow.data.nontagged.serde.ABooleanSerializerDeserializer;
+import org.apache.asterix.dataflow.data.nontagged.serde.ADoubleSerializerDeserializer;
+import org.apache.asterix.dataflow.data.nontagged.serde.AFloatSerializerDeserializer;
+import org.apache.asterix.dataflow.data.nontagged.serde.AInt16SerializerDeserializer;
+import org.apache.asterix.dataflow.data.nontagged.serde.AInt32SerializerDeserializer;
+import org.apache.asterix.dataflow.data.nontagged.serde.AInt64SerializerDeserializer;
+import org.apache.asterix.dataflow.data.nontagged.serde.AInt8SerializerDeserializer;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.types.ATypeTag;
+import org.apache.asterix.runtime.exceptions.InvalidDataFormatException;
+import org.apache.asterix.runtime.exceptions.UnsupportedTypeException;
+import org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.core.algebra.functions.FunctionIdentifier;
+import org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.runtime.base.IScalarEvaluator;
+import org.apache.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.api.IPointable;
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive.VoidPointable;
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.util.ArrayBackedValueStorage;
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.util.GrowableArray;
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.util.UTF8StringBuilder;
+import org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.accessors.IFrameTupleReference;
+
+public abstract class AbstractStringConstructorEvaluator implements IScalarEvaluator {
+
+    protected final IScalarEvaluator inputEval;
+    protected final IPointable inputArg;
+    protected final ArrayBackedValueStorage resultStorage;
+    protected final DataOutput out;
+    protected final UTF8StringBuilder builder;
+    protected final GrowableArray baaos;
+
+    protected AbstractStringConstructorEvaluator(IScalarEvaluator inputEval) {
+        resultStorage = new ArrayBackedValueStorage();
+        out = resultStorage.getDataOutput();
+        inputArg = new VoidPointable();
+        this.inputEval = inputEval;
+        builder = new UTF8StringBuilder();
+        baaos = new GrowableArray();
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void evaluate(IFrameTupleReference tuple, IPointable result) throws HyracksDataException {
+        try {
+            inputEval.evaluate(tuple, inputArg);
+            resultStorage.reset();
+            evaluateImpl(result);
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            throw new InvalidDataFormatException(getIdentifier(), e, ATypeTag.SERIALIZED_STRING_TYPE_TAG);
+        }
+    }
+
+    protected void evaluateImpl(IPointable result) throws IOException {
+        byte[] serString = inputArg.getByteArray();
+        int offset = inputArg.getStartOffset();
+
+        ATypeTag tt = ATypeTag.VALUE_TYPE_MAPPING[serString[offset]];
+        if (tt == ATypeTag.STRING) {
+            result.set(inputArg);
+        } else {
+            int len = inputArg.getLength();
+            baaos.reset();
+            builder.reset(baaos, len);
+            int startOffset = offset + 1;
+            switch (tt) {
+                case TINYINT: {
+                    int i = AInt8SerializerDeserializer.getByte(serString, startOffset);
+                    builder.appendString(String.valueOf(i));
+                    break;
+                }
+                case SMALLINT: {
+                    int i = AInt16SerializerDeserializer.getShort(serString, startOffset);
+                    builder.appendString(String.valueOf(i));
+                    break;
+                }
+                case INTEGER: {
+                    int i = AInt32SerializerDeserializer.getInt(serString, startOffset);
+                    builder.appendString(String.valueOf(i));
+                    break;
+                }
+                case BIGINT: {
+                    long l = AInt64SerializerDeserializer.getLong(serString, startOffset);
+                    builder.appendString(String.valueOf(l));
+                    break;
+                }
+                case DOUBLE: {
+                    double d = ADoubleSerializerDeserializer.getDouble(serString, startOffset);
+                    builder.appendString(String.valueOf(d));
+                    break;
+                }
+                case FLOAT: {
+                    float f = AFloatSerializerDeserializer.getFloat(serString, startOffset);
+                    builder.appendString(String.valueOf(f));
+                    break;
+                }
+                case BOOLEAN: {
+                    boolean b = ABooleanSerializerDeserializer.getBoolean(serString, startOffset);
+                    builder.appendString(String.valueOf(b));
+                    break;
+                }
+
+                // NotYetImplemented
+                case CIRCLE:
+                case DATE:
+                case DATETIME:
+                case LINE:
+                case TIME:
+                case DURATION:
+                case YEARMONTHDURATION:
+                case DAYTIMEDURATION:
+                case INTERVAL:
+                case ARRAY:
+                case POINT:
+                case POINT3D:
+                case RECTANGLE:
+                case POLYGON:
+                case OBJECT:
+                case MULTISET:
+                case UUID:
+                default:
+                    throw new UnsupportedTypeException(getIdentifier(), serString[offset]);
+            }
+            builder.finish();
+            out.write(ATypeTag.SERIALIZED_STRING_TYPE_TAG);
+            out.write(baaos.getByteArray(), 0, baaos.getLength());
+            result.set(resultStorage);
+        }
+    }
+
+    protected abstract FunctionIdentifier getIdentifier();
+}
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/runtime/evaluators/functions/ToBigIntDescriptor.java b/asterixdb/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/runtime/evaluators/functions/ToBigIntDescriptor.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5cf9af7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/runtime/evaluators/functions/ToBigIntDescriptor.java
@@ -0,0 +1,129 @@
+/*
+ * 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.runtime.evaluators.functions;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+
+import org.apache.asterix.dataflow.data.nontagged.serde.ABooleanSerializerDeserializer;
+import org.apache.asterix.formats.nontagged.SerializerDeserializerProvider;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.base.ANull;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.functions.BuiltinFunctions;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.functions.IFunctionDescriptor;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.functions.IFunctionDescriptorFactory;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.types.ATypeTag;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.types.BuiltinType;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.types.hierachy.ATypeHierarchy;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.types.hierachy.ITypeConvertComputer;
+import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.base.AbstractScalarFunctionDynamicDescriptor;
+import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.constructors.AbstractInt64ConstructorEvaluator;
+import org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.core.algebra.functions.FunctionIdentifier;
+import org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.runtime.base.IScalarEvaluator;
+import org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.runtime.base.IScalarEvaluatorFactory;
+import org.apache.hyracks.api.context.IHyracksTaskContext;
+import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ISerializerDeserializer;
+import org.apache.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.api.IPointable;
+
+public class ToBigIntDescriptor extends AbstractScalarFunctionDynamicDescriptor {
+    private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
+    public static final IFunctionDescriptorFactory FACTORY = new IFunctionDescriptorFactory() {
+        @Override
+        public IFunctionDescriptor createFunctionDescriptor() {
+            return new ToBigIntDescriptor();
+        }
+    };
+
+    @Override
+    public IScalarEvaluatorFactory createEvaluatorFactory(final IScalarEvaluatorFactory[] args) {
+        return new IScalarEvaluatorFactory() {
+            private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
+
+            @Override
+            public IScalarEvaluator createScalarEvaluator(final IHyracksTaskContext ctx) throws HyracksDataException {
+                return new AbstractInt64ConstructorEvaluator(args[0].createScalarEvaluator(ctx)) {
+                    @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+                    private final ISerializerDeserializer<ANull> nullSerde =
+                            SerializerDeserializerProvider.INSTANCE.getSerializerDeserializer(BuiltinType.ANULL);
+
+                    @Override
+                    protected void evaluateImpl(IPointable result) throws IOException {
+                        byte[] bytes = inputArg.getByteArray();
+                        int offset = inputArg.getStartOffset();
+                        ATypeTag tt = ATypeTag.VALUE_TYPE_MAPPING[bytes[offset]];
+                        switch (tt) {
+                            case BOOLEAN:
+                                boolean b = ABooleanSerializerDeserializer.getBoolean(bytes, offset + 1);
+                                aInt64.setValue(b ? 1 : 0);
+                                INT64_SERDE.serialize(aInt64, out);
+                                result.set(resultStorage);
+                                break;
+
+                            case TINYINT:
+                            case SMALLINT:
+                            case INTEGER:
+                                ITypeConvertComputer tpcc = ATypeHierarchy.getTypePromoteComputer(tt, ATypeTag.BIGINT);
+                                tpcc.convertType(bytes, offset + 1, inputArg.getLength() - 1, out);
+                                result.set(resultStorage);
+                                break;
+
+                            case FLOAT:
+                            case DOUBLE:
+                                ITypeConvertComputer tdcc =
+                                        ATypeHierarchy.getTypeDemoteComputer(tt, ATypeTag.BIGINT, false);
+                                tdcc.convertType(bytes, offset + 1, inputArg.getLength() - 1, out);
+                                result.set(resultStorage);
+                                break;
+
+                            case ARRAY:
+                            case MULTISET:
+                            case OBJECT:
+                                setNull(result);
+                                break;
+
+                            default:
+                                super.evaluateImpl(result);
+                                break;
+                        }
+                    }
+
+                    @Override
+                    protected void handleUnparseableString(IPointable result) throws HyracksDataException {
+                        setNull(result);
+                    }
+
+                    private void setNull(IPointable result) throws HyracksDataException {
+                        nullSerde.serialize(ANull.NULL, out);
+                        result.set(resultStorage);
+                    }
+
+                    @Override
+                    protected FunctionIdentifier getIdentifier() {
+                        return ToBigIntDescriptor.this.getIdentifier();
+                    }
+                };
+            }
+        };
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public FunctionIdentifier getIdentifier() {
+        return BuiltinFunctions.TO_BIGINT;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/runtime/evaluators/functions/ToBooleanDescriptor.java b/asterixdb/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/runtime/evaluators/functions/ToBooleanDescriptor.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ae6aca5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/runtime/evaluators/functions/ToBooleanDescriptor.java
@@ -0,0 +1,138 @@
+/*
+ * 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.runtime.evaluators.functions;
+
+import org.apache.asterix.dataflow.data.nontagged.serde.ADoubleSerializerDeserializer;
+import org.apache.asterix.dataflow.data.nontagged.serde.AFloatSerializerDeserializer;
+import org.apache.asterix.dataflow.data.nontagged.serde.AInt16SerializerDeserializer;
+import org.apache.asterix.dataflow.data.nontagged.serde.AInt32SerializerDeserializer;
+import org.apache.asterix.dataflow.data.nontagged.serde.AInt64SerializerDeserializer;
+import org.apache.asterix.dataflow.data.nontagged.serde.AInt8SerializerDeserializer;
+import org.apache.asterix.dataflow.data.nontagged.serde.AOrderedListSerializerDeserializer;
+import org.apache.asterix.dataflow.data.nontagged.serde.ARecordSerializerDeserializer;
+import org.apache.asterix.dataflow.data.nontagged.serde.AUnorderedListSerializerDeserializer;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.functions.BuiltinFunctions;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.functions.IFunctionDescriptor;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.functions.IFunctionDescriptorFactory;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.types.ATypeTag;
+import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.base.AbstractScalarFunctionDynamicDescriptor;
+import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.constructors.AbstractBooleanConstructorEvaluator;
+import org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.core.algebra.functions.FunctionIdentifier;
+import org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.runtime.base.IScalarEvaluator;
+import org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.runtime.base.IScalarEvaluatorFactory;
+import org.apache.hyracks.api.context.IHyracksTaskContext;
+import org.apache.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.api.IPointable;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.string.UTF8StringUtil;
+
+public class ToBooleanDescriptor extends AbstractScalarFunctionDynamicDescriptor {
+    private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
+
+    private static final long BITS_NAN = Double.doubleToLongBits(Double.NaN);
+
+    private static final long BITS_ZERO_POS = Double.doubleToLongBits(+0.0d);
+
+    private static final long BITS_ZERO_NEG = Double.doubleToLongBits(-0.0d);
+
+    public static final IFunctionDescriptorFactory FACTORY = new IFunctionDescriptorFactory() {
+        @Override
+        public IFunctionDescriptor createFunctionDescriptor() {
+            return new ToBooleanDescriptor();
+        }
+    };
+
+    @Override
+    public IScalarEvaluatorFactory createEvaluatorFactory(final IScalarEvaluatorFactory[] args) {
+        return new IScalarEvaluatorFactory() {
+            private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
+
+            @Override
+            public IScalarEvaluator createScalarEvaluator(final IHyracksTaskContext ctx) throws HyracksDataException {
+                return new AbstractBooleanConstructorEvaluator(args[0].createScalarEvaluator(ctx)) {
+                    @Override
+                    protected void evaluateImpl(IPointable result) throws HyracksDataException {
+                        byte[] bytes = inputArg.getByteArray();
+                        int offset = inputArg.getStartOffset();
+
+                        ATypeTag tt = ATypeTag.VALUE_TYPE_MAPPING[bytes[offset]];
+                        switch (tt) {
+                            case TINYINT:
+                                setInteger(AInt8SerializerDeserializer.getByte(bytes, offset + 1), result);
+                                break;
+                            case SMALLINT:
+                                setInteger(AInt16SerializerDeserializer.getShort(bytes, offset + 1), result);
+                                break;
+                            case INTEGER:
+                                setInteger(AInt32SerializerDeserializer.getInt(bytes, offset + 1), result);
+                                break;
+                            case BIGINT:
+                                setInteger(AInt64SerializerDeserializer.getLong(bytes, offset + 1), result);
+                                break;
+                            case FLOAT:
+                                setDouble(AFloatSerializerDeserializer.getFloat(bytes, offset + 1), result);
+                                break;
+                            case DOUBLE:
+                                setDouble(ADoubleSerializerDeserializer.getDouble(bytes, offset + 1), result);
+                                break;
+                            case STRING:
+                                setInteger(UTF8StringUtil.getStringLength(bytes, offset + 1), result);
+                                break;
+                            case ARRAY:
+                                setInteger(AOrderedListSerializerDeserializer.getNumberOfItems(bytes, offset),
+                                        result);
+                                break;
+                            case MULTISET:
+                                setInteger(AUnorderedListSerializerDeserializer.getNumberOfItems(bytes, offset),
+                                        result);
+                                break;
+                            case OBJECT:
+                                setBoolean(result, !ARecordSerializerDeserializer.hasNoFields(bytes, offset,
+                                        inputArg.getLength()));
+                                break;
+                            default:
+                                super.evaluateImpl(result);
+                                break;
+                        }
+                    }
+
+                    private void setInteger(long v, IPointable result) throws HyracksDataException {
+                        setBoolean(result, v != 0);
+                    }
+
+                    private void setDouble(double v, IPointable result) throws HyracksDataException {
+                        long bits = Double.doubleToLongBits(v);
+                        boolean zeroOrNaN = bits == BITS_ZERO_POS || bits == BITS_ZERO_NEG || bits == BITS_NAN;
+                        setBoolean(result, !zeroOrNaN);
+                    }
+
+                    @Override
+                    protected FunctionIdentifier getIdentifier() {
+                        return ToBooleanDescriptor.this.getIdentifier();
+                    }
+                };
+            }
+        };
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public FunctionIdentifier getIdentifier() {
+        return BuiltinFunctions.TO_BOOLEAN;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/runtime/evaluators/functions/ToDoubleDescriptor.java b/asterixdb/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/runtime/evaluators/functions/ToDoubleDescriptor.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a7e4d94
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/runtime/evaluators/functions/ToDoubleDescriptor.java
@@ -0,0 +1,124 @@
+/*
+ * 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.runtime.evaluators.functions;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+
+import org.apache.asterix.dataflow.data.nontagged.serde.ABooleanSerializerDeserializer;
+import org.apache.asterix.formats.nontagged.SerializerDeserializerProvider;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.base.ANull;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.functions.BuiltinFunctions;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.functions.IFunctionDescriptor;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.functions.IFunctionDescriptorFactory;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.types.ATypeTag;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.types.BuiltinType;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.types.hierachy.ATypeHierarchy;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.types.hierachy.ITypeConvertComputer;
+import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.base.AbstractScalarFunctionDynamicDescriptor;
+import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.constructors.AbstractDoubleConstructorEvaluator;
+import org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.core.algebra.functions.FunctionIdentifier;
+import org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.runtime.base.IScalarEvaluator;
+import org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.runtime.base.IScalarEvaluatorFactory;
+import org.apache.hyracks.api.context.IHyracksTaskContext;
+import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ISerializerDeserializer;
+import org.apache.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.api.IPointable;
+
+public class ToDoubleDescriptor extends AbstractScalarFunctionDynamicDescriptor {
+    private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
+    public static final IFunctionDescriptorFactory FACTORY = new IFunctionDescriptorFactory() {
+        @Override
+        public IFunctionDescriptor createFunctionDescriptor() {
+            return new ToDoubleDescriptor();
+        }
+    };
+
+    @Override
+    public IScalarEvaluatorFactory createEvaluatorFactory(final IScalarEvaluatorFactory[] args) {
+        return new IScalarEvaluatorFactory() {
+            private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
+
+            @Override
+            public IScalarEvaluator createScalarEvaluator(final IHyracksTaskContext ctx) throws HyracksDataException {
+                return new AbstractDoubleConstructorEvaluator(args[0].createScalarEvaluator(ctx)) {
+                    @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+                    private final ISerializerDeserializer<ANull> nullSerde =
+                        SerializerDeserializerProvider.INSTANCE.getSerializerDeserializer(BuiltinType.ANULL);
+
+                    @Override
+                    protected void evaluateImpl(IPointable result) throws IOException {
+                        byte[] bytes = inputArg.getByteArray();
+                        int offset = inputArg.getStartOffset();
+                        ATypeTag tt = ATypeTag.VALUE_TYPE_MAPPING[bytes[offset]];
+                        switch (tt) {
+                            case BOOLEAN:
+                                boolean b = ABooleanSerializerDeserializer.getBoolean(bytes, offset + 1);
+                                aDouble.setValue(b ? 1 : 0);
+                                DOUBLE_SERDE.serialize(aDouble, out);
+                                result.set(resultStorage);
+                                break;
+
+                            case TINYINT:
+                            case SMALLINT:
+                            case INTEGER:
+                            case BIGINT:
+                            case FLOAT:
+                                ITypeConvertComputer tcc = ATypeHierarchy.getTypePromoteComputer(tt, ATypeTag.DOUBLE);
+                                tcc.convertType(bytes, offset + 1, inputArg.getLength() - 1, out);
+                                result.set(resultStorage);
+                                break;
+
+                            case ARRAY:
+                            case MULTISET:
+                            case OBJECT:
+                                setNull(result);
+                                break;
+
+                            default:
+                                super.evaluateImpl(result);
+                                break;
+                        }
+                    }
+
+                    @Override
+                    protected void handleUparseableString(IPointable result, NumberFormatException e)
+                            throws HyracksDataException {
+                        setNull(result);
+                    }
+
+                    private void setNull(IPointable result) throws HyracksDataException {
+                        nullSerde.serialize(ANull.NULL, out);
+                        result.set(resultStorage);
+                    }
+
+                    @Override
+                    protected FunctionIdentifier getIdentifier() {
+                        return ToDoubleDescriptor.this.getIdentifier();
+                    }
+                };
+            }
+        };
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public FunctionIdentifier getIdentifier() {
+        return BuiltinFunctions.TO_DOUBLE;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/runtime/evaluators/functions/ToStringDescriptor.java b/asterixdb/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/runtime/evaluators/functions/ToStringDescriptor.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9559da4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/runtime/evaluators/functions/ToStringDescriptor.java
@@ -0,0 +1,97 @@
+/*
+ * 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.runtime.evaluators.functions;
+
+import org.apache.asterix.formats.nontagged.SerializerDeserializerProvider;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.base.ANull;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.functions.BuiltinFunctions;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.functions.IFunctionDescriptor;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.functions.IFunctionDescriptorFactory;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.types.ATypeTag;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.types.BuiltinType;
+import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.base.AbstractScalarFunctionDynamicDescriptor;
+import org.apache.asterix.runtime.evaluators.constructors.AbstractStringConstructorEvaluator;
+import org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.core.algebra.functions.FunctionIdentifier;
+import org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.runtime.base.IScalarEvaluator;
+import org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.runtime.base.IScalarEvaluatorFactory;
+import org.apache.hyracks.api.context.IHyracksTaskContext;
+import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ISerializerDeserializer;
+import org.apache.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
+import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.api.IPointable;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+
+public class ToStringDescriptor extends AbstractScalarFunctionDynamicDescriptor {
+    private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
+    public static final IFunctionDescriptorFactory FACTORY = new IFunctionDescriptorFactory() {
+        @Override
+        public IFunctionDescriptor createFunctionDescriptor() {
+            return new ToStringDescriptor();
+        }
+    };
+
+    @Override
+    public IScalarEvaluatorFactory createEvaluatorFactory(final IScalarEvaluatorFactory[] args) {
+        return new IScalarEvaluatorFactory() {
+            private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
+
+            @Override
+            public IScalarEvaluator createScalarEvaluator(final IHyracksTaskContext ctx) throws HyracksDataException {
+                return new AbstractStringConstructorEvaluator(args[0].createScalarEvaluator(ctx)) {
+                    @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+                    private final ISerializerDeserializer<ANull> nullSerde =
+                            SerializerDeserializerProvider.INSTANCE.getSerializerDeserializer(BuiltinType.ANULL);
+
+                    @Override
+                    protected void evaluateImpl(IPointable result) throws IOException {
+                        byte[] bytes = inputArg.getByteArray();
+                        int offset = inputArg.getStartOffset();
+                        ATypeTag tt = ATypeTag.VALUE_TYPE_MAPPING[bytes[offset]];
+                        switch (tt) {
+                            case ARRAY:
+                            case MULTISET:
+                            case OBJECT:
+                                setNull(result);
+                                break;
+                            default:
+                                super.evaluateImpl(result);
+                                break;
+                        }
+                    }
+
+                    private void setNull(IPointable result) throws HyracksDataException {
+                        nullSerde.serialize(ANull.NULL, out);
+                        result.set(resultStorage);
+                    }
+
+                    @Override
+                    protected FunctionIdentifier getIdentifier() {
+                        return ToStringDescriptor.this.getIdentifier();
+                    }
+                };
+            }
+        };
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public FunctionIdentifier getIdentifier() {
+        return BuiltinFunctions.TO_STRING;
+    }
+}