diff --git a/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/adapter/factory/PullBasedAzureTwitterAdapterFactory.java b/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/adapter/factory/PullBasedAzureTwitterAdapterFactory.java
index 96ad2ec..b4dbe13 100644
--- a/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/adapter/factory/PullBasedAzureTwitterAdapterFactory.java
+++ b/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/adapter/factory/PullBasedAzureTwitterAdapterFactory.java
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 import java.util.Map;
 
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.exceptions.AsterixException;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.dataset.adapter.PullBasedAzureTwitterAdapter;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.metadata.MetadataManager;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.metadata.MetadataTransactionContext;
@@ -20,10 +21,19 @@
     private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
 
     private static final String INGESTOR_LOCATIONS_KEY = "ingestor-locations";
+    private static final String PARTITIONS_KEY = "partitions";
     private static final String OUTPUT_TYPE_KEY = "output-type";
+    private static final String TABLE_NAME_KEY = "table-name";
+    private static final String ACCOUNT_NAME_KEY = "account-name";
+    private static final String ACCOUNT_KEY_KEY = "account-key";
 
     private ARecordType recordType;
     private Map<String, String> configuration;
+    private String tableName;
+    private String azureAccountName;
+    private String azureAccountKey;
+    private String[] locations;
+    private String[] partitions;
 
     @Override
     public SupportedOperation getSupportedOperations() {
@@ -52,7 +62,8 @@
 
     @Override
     public IDatasourceAdapter createAdapter(IHyracksTaskContext ctx, int partition) throws Exception {
-        return new PullBasedAzureTwitterAdapter(configuration, ctx, recordType);
+        return new PullBasedAzureTwitterAdapter(azureAccountName, azureAccountKey, tableName, partitions,
+                configuration, ctx, recordType);
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -63,6 +74,39 @@
     @Override
     public void configure(Map<String, String> configuration) throws Exception {
         this.configuration = configuration;
+
+        tableName = configuration.get(TABLE_NAME_KEY);
+        if (tableName == null) {
+            throw new AsterixException("You must specify a valid table name");
+        }
+        azureAccountName = configuration.get(ACCOUNT_NAME_KEY);
+        azureAccountKey = configuration.get(ACCOUNT_KEY_KEY);
+        if (azureAccountName == null || azureAccountKey == null) {
+            throw new AsterixException("You must specify a valid Azure account name and key");
+        }
+
+        int nIngestLocations = 1;
+        String locationsStr = configuration.get(INGESTOR_LOCATIONS_KEY);
+        if (locationsStr != null) {
+            locations = locationsStr.split(",");
+            nIngestLocations = locations.length;
+        }
+
+        int nPartitions = 1;
+        String partitionsStr = configuration.get(PARTITIONS_KEY);
+        if (partitionsStr != null) {
+            partitions = partitionsStr.split(",");
+            nPartitions = partitions.length;
+        }
+
+        if (nIngestLocations != nPartitions) {
+            throw new AsterixException("Invalid adapter configuration: number of ingestion-locations ("
+                    + nIngestLocations + ") must be the same as the number of partitions (" + nPartitions + ")");
+        }
+        configureType();
+    }
+
+    private void configureType() throws Exception {
         String fqOutputType = configuration.get(OUTPUT_TYPE_KEY);
 
         if (fqOutputType == null) {
@@ -71,9 +115,10 @@
         String[] dataverseAndType = fqOutputType.split("[.]");
         String dataverseName = dataverseAndType[0];
         String datatypeName = dataverseAndType[1];
+
         MetadataTransactionContext ctx = null;
+        MetadataManager.INSTANCE.acquireReadLatch();
         try {
-            MetadataManager.INSTANCE.acquireReadLatch();
             ctx = MetadataManager.INSTANCE.beginTransaction();
             Datatype t = MetadataManager.INSTANCE.getDatatype(ctx, dataverseName, datatypeName);
             IAType type = t.getDatatype();
diff --git a/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/dataset/adapter/PullBasedAzureFeedClient.java b/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/dataset/adapter/PullBasedAzureFeedClient.java
index 60143cd..dfaee03 100644
--- a/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/dataset/adapter/PullBasedAzureFeedClient.java
+++ b/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/dataset/adapter/PullBasedAzureFeedClient.java
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@
         if (moreTweets) {
             String json = null;
             try {
-                json = getJSONString().replaceAll("}}", "}, \"z\":null }");
+                json = getJSONString();
                 byte[] jsonBytes = json.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
                 rbaos.reset();
                 dos.write(jsonBytes, 0, jsonBytes.length);
diff --git a/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/dataset/adapter/PullBasedAzureTwitterAdapter.java b/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/dataset/adapter/PullBasedAzureTwitterAdapter.java
index a2f41b9..c739ca3 100644
--- a/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/dataset/adapter/PullBasedAzureTwitterAdapter.java
+++ b/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/dataset/adapter/PullBasedAzureTwitterAdapter.java
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 import java.net.URISyntaxException;
 import java.security.InvalidKeyException;
 import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.logging.Level;
 import java.util.logging.Logger;
 
 import com.microsoft.windowsazure.services.core.storage.CloudStorageAccount;
@@ -17,11 +18,6 @@
 
     private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
 
-    private static final String ACCOUNT_NAME_KEY = "account-name";
-    private static final String ACCOUNT_KEY_KEY = "account-key";
-    private static final String TABLE_NAME_KEY = "table-name";
-    private static final String PARTITIONS_KEY = "partitions";
-
     private final CloudStorageAccount csa;
     private final String connectionString;
     private final String azureAccountName;
@@ -33,43 +29,39 @@
     private String[] lowKeys;
     private String[] highKeys;
 
-    public PullBasedAzureTwitterAdapter(Map<String, String> configuration, IHyracksTaskContext ctx,
-            ARecordType outputType) throws AsterixException {
+    public PullBasedAzureTwitterAdapter(String accountName, String accountKey, String tableName, String[] partitions,
+            Map<String, String> configuration, IHyracksTaskContext ctx, ARecordType outputType) throws AsterixException {
         super(configuration, ctx);
         this.outputType = outputType;
-        this.tableName = configuration.get(TABLE_NAME_KEY);
-        if (tableName == null) {
-            throw new IllegalArgumentException("You must specify a valid table name");
-        }
-        String partitionsString = configuration.get(PARTITIONS_KEY);
-        if (partitionsString != null) {
+        if (partitions != null) {
             partitioned = true;
-            configurePartitions(partitionsString);
+            configurePartitions(partitions);
         } else {
             partitioned = false;
         }
-        azureAccountName = configuration.get(ACCOUNT_NAME_KEY);
-        azureAccountKey = configuration.get(ACCOUNT_KEY_KEY);
-        if (azureAccountName == null || azureAccountKey == null) {
-            throw new IllegalArgumentException("You must specify a valid Azure account name and key");
-        }
+        this.azureAccountName = accountName;
+        this.azureAccountKey = accountKey;
+        this.tableName = tableName;
+
         connectionString = "DefaultEndpointsProtocol=http;" + "AccountName=" + azureAccountName + ";AccountKey="
                 + azureAccountKey + ";";
         try {
             csa = CloudStorageAccount.parse(connectionString);
         } catch (InvalidKeyException | URISyntaxException e) {
-            throw new IllegalArgumentException("You must specify a valid Azure account name and key", e);
+            throw new AsterixException("You must specify a valid Azure account name and key", e);
         }
     }
 
-    private void configurePartitions(String partitionsString) {
-        String[] partitions = partitionsString.split(",");
+    private void configurePartitions(String[] partitions) {
         lowKeys = new String[partitions.length];
         highKeys = new String[partitions.length];
         for (int i = 0; i < partitions.length; ++i) {
             String[] loHi = partitions[i].split(":");
             lowKeys[i] = loHi[0];
             highKeys[i] = loHi[1];
+            if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.INFO)) {
+                LOGGER.info("Partition " + i + " configured for keys " + lowKeys[i] + " to " + highKeys[i]);
+            }
         }
     }