diff --git a/asterix-app/data/escapes.adm b/asterix-app/data/escapes01.adm
similarity index 100%
rename from asterix-app/data/escapes.adm
rename to asterix-app/data/escapes01.adm
diff --git a/asterix-app/data/escapes02.adm b/asterix-app/data/escapes02.adm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..23c6cdf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-app/data/escapes02.adm
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+{ "id": "s00", "val": "1\f2\n3\t4\r56\b7\"8" }
+{ "id": "s01", "val": "-\u0000-\u0001-\u000a-\u0020-\u007f-\u0080-\u009f-\u00a0-" }
+{ "id": "s02", "val": "\"\\\"" }
+{ "id": "s03", "val": "\"\\\\\"" }
+{ "id": "s04", "val": "\"\\\\\\\"" }
+{ "id": "s05", "val": "\"\\ \\ \\\"" }
+{ "id": "s06", "val": "\" \\t \\\\ \\\\t \\\" \" \" a b c d e \" \" \\t \\b \\r \\f \\n ast\" " }
+{ "id": "s07", "val": "\\" }
+{ "id": "s08", "val": "\\\\" }
+{ "id": "s09", "val": "\\\\\\" }
+{ "id": "s10", "val": "\\ \\ \\" }
+{ "id": "s11", "val": " \\t \\\\ \\\\t \\\" \" \" a b c d e \" \" \\t \\b \\r \\f \\n ast " }
+{ "id": "s12", "val": " \\t \\\\ \\\\t \\\" \" \" a b c d e \" \" \t \b \r \f \n ast " }
+{ "id": "s13", "val": "\" \\t \\\\ \\\\t \\\" \" \" a b c\\'a\\' d e \" \" \t \b \r \f \n ast \"" }
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/api/http/servlet/APIServlet.java b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/api/http/servlet/APIServlet.java
index d62cc9d..e947b10 100644
--- a/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/api/http/servlet/APIServlet.java
+++ b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/api/http/servlet/APIServlet.java
@@ -3,9 +3,9 @@
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
  * you may obtain a copy of the License from
- * 
+ *
  *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- * 
+ *
  * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
  * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
  * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@
                 }
             }
             AQLParser parser = new AQLParser(query);
-            List<Statement> aqlStatements = parser.Statement();
+            List<Statement> aqlStatements = parser.parse();
             SessionConfig sessionConfig = new SessionConfig(true, isSet(printExprParam),
                     isSet(printRewrittenExprParam), isSet(printLogicalPlanParam),
                     isSet(printOptimizedLogicalPlanParam), false, isSet(executeQuery), true, isSet(printJob));
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/api/http/servlet/RESTAPIServlet.java b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/api/http/servlet/RESTAPIServlet.java
index fd3dea2..f37d83c 100644
--- a/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/api/http/servlet/RESTAPIServlet.java
+++ b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/api/http/servlet/RESTAPIServlet.java
@@ -3,9 +3,9 @@
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
  * you may obtain a copy of the License from
- * 
+ *
  *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- * 
+ *
  * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
  * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
  * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@
             }
 
             AQLParser parser = new AQLParser(query);
-            List<Statement> aqlStatements = parser.Statement();
+            List<Statement> aqlStatements = parser.parse();
             if (!containsForbiddenStatements(aqlStatements)) {
                 SessionConfig sessionConfig = new SessionConfig(true, false, false, false, false, false, true, true,
                         false);
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/api/java/AsterixJavaClient.java b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/api/java/AsterixJavaClient.java
index da52c4d..11bcc6a 100644
--- a/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/api/java/AsterixJavaClient.java
+++ b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/api/java/AsterixJavaClient.java
@@ -3,9 +3,9 @@
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
  * you may obtain a copy of the License from
- * 
+ *
  *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- * 
+ *
  * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
  * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
  * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@
         AQLParser parser = new AQLParser(builder.toString());
         List<Statement> aqlStatements;
         try {
-            aqlStatements = parser.Statement();
+            aqlStatements = parser.parse();
         } catch (ParseException pe) {
             throw new AsterixException(pe);
         }
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/result/ResultUtils.java b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/result/ResultUtils.java
index e1b098b..5c86254 100644
--- a/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/result/ResultUtils.java
+++ b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/result/ResultUtils.java
@@ -3,9 +3,9 @@
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
  * you may obtain a copy of the License from
- * 
+ *
  *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- * 
+ *
  * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
  * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
  * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@
 import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.regex.Matcher;
+import java.util.regex.Pattern;
 
 import org.json.JSONArray;
 import org.json.JSONException;
@@ -38,15 +40,15 @@
 
 public class ResultUtils {
     static Map<Character, String> HTML_ENTITIES = new HashMap<Character, String>();
-    
+
     static {
         HTML_ENTITIES.put('"', "&quot;");
         HTML_ENTITIES.put('&', "&amp;");
         HTML_ENTITIES.put('<', "&lt;");
         HTML_ENTITIES.put('>', "&gt;");
     }
-    
-    public static String escapeHTML(String s) {        
+
+    public static String escapeHTML(String s) {
         for (Character c : HTML_ENTITIES.keySet()) {
             if (s.indexOf(c) >= 0) {
                 s = s.replace(c.toString(), HTML_ENTITIES.get(c));
@@ -114,7 +116,7 @@
                 escapeHTML(extractErrorSummary(e)), escapeHTML(extractFullStackTrace(e)));
         out.println(errorOutput);
     }
-    
+
     public static void webUIParseExceptionHandler(PrintWriter out, Throwable e, String query) {
         String errorTemplate = readTemplateFile("/webui/errortemplate_message.html", "<pre class=\"error\">%s\n</pre>");
 
@@ -142,17 +144,20 @@
         String message = e.getMessage();
         message = message.replace("<", "&lt");
         message = message.replace(">", "&gt");
-        errorMessage.append("SyntaxError:" + message + "\n");
+        errorMessage.append("SyntaxError: " + message + "\n");
         int pos = message.indexOf("line");
         if (pos > 0) {
-            int columnPos = message.indexOf(",", pos + 1 + "line".length());
-            int lineNo = Integer.parseInt(message.substring(pos + "line".length() + 1, columnPos));
-            String[] lines = query.split("\n");
-            if (lineNo >= lines.length) {
-                errorMessage.append("===> &ltBLANK LINE&gt \n");
-            } else {
-                String line = lines[lineNo - 1];
-                errorMessage.append("==> " + line);
+            Pattern p = Pattern.compile("\\d+");
+            Matcher m = p.matcher(message);
+            if (m.find(pos)) {
+                int lineNo = Integer.parseInt(message.substring(m.start(), m.end()));
+                String[] lines = query.split("\n");
+                if (lineNo > lines.length) {
+                    errorMessage.append("===> &ltBLANK LINE&gt \n");
+                } else {
+                    String line = lines[lineNo - 1];
+                    errorMessage.append("==> " + line);
+                }
             }
         }
         return errorMessage.toString();
@@ -169,7 +174,7 @@
 
     /**
      * Extract the message in the root cause of the stack trace:
-     * 
+     *
      * @param e
      * @return error message string.
      */
@@ -193,7 +198,7 @@
      * Extract the meaningful part of a stack trace:
      * a. the causes in the stack trace hierarchy
      * b. the top exception for each cause
-     * 
+     *
      * @param e
      * @return the contacted message containing a and b.
      */
@@ -211,7 +216,7 @@
 
     /**
      * Extract the full stack trace:
-     * 
+     *
      * @param e
      * @return the string containing the full stack trace of the error.
      */
@@ -225,7 +230,7 @@
     /**
      * Read the template file which is stored as a resource and return its content. If the file does not exist or is
      * not readable return the default template string.
-     * 
+     *
      * @param path
      *            The path to the resource template file
      * @param defaultTemplate
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/test/aql/AQLTestCase.java b/asterix-app/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/test/aql/AQLTestCase.java
index 2236f49..7b9c08b 100644
--- a/asterix-app/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/test/aql/AQLTestCase.java
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/test/aql/AQLTestCase.java
@@ -3,9 +3,9 @@
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
  * you may obtain a copy of the License from
- * 
+ *
  *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- * 
+ *
  * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
  * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
  * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@
         List<Statement> statements;
         GlobalConfig.ASTERIX_LOGGER.info(queryFile.toString());
         try {
-            statements = parser.Statement();
+            statements = parser.parse();
         } catch (ParseException e) {
             GlobalConfig.ASTERIX_LOGGER.warning("Failed while testing file " + fis);
             StringWriter sw = new StringWriter();
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/load/escapes/escapes.2.update.aql b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/load/escapes/escapes.2.update.aql
deleted file mode 100644
index da559fa..0000000
--- a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/load/escapes/escapes.2.update.aql
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-use dataverse TestDataverse;
-
-load dataset TestSet using localfs (("path"="nc1://data/escapes.adm"),("format"="adm"));
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/load/escapes/escapes.1.ddl.aql b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/load/escapes01/escapes01.1.ddl.aql
similarity index 100%
rename from asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/load/escapes/escapes.1.ddl.aql
rename to asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/load/escapes01/escapes01.1.ddl.aql
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/load/escapes01/escapes01.2.update.aql b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/load/escapes01/escapes01.2.update.aql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1612648
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/load/escapes01/escapes01.2.update.aql
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+use dataverse TestDataverse;
+
+load dataset TestSet using localfs (("path"="nc1://data/escapes01.adm"),("format"="adm"));
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/load/escapes/escapes.3.query.aql b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/load/escapes01/escapes01.3.query.aql
similarity index 100%
rename from asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/load/escapes/escapes.3.query.aql
rename to asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/load/escapes01/escapes01.3.query.aql
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/load/escapes/escapes.1.ddl.aql b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/load/escapes02/escapes02.1.ddl.aql
similarity index 100%
copy from asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/load/escapes/escapes.1.ddl.aql
copy to asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/load/escapes02/escapes02.1.ddl.aql
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/load/escapes02/escapes02.2.update.aql b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/load/escapes02/escapes02.2.update.aql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9d335fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/load/escapes02/escapes02.2.update.aql
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+use dataverse TestDataverse;
+
+load dataset TestSet using localfs (("path"="nc1://data/escapes02.adm"),("format"="adm"));
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/load/escapes/escapes.3.query.aql b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/load/escapes02/escapes02.3.query.aql
similarity index 100%
copy from asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/load/escapes/escapes.3.query.aql
copy to asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/load/escapes02/escapes02.3.query.aql
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/string/escapes01/escapes01.3.query.aql b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/string/escapes01/escapes01.3.query.aql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6726d39
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/string/escapes01/escapes01.3.query.aql
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+string-concat(["1\f2\n3\t4\r56\b7\"8" , '\'9'])
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/string/escapes02/escapes02.3.query.aql b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/string/escapes02/escapes02.3.query.aql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c89f5cb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/string/escapes02/escapes02.3.query.aql
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+for $s in [
+    "1\f2\n3\t4\r56\b7\"8",
+    "-\u0000-\u0001-\u000a-\u0020-\u007f-\u0080-\u009f-\u00a0-",
+    "\"\\\"",
+    "\"\\\\\"",
+    "\"\\\\\\\"",
+    "\"\\ \\ \\\"",
+    "\" \\t \\\\ \\\\t \\\" \" \" a b c d e \" \" \\t \\b \\r \\f \\n ast\" ",
+    "\\",
+    "\\\\",
+    "\\\\\\",
+    "\\ \\ \\",
+    " \\t \\\\ \\\\t \\\" \" \" a b c d e \" \" \\t \\b \\r \\f \\n ast ",
+    " \\t \\\\ \\\\t \\\" \" \" a b c d e \" \" \t \b \r \f \n ast ",
+    "\" \\t \\\\ \\\\t \\\" \" \" a b c\\'a\\' d e \" \" \t \b \r \f \n ast \""
+  ]
+return { "s": $s }
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/load/escapes/escapes.1.adm b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/load/escapes01/escapes01.1.adm
similarity index 100%
rename from asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/load/escapes/escapes.1.adm
rename to asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/load/escapes01/escapes01.1.adm
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/load/escapes02/escapes02.1.adm b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/load/escapes02/escapes02.1.adm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6be081f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/load/escapes02/escapes02.1.adm
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+{ "id": "s00", "val": "1\f2\n3\t4\r56\b7\"8" }
+{ "id": "s01", "val": "-\u0000-\u0001-\n- -\u007f-\u0080-\u009f- -" }
+{ "id": "s02", "val": "\"\\\"" }
+{ "id": "s03", "val": "\"\\\\\"" }
+{ "id": "s04", "val": "\"\\\\\\\"" }
+{ "id": "s05", "val": "\"\\ \\ \\\"" }
+{ "id": "s06", "val": "\" \\t \\\\ \\\\t \\\" \" \" a b c d e \" \" \\t \\b \\r \\f \\n ast\" " }
+{ "id": "s07", "val": "\\" }
+{ "id": "s08", "val": "\\\\" }
+{ "id": "s09", "val": "\\\\\\" }
+{ "id": "s10", "val": "\\ \\ \\" }
+{ "id": "s11", "val": " \\t \\\\ \\\\t \\\" \" \" a b c d e \" \" \\t \\b \\r \\f \\n ast " }
+{ "id": "s12", "val": " \\t \\\\ \\\\t \\\" \" \" a b c d e \" \" \t \b \r \f \n ast " }
+{ "id": "s13", "val": "\" \\t \\\\ \\\\t \\\" \" \" a b c\\'a\\' d e \" \" \t \b \r \f \n ast \"" }
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/string/escapes01/escapes01.1.adm b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/string/escapes01/escapes01.1.adm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..669e476
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/string/escapes01/escapes01.1.adm
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+"1\f2\n3\t4\r56\b7\"8'9"
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/string/escapes02/escapes02.1.adm b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/string/escapes02/escapes02.1.adm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..667dc5e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/string/escapes02/escapes02.1.adm
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+{ "s": "1\f2\n3\t4\r56\b7\"8" }
+{ "s": "-\u0000-\u0001-\n- -\u007f-\u0080-\u009f- -" }
+{ "s": "\"\\\"" }
+{ "s": "\"\\\\\"" }
+{ "s": "\"\\\\\\\"" }
+{ "s": "\"\\ \\ \\\"" }
+{ "s": "\" \\t \\\\ \\\\t \\\" \" \" a b c d e \" \" \\t \\b \\r \\f \\n ast\" " }
+{ "s": "\\" }
+{ "s": "\\\\" }
+{ "s": "\\\\\\" }
+{ "s": "\\ \\ \\" }
+{ "s": " \\t \\\\ \\\\t \\\" \" \" a b c d e \" \" \\t \\b \\r \\f \\n ast " }
+{ "s": " \\t \\\\ \\\\t \\\" \" \" a b c d e \" \" \t \b \r \f \n ast " }
+{ "s": "\" \\t \\\\ \\\\t \\\" \" \" a b c\\'a\\' d e \" \" \t \b \r \f \n ast \"" }
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/testsuite.xml b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/testsuite.xml
index d4facd7..40cc84c 100644
--- a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/testsuite.xml
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/testsuite.xml
@@ -3879,6 +3879,16 @@
       </compilation-unit>
     </test-case>
     <test-case FilePath="string">
+      <compilation-unit name="escapes01">
+        <output-dir compare="Text">escapes01</output-dir>
+      </compilation-unit>
+    </test-case>
+    <test-case FilePath="string">
+      <compilation-unit name="escapes02">
+        <output-dir compare="Text">escapes02</output-dir>
+      </compilation-unit>
+    </test-case>
+    <test-case FilePath="string">
       <compilation-unit name="length_01">
         <output-dir compare="Text">length_01</output-dir>
       </compilation-unit>
@@ -4801,8 +4811,13 @@
       </compilation-unit>
     </test-case>
     <test-case FilePath="load">
-      <compilation-unit name="escapes">
-        <output-dir compare="Text">escapes</output-dir>
+      <compilation-unit name="escapes01">
+        <output-dir compare="Text">escapes01</output-dir>
+      </compilation-unit>
+    </test-case>
+    <test-case FilePath="load">
+      <compilation-unit name="escapes02">
+        <output-dir compare="Text">escapes02</output-dir>
       </compilation-unit>
     </test-case>
     <test-case FilePath="load">
diff --git a/asterix-aql/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/aql/expression/ConnectFeedStatement.java b/asterix-aql/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/aql/expression/ConnectFeedStatement.java
index 3ffc1cc..25acff8 100644
--- a/asterix-aql/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/aql/expression/ConnectFeedStatement.java
+++ b/asterix-aql/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/aql/expression/ConnectFeedStatement.java
@@ -3,9 +3,9 @@
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
  * you may obtain a copy of the License from
- * 
+ *
  *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- * 
+ *
  * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
  * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
  * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@
 
         List<Statement> statements;
         try {
-            statements = parser.Statement();
+            statements = parser.parse();
             query = ((InsertStatement) statements.get(1)).getQuery();
         } catch (ParseException pe) {
             throw new MetadataException(pe);
diff --git a/asterix-aql/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/aql/parser/ScopeChecker.java b/asterix-aql/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/aql/parser/ScopeChecker.java
index 12c5de6..ef2112a 100644
--- a/asterix-aql/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/aql/parser/ScopeChecker.java
+++ b/asterix-aql/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/aql/parser/ScopeChecker.java
@@ -3,9 +3,9 @@
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
  * you may obtain a copy of the License from
- * 
+ *
  *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- * 
+ *
  * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
  * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
  * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@
 
     /**
      * Create a new scope, using the top scope in scopeStack as parent scope
-     * 
+     *
      * @param scopeStack
      * @return new scope
      */
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@
 
     /**
      * Extend the current scope
-     * 
+     *
      * @param scopeStack
      * @return
      */
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@
 
     /**
      * Remove current scope
-     * 
+     *
      * @return
      */
     public final Scope removeCurrentScope() {
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@
 
     /**
      * get current scope
-     * 
+     *
      * @return
      */
     public final Scope getCurrentScope() {
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@
 
     /**
      * find symbol in the scope
-     * 
+     *
      * @return identifier
      */
     public final Identifier lookupSymbol(String name) {
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@
 
     /**
      * find FunctionSignature in the scope
-     * 
+     *
      * @return functionDescriptor
      */
     public final FunctionSignature lookupFunctionSignature(String dataverse, String name, int arity) {
@@ -161,8 +161,49 @@
     public static final String removeQuotesAndEscapes(String s) {
         char q = s.charAt(0); // simple or double quote
         String stripped = s.substring(1, s.length() - 1);
-        stripped = stripped.replace("\\" + q, "" + q);
-        return stripped.replace("\\\\", "\\");
+        int pos = stripped.indexOf('\\');
+        if (pos < 0) {
+            return stripped;
+        }
+        StringBuilder res = new StringBuilder();
+        int start = 0;
+        while (pos >= 0) {
+            res.append(stripped.substring(start, pos));
+            char c = stripped.charAt(pos + 1);
+            switch (c) {
+                case '/':
+                case '\\':
+                    res.append(c);
+                    break;
+                case 'b':
+                    res.append('\b');
+                    break;
+                case 'f':
+                    res.append('\f');
+                    break;
+                case 'n':
+                    res.append('\n');
+                    break;
+                case 'r':
+                    res.append('\r');
+                    break;
+                case 't':
+                    res.append('\t');
+                    break;
+                case '\'':
+                case '"':
+                    if (c == q) {
+                        res.append(c);
+                        break;
+                    }
+                default:
+                    throw new IllegalStateException("'\\" + c + "' should have been caught by the lexer");
+            }
+            start = pos + 2;
+            pos = stripped.indexOf('\\', start);
+        }
+        res.append(stripped.substring(start));
+        return res.toString();
     }
 
     public String extractFragment(int beginLine, int beginColumn, int endLine, int endColumn) {
diff --git a/asterix-aql/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/aql/util/FunctionUtils.java b/asterix-aql/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/aql/util/FunctionUtils.java
index 18695c3..f850a8d 100644
--- a/asterix-aql/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/aql/util/FunctionUtils.java
+++ b/asterix-aql/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/aql/util/FunctionUtils.java
@@ -3,9 +3,9 @@
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
  * you may obtain a copy of the License from
- * 
+ *
  *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- * 
+ *
  * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
  * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
  * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@
 
         List<Statement> statements = null;
         try {
-            statements = parser.Statement();
+            statements = parser.parse();
         } catch (ParseException pe) {
             throw new AsterixException(pe);
         }
diff --git a/asterix-aql/src/main/javacc/AQL.jj b/asterix-aql/src/main/javacc/AQL.jj
index 6be8300..d15e14f 100644
--- a/asterix-aql/src/main/javacc/AQL.jj
+++ b/asterix-aql/src/main/javacc/AQL.jj
@@ -157,9 +157,19 @@
         File file = new File(args[0]);
         Reader fis = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(new FileInputStream(file), "UTF-8"));
         AQLParser parser = new AQLParser(fis);
-        List<Statement> st = parser.Statement();
+        List<Statement> st = parser.parse();
         //st.accept(new AQLPrintVisitor(), 0);
     }
+
+    public List<Statement> parse() throws ParseException {
+        try {
+            return Statement();
+        } catch (Error e) {
+            // this is here as the JavaCharStream that's below the lexer somtimes throws Errors that are not handled
+            // by the ANTLR-generated lexer or parser (e.g it does this for invalid backslash u + 4 hex digits escapes)
+            throw new ParseException(e.getMessage());
+        }
+    }
 }
 
 PARSER_END(AQLParser)
@@ -2350,11 +2360,36 @@
 <DEFAULT,IN_DBL_BRACE>
 TOKEN :
 {
-    <STRING_LITERAL : ("\"" (<EscapeQuot> | <EscapeBslash> | ~["\"","\\"])* "\"") 
-        | ("\'"(<EscapeApos> | <EscapeBslash> | ~["\'","\\"])* "\'")>
+    // backslash u + 4 hex digits escapes are handled in the underlying JavaCharStream
+    <STRING_LITERAL : ("\"" (
+          <EscapeQuot>
+        | <EscapeBslash>
+        | <EscapeSlash>
+        | <EscapeBspace>
+        | <EscapeFormf>
+        | <EscapeNl>
+        | <EscapeCr>
+        | <EscapeTab>
+        | ~["\"","\\"])* "\"")
+      | ("\'"(
+          <EscapeApos>
+        | <EscapeBslash>
+        | <EscapeSlash>
+        | <EscapeBspace>
+        | <EscapeFormf>
+        | <EscapeNl>
+        | <EscapeCr>
+        | <EscapeTab>
+        | ~["\'","\\"])* "\'")>
   | < #EscapeQuot: "\\\"" >
   | < #EscapeApos: "\\\'" >
   | < #EscapeBslash: "\\\\" >
+  | < #EscapeSlash: "\\/" >
+  | < #EscapeBspace: "\\b" >
+  | < #EscapeFormf: "\\f" >
+  | < #EscapeNl: "\\n" >
+  | < #EscapeCr: "\\r" >
+  | < #EscapeTab: "\\t" >
 }
 
 <DEFAULT,IN_DBL_BRACE>
diff --git a/asterix-installer/src/test/resources/integrationts/library/results/library-metadata/functionDataset/functionDataset.1.adm b/asterix-installer/src/test/resources/integrationts/library/results/library-metadata/functionDataset/functionDataset.1.adm
index 4a8369b..47503c4 100644
--- a/asterix-installer/src/test/resources/integrationts/library/results/library-metadata/functionDataset/functionDataset.1.adm
+++ b/asterix-installer/src/test/resources/integrationts/library/results/library-metadata/functionDataset/functionDataset.1.adm
@@ -1,12 +1,6 @@
-{ "DataverseName": "externallibtest", "Name": "testlib#allTypes", "Arity": "1", "Params": [ "AllType" ], "ReturnType": "AllType", "Definition": "edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.AllTypesFactory
-			", "Language": "JAVA", "Kind": "SCALAR" }
-{ "DataverseName": "externallibtest", "Name": "testlib#echoDelay", "Arity": "1", "Params": [ "TweetMessageType" ], "ReturnType": "TweetMessageType", "Definition": "edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.EchoDelayFactory
-			", "Language": "JAVA", "Kind": "SCALAR" }
-{ "DataverseName": "externallibtest", "Name": "testlib#getCapital", "Arity": "1", "Params": [ "ASTRING" ], "ReturnType": "CountryCapitalType", "Definition": "edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.CapitalFinderFactory
-			", "Language": "JAVA", "Kind": "SCALAR" }
-{ "DataverseName": "externallibtest", "Name": "testlib#mysum", "Arity": "2", "Params": [ "AINT32", "AINT32" ], "ReturnType": "AINT32", "Definition": "edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.SumFactory
-			", "Language": "JAVA", "Kind": "SCALAR" }
-{ "DataverseName": "externallibtest", "Name": "testlib#parseTweet", "Arity": "1", "Params": [ "TweetInputType" ], "ReturnType": "TweetOutputType", "Definition": "edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.ParseTweetFactory
-			", "Language": "JAVA", "Kind": "SCALAR" }
-{ "DataverseName": "externallibtest", "Name": "testlib#toUpper", "Arity": "1", "Params": [ "TextType" ], "ReturnType": "TextType", "Definition": "edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.UpperCaseFactory
-			", "Language": "JAVA", "Kind": "SCALAR" }
+{ "DataverseName": "externallibtest", "Name": "testlib#allTypes", "Arity": "1", "Params": [ "AllType" ], "ReturnType": "AllType", "Definition": "edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.AllTypesFactory\n\t\t\t", "Language": "JAVA", "Kind": "SCALAR" }
+{ "DataverseName": "externallibtest", "Name": "testlib#echoDelay", "Arity": "1", "Params": [ "TweetMessageType" ], "ReturnType": "TweetMessageType", "Definition": "edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.EchoDelayFactory\n\t\t\t", "Language": "JAVA", "Kind": "SCALAR" }
+{ "DataverseName": "externallibtest", "Name": "testlib#getCapital", "Arity": "1", "Params": [ "ASTRING" ], "ReturnType": "CountryCapitalType", "Definition": "edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.CapitalFinderFactory\n\t\t\t", "Language": "JAVA", "Kind": "SCALAR" }
+{ "DataverseName": "externallibtest", "Name": "testlib#mysum", "Arity": "2", "Params": [ "AINT32", "AINT32" ], "ReturnType": "AINT32", "Definition": "edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.SumFactory\n\t\t\t", "Language": "JAVA", "Kind": "SCALAR" }
+{ "DataverseName": "externallibtest", "Name": "testlib#parseTweet", "Arity": "1", "Params": [ "TweetInputType" ], "ReturnType": "TweetOutputType", "Definition": "edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.ParseTweetFactory\n\t\t\t", "Language": "JAVA", "Kind": "SCALAR" }
+{ "DataverseName": "externallibtest", "Name": "testlib#toUpper", "Arity": "1", "Params": [ "TextType" ], "ReturnType": "TextType", "Definition": "edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.library.UpperCaseFactory\n\t\t\t", "Language": "JAVA", "Kind": "SCALAR" }
diff --git a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/dataflow/data/nontagged/printers/AStringPrinter.java b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/dataflow/data/nontagged/printers/AStringPrinter.java
index 6f37927..105a22e 100644
--- a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/dataflow/data/nontagged/printers/AStringPrinter.java
+++ b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/dataflow/data/nontagged/printers/AStringPrinter.java
@@ -3,9 +3,9 @@
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
  * you may obtain a copy of the License from
- * 
+ *
  *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- * 
+ *
  * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
  * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
  * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@
 
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.common.exceptions.AlgebricksException;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.data.IPrinter;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.data.utils.WriteValueTools;
 
 public class AStringPrinter implements IPrinter {
 
@@ -33,7 +32,7 @@
     @Override
     public void print(byte[] b, int s, int l, PrintStream ps) throws AlgebricksException {
         try {
-            WriteValueTools.writeUTF8String(b, s + 1, l - 1, ps);
+            PrintTools.writeUTF8StringWithEscapes(b, s + 1, l - 1, ps);
         } catch (IOException e) {
             throw new AlgebricksException(e);
         }
diff --git a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/dataflow/data/nontagged/printers/PrintTools.java b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/dataflow/data/nontagged/printers/PrintTools.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d109ae9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/dataflow/data/nontagged/printers/PrintTools.java
@@ -0,0 +1,125 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2014 by The Regents of the University of California
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * you may obtain a copy of the License from
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package edu.uci.ics.asterix.dataflow.data.nontagged.printers;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.OutputStream;
+
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.data.std.primitive.UTF8StringPointable;
+
+public class PrintTools {
+    public static void writeUTF8StringWithEscapes(byte[] b, int s, int l, OutputStream os) throws IOException {
+        int stringLength = UTF8StringPointable.getUTFLength(b, s);
+        int position = s + 2; // skip 2 bytes containing string size
+        int maxPosition = position + stringLength;
+        os.write('\"');
+        while (position < maxPosition) {
+            char c = UTF8StringPointable.charAt(b, position);
+            int sz = UTF8StringPointable.charSize(b, position);
+            switch (c) {
+            // escape
+                case '\b':
+                    os.write('\\');
+                    os.write('b');
+                    position += sz;
+                    break;
+                case '\f':
+                    os.write('\\');
+                    os.write('f');
+                    position += sz;
+                    break;
+                case '\n':
+                    os.write('\\');
+                    os.write('n');
+                    position += sz;
+                    break;
+                case '\r':
+                    os.write('\\');
+                    os.write('r');
+                    position += sz;
+                    break;
+                case '\t':
+                    os.write('\\');
+                    os.write('t');
+                    position += sz;
+                    break;
+                case '\\':
+                case '"':
+                    os.write('\\');
+                default:
+                    switch (sz) {
+                        case 1:
+                            if (c <= (byte) 0x1f || c == (byte) 0x7f) {
+                                // this is to print out "control code points" (single byte UTF-8 representation,
+                                // value up to 0x1f or 0x7f) in the 'uXXXX' format
+                                writeUEscape(os, c);
+                                ++position;
+                                sz = 0; // no more processing
+                            }
+                            break;
+
+                        case 2:
+                            // 2-byte encodings of some code points in modified UTF-8 as described in
+                            // DataInput.html#modified-utf-8
+                            //
+                            //         110xxxxx  10xxxxxx
+                            // U+0000     00000    000000   C0 80
+                            // U+0080     00010    000000   C2 80
+                            // U+009F     00010    011111   C2 9F
+                            switch (b[position]) {
+                                case (byte) 0xc0:
+                                    if (b[position + 1] == (byte) 0x80) {
+                                        // special treatment for the U+0000 code point as described in
+                                        // DataInput.html#modified-utf-8
+                                        writeUEscape(os, c);
+                                        position += 2;
+                                        sz = 0; // no more processing
+                                    }
+                                    break;
+                                case (byte) 0xc2:
+                                    if (b[position + 1] <= (byte) 0x9f) {
+                                        // special treatment for the U+0080 to U+009F code points
+                                        writeUEscape(os, c);
+                                        position += 2;
+                                        sz = 0; // no more processing
+                                    }
+                                    break;
+                            }
+                            break;
+                    }
+                    while (sz > 0) {
+                        os.write(b[position]);
+                        ++position;
+                        --sz;
+                    }
+                    break;
+            }
+        }
+        os.write('\"');
+    }
+
+    private static void writeUEscape(OutputStream os, char c) throws IOException {
+        os.write('\\');
+        os.write('u');
+        os.write('0');
+        os.write('0');
+        os.write(hex((c >>> 4) & 0x0f));
+        os.write(hex(c & 0x0f));
+    }
+
+    private static byte hex(int i) {
+        return (byte) (i < 10 ? i + '0' : i + ('a' - 10));
+    }
+}
diff --git a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/dataflow/data/nontagged/printers/json/AStringPrinter.java b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/dataflow/data/nontagged/printers/json/AStringPrinter.java
index d48bf4a..2c84c82 100644
--- a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/dataflow/data/nontagged/printers/json/AStringPrinter.java
+++ b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/dataflow/data/nontagged/printers/json/AStringPrinter.java
@@ -3,9 +3,9 @@
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
  * you may obtain a copy of the License from
- * 
+ *
  *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- * 
+ *
  * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
  * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
  * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
@@ -17,9 +17,9 @@
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.PrintStream;
 
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.dataflow.data.nontagged.printers.PrintTools;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.common.exceptions.AlgebricksException;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.data.IPrinter;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.data.utils.WriteValueTools;
 
 public class AStringPrinter implements IPrinter {
 
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@
     @Override
     public void print(byte[] b, int s, int l, PrintStream ps) throws AlgebricksException {
         try {
-            WriteValueTools.writeUTF8String(b, s + 1, l - 1, ps);
+            PrintTools.writeUTF8StringWithEscapes(b, s + 1, l - 1, ps);
         } catch (IOException e) {
             throw new AlgebricksException(e);
         }
diff --git a/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/operators/file/ADMDataParser.java b/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/operators/file/ADMDataParser.java
index 1990357..1c06604 100644
--- a/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/operators/file/ADMDataParser.java
+++ b/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/operators/file/ADMDataParser.java
@@ -377,24 +377,57 @@
     private String replaceEscapes(String tokenImage) throws ParseException {
         char[] chars = tokenImage.toCharArray();
         int len = chars.length;
-        int idx = 0;
-        while (idx < len) {
-            if (chars[idx] == '\\') {
-                switch (chars[idx + 1]) {
+        int readpos = 0;
+        int writepos = 0;
+        int movemarker = 0;
+        while (readpos < len) {
+            if (chars[readpos] == '\\') {
+                moveChars(chars, movemarker, readpos, readpos - writepos);
+                switch (chars[readpos + 1]) {
                     case '\\':
                     case '\"':
-                        for (int i = idx + 1; i < len; ++i) {
-                            chars[i - 1] = chars[i];
-                        }
-                        --len;
+                    case '/':
+                        chars[writepos] = chars[readpos + 1];
+                        break;
+                    case 'b':
+                        chars[writepos] = '\b';
+                        break;
+                    case 'f':
+                        chars[writepos] = '\f';
+                        break;
+                    case 'n':
+                        chars[writepos] = '\n';
+                        break;
+                    case 'r':
+                        chars[writepos] = '\r';
+                        break;
+                    case 't':
+                        chars[writepos] = '\t';
+                        break;
+                    case 'u':
+                        chars[writepos] = (char) Integer.parseInt(new String(chars, readpos + 2, 4), 16);
+                        readpos += 4;
                         break;
                     default:
-                        throw new ParseException("Illegal escape '\\" + chars[idx + 1] + "'");
+                        throw new ParseException("Illegal escape '\\" + chars[readpos + 1] + "'");
                 }
+                ++readpos;
+                movemarker = readpos + 1;
             }
-            ++idx;
+            ++writepos;
+            ++readpos;
         }
-        return new String(chars, 0, len);
+        moveChars(chars, movemarker, len, readpos - writepos);
+        return new String(chars, 0, len - (readpos - writepos));
+    }
+
+    private static void moveChars(final char[] chars, final int start, final int end, final int offset) {
+        if (offset == 0) {
+            return;
+        }
+        for (int i = start; i < end; ++i) {
+            chars[i - offset] = chars[i];
+        }
     }
 
     private IAType getComplexType(IAType aObjectType, ATypeTag tag) {
diff --git a/asterix-tools/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/tools/datagen/AdmDataGen.java b/asterix-tools/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/tools/datagen/AdmDataGen.java
index eb85bb9..2c2f44d 100644
--- a/asterix-tools/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/tools/datagen/AdmDataGen.java
+++ b/asterix-tools/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/tools/datagen/AdmDataGen.java
@@ -3,9 +3,9 @@
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
  * you may obtain a copy of the License from
- * 
+ *
  *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- * 
+ *
  * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
  * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
  * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
@@ -942,7 +942,7 @@
             AlgebricksException {
         FileReader aql = new FileReader(schemaFile);
         AQLParser parser = new AQLParser(aql);
-        List<Statement> statements = parser.Statement();
+        List<Statement> statements = parser.parse();
         aql.close();
         // TODO: Need to fix how to use transactions here.
         MetadataTransactionContext mdTxnCtx = new MetadataTransactionContext(new JobId(-1));