diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/metadata/utils/InvertedIndexResourceFactoryProvider.java b/asterixdb/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/metadata/utils/InvertedIndexResourceFactoryProvider.java
index 8b69652..970c5a8 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/metadata/utils/InvertedIndexResourceFactoryProvider.java
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/metadata/utils/InvertedIndexResourceFactoryProvider.java
@@ -31,15 +31,18 @@
 import org.apache.asterix.common.exceptions.AsterixException;
 import org.apache.asterix.common.exceptions.CompilationException;
 import org.apache.asterix.common.exceptions.ErrorCode;
+import org.apache.asterix.formats.nontagged.NullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.asterix.metadata.api.IResourceFactoryProvider;
 import org.apache.asterix.metadata.declared.MetadataProvider;
 import org.apache.asterix.metadata.entities.Dataset;
 import org.apache.asterix.metadata.entities.Index;
 import org.apache.asterix.om.types.ARecordType;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.types.BuiltinType;
 import org.apache.asterix.om.types.IAType;
 import org.apache.asterix.om.utils.NonTaggedFormatUtil;
 import org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.common.exceptions.AlgebricksException;
 import org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.common.utils.Pair;
+import org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.data.ITypeTraitProvider;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.IBinaryComparatorFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
 import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.accessors.ShortBinaryComparatorFactory;
@@ -129,13 +132,15 @@
                 FullTextUtil.fetchFilterAndCreateConfigEvaluator(mdProvider, index.getDataverseName(),
                         indexDetails.getFullTextConfigName());
 
+        ITypeTraitProvider typeTraitProvider = mdProvider.getDataFormat().getTypeTraitProvider();
         return new LSMInvertedIndexLocalResourceFactory(storageManager, typeTraits, cmpFactories, filterTypeTraits,
                 filterCmpFactories, secondaryFilterFields, opTrackerFactory, ioOpCallbackFactory,
                 pageWriteCallbackFactory, metadataPageManagerFactory, vbcProvider, ioSchedulerProvider,
                 mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties, true, tokenTypeTraits, tokenCmpFactories, tokenizerFactory,
                 fullTextConfigEvaluatorFactory, isPartitioned, invertedIndexFields,
                 secondaryFilterFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps, invertedIndexFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps,
-                bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate);
+                bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, typeTraitProvider.getTypeTrait(BuiltinType.ANULL),
+                NullIntrospector.INSTANCE);
     }
 
     // Returns an array of the type traits of the inverted list elements
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/metadata/utils/RTreeResourceFactoryProvider.java b/asterixdb/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/metadata/utils/RTreeResourceFactoryProvider.java
index e00d7b6..22f968a 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/metadata/utils/RTreeResourceFactoryProvider.java
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/metadata/utils/RTreeResourceFactoryProvider.java
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 import org.apache.asterix.common.exceptions.CompilationException;
 import org.apache.asterix.common.exceptions.ErrorCode;
 import org.apache.asterix.external.indexing.IndexingConstants;
+import org.apache.asterix.formats.nontagged.NullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.asterix.metadata.api.IResourceFactoryProvider;
 import org.apache.asterix.metadata.declared.MetadataProvider;
 import org.apache.asterix.metadata.entities.Dataset;
@@ -35,6 +36,7 @@
 import org.apache.asterix.metadata.entities.InternalDatasetDetails;
 import org.apache.asterix.om.types.ARecordType;
 import org.apache.asterix.om.types.ATypeTag;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.types.BuiltinType;
 import org.apache.asterix.om.types.IAType;
 import org.apache.asterix.om.utils.NonTaggedFormatUtil;
 import org.apache.commons.lang3.StringUtils;
@@ -155,6 +157,7 @@
                 dataset.getDatasetType() == DatasetType.EXTERNAL ? IndexingConstants.getBuddyBtreeComparatorFactories()
                         : getComparatorFactoriesForDeletedKeyBTree(secondaryTypeTraits, primaryComparatorFactories,
                                 secondaryComparatorFactories);
+        ITypeTraitProvider typeTraitProvider = mdProvider.getDataFormat().getTypeTraitProvider();
         if (dataset.getDatasetType() == DatasetType.INTERNAL) {
             AsterixVirtualBufferCacheProvider vbcProvider =
                     new AsterixVirtualBufferCacheProvider(dataset.getDatasetId());
@@ -162,14 +165,16 @@
                     filterTypeTraits, filterCmpFactories, secondaryFilterFields, opTrackerFactory, ioOpCallbackFactory,
                     pageWriteCallbackFactory, metadataPageManagerFactory, vbcProvider, ioSchedulerProvider,
                     mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties, true, valueProviderFactories, rTreePolicyType,
-                    linearizeCmpFactory, rtreeFields, isPointMBR, btreeCompFactories);
+                    linearizeCmpFactory, rtreeFields, isPointMBR, btreeCompFactories,
+                    typeTraitProvider.getTypeTrait(BuiltinType.ANULL), NullIntrospector.INSTANCE);
         } else {
             return new ExternalRTreeLocalResourceFactory(storageManager, typeTraits, rtreeCmpFactories,
                     filterTypeTraits, filterCmpFactories, secondaryFilterFields, opTrackerFactory, ioOpCallbackFactory,
                     pageWriteCallbackFactory, metadataPageManagerFactory, ioSchedulerProvider, mergePolicyFactory,
                     mergePolicyProperties, true, btreeCompFactories, valueProviderFactories, rTreePolicyType,
                     linearizeCmpFactory, rtreeFields, new int[] { numNestedSecondaryKeyFields }, isPointMBR,
-                    mdProvider.getStorageProperties().getBloomFilterFalsePositiveRate());
+                    mdProvider.getStorageProperties().getBloomFilterFalsePositiveRate(),
+                    typeTraitProvider.getTypeTrait(BuiltinType.ANULL), NullIntrospector.INSTANCE);
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeOperatorTestHelper.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeOperatorTestHelper.java
index 3b3fc1e..1725ea3 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeOperatorTestHelper.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeOperatorTestHelper.java
@@ -54,6 +54,6 @@
                 NoOpPageWriteCallbackFactory.INSTANCE, pageManagerFactory, getVirtualBufferCacheProvider(),
                 SynchronousSchedulerProvider.INSTANCE, MERGE_POLICY_FACTORY, MERGE_POLICY_PROPERTIES, DURABLE,
                 btreeComparatorFactories, valueProviderFactories, rtreePolicyType, linearizerCmpFactory, null,
-                btreeFields, IS_POINT_MBR, DEFAULT_BLOOM_FILTER_FALSE_POSITIVE_RATE);
+                btreeFields, IS_POINT_MBR, DEFAULT_BLOOM_FILTER_FALSE_POSITIVE_RATE, null, null);
     }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesOperatorTestHelper.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesOperatorTestHelper.java
index 0bb483a..28b9e88 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesOperatorTestHelper.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesOperatorTestHelper.java
@@ -54,6 +54,6 @@
                 NoOpIOOperationCallbackFactory.INSTANCE, NoOpPageWriteCallbackFactory.INSTANCE, pageManagerFactory,
                 getVirtualBufferCacheProvider(), SynchronousSchedulerProvider.INSTANCE, MERGE_POLICY_FACTORY,
                 MERGE_POLICY_PROPERTIES, DURABLE, valueProviderFactories, rtreePolicyType, linearizerCmpFactory,
-                btreeFields, IS_POINT_MBR, btreeComparatorFactories);
+                btreeFields, IS_POINT_MBR, btreeComparatorFactories, null, null);
     }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/rtree/RTreeOperatorTestHelper.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/rtree/RTreeOperatorTestHelper.java
index 43d685e..1981c1e 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/rtree/RTreeOperatorTestHelper.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/tests/am/rtree/RTreeOperatorTestHelper.java
@@ -38,6 +38,6 @@
             int[] btreeFields, ITypeTraits[] secondaryTypeTraits,
             IBinaryComparatorFactory[] secondaryComparatorFactories, IMetadataPageManagerFactory pageManagerFactory) {
         return new RTreeResourceFactory(storageManager, secondaryTypeTraits, secondaryComparatorFactories,
-                pageManagerFactory, valueProviderFactories, rtreePolicyType);
+                pageManagerFactory, valueProviderFactories, rtreePolicyType, null, null);
     }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/tuples/TypeAwareTupleReference.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/tuples/TypeAwareTupleReference.java
index 8eff435..084c89f 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/tuples/TypeAwareTupleReference.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/tuples/TypeAwareTupleReference.java
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@
         return dataStartOff - tupleStartOff + decodedFieldSlots[fieldCount - 1];
     }
 
-    private boolean isNull(byte[] flags, int flagsOffset, int fieldIdx) {
+    protected boolean isNull(byte[] flags, int flagsOffset, int fieldIdx) {
         int adjustedFieldIdx = getAdjustedFieldIdx(fieldIdx);
         int flagByteIdx = adjustedFieldIdx / 8;
         int flagBitIdx = 7 - (adjustedFieldIdx % 8);
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/tuples/TypeAwareTupleWriter.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/tuples/TypeAwareTupleWriter.java
index 2528518..882be88 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/tuples/TypeAwareTupleWriter.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/common/tuples/TypeAwareTupleWriter.java
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@
      * @param flagsOffset start of the null flags data
      * @param fieldIdx logical field index
      */
-    private void setNullFlag(byte[] flags, int flagsOffset, int fieldIdx) {
+    protected void setNullFlag(byte[] flags, int flagsOffset, int fieldIdx) {
         int adjustedFieldIdx = getAdjustedFieldIdx(fieldIdx);
         int flagByteIdx = adjustedFieldIdx / 8;
         int flagBitIdx = 7 - (adjustedFieldIdx % 8);
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/api/IInvertedIndex.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/api/IInvertedIndex.java
index a693a99..ed44dfa 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/api/IInvertedIndex.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/api/IInvertedIndex.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.IBinaryComparatorFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.common.IIndex;
 
 public interface IInvertedIndex extends IIndex {
@@ -32,4 +33,8 @@
     ITypeTraits[] getTokenTypeTraits();
 
     IBinaryComparatorFactory[] getTokenCmpFactories();
+
+    ITypeTraits getNullTypeTraits();
+
+    INullIntrospector getNullIntrospector();
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/dataflow/LSMInvertedIndexLocalResource.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/dataflow/LSMInvertedIndexLocalResource.java
index 8550385..8a107e3 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/dataflow/LSMInvertedIndexLocalResource.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/dataflow/LSMInvertedIndexLocalResource.java
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.io.IJsonSerializable;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.io.IPersistedResourceRegistry;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IMetadataPageManagerFactory;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMIOOperationCallbackFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMIOOperationScheduler;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMIOOperationSchedulerProvider;
@@ -90,11 +91,13 @@
             ITypeTraits[] tokenTypeTraits, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] tokenCmpFactories,
             IBinaryTokenizerFactory tokenizerFactory, IFullTextConfigEvaluatorFactory fullTextConfigEvaluatorFactory,
             boolean isPartitioned, int[] invertedIndexFields, int[] filterFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps,
-            int[] invertedIndexFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps, double bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate) {
+            int[] invertedIndexFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps, double bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits,
+            INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) {
 
         super(path, storageManager, typeTraits, cmpFactories, filterTypeTraits, filterCmpFactories, filterFields,
                 opTrackerProvider, ioOpCallbackFactory, pageWriteCallbackFactory, metadataPageManagerFactory,
-                vbcProvider, ioSchedulerProvider, mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties, durable, null, null);
+                vbcProvider, ioSchedulerProvider, mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties, durable, nullTypeTraits,
+                nullIntrospector);
         this.tokenTypeTraits = tokenTypeTraits;
         this.tokenCmpFactories = tokenCmpFactories;
         this.tokenizerFactory = tokenizerFactory;
@@ -141,7 +144,7 @@
                     opTrackerProvider.getOperationTracker(serviceCtx, this), ioScheduler, ioOpCallbackFactory,
                     pageWriteCallbackFactory, invertedIndexFields, filterTypeTraits, filterCmpFactories, filterFields,
                     filterFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps, invertedIndexFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps, durable,
-                    metadataPageManagerFactory, serviceCtx.getTracer());
+                    metadataPageManagerFactory, serviceCtx.getTracer(), nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
         } else {
             return InvertedIndexUtils.createLSMInvertedIndex(ioManager, virtualBufferCaches, typeTraits, cmpFactories,
                     tokenTypeTraits, tokenCmpFactories, tokenizerFactory, fullTextConfigEvaluatorFactory, bufferCache,
@@ -149,7 +152,7 @@
                     opTrackerProvider.getOperationTracker(serviceCtx, this), ioScheduler, ioOpCallbackFactory,
                     pageWriteCallbackFactory, invertedIndexFields, filterTypeTraits, filterCmpFactories, filterFields,
                     filterFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps, invertedIndexFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps, durable,
-                    metadataPageManagerFactory, serviceCtx.getTracer());
+                    metadataPageManagerFactory, serviceCtx.getTracer(), nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/dataflow/LSMInvertedIndexLocalResourceFactory.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/dataflow/LSMInvertedIndexLocalResourceFactory.java
index 79c6123..395331f 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/dataflow/LSMInvertedIndexLocalResourceFactory.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/dataflow/LSMInvertedIndexLocalResourceFactory.java
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.io.FileReference;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IMetadataPageManagerFactory;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMIOOperationCallbackFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMIOOperationSchedulerProvider;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMMergePolicyFactory;
@@ -62,10 +63,12 @@
             ITypeTraits[] tokenTypeTraits, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] tokenCmpFactories,
             IBinaryTokenizerFactory tokenizerFactory, IFullTextConfigEvaluatorFactory fullTextConfigEvaluatorFactory,
             boolean isPartitioned, int[] invertedIndexFields, int[] filterFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps,
-            int[] invertedIndexFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps, double bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate) {
+            int[] invertedIndexFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps, double bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits,
+            INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) {
         super(storageManager, typeTraits, cmpFactories, filterTypeTraits, filterCmpFactories, filterFields,
                 opTrackerFactory, ioOpCallbackFactory, pageWriteCallbackFactory, metadataPageManagerFactory,
-                vbcProvider, ioSchedulerProvider, mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties, durable, null, null);
+                vbcProvider, ioSchedulerProvider, mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties, durable, nullTypeTraits,
+                nullIntrospector);
         this.tokenTypeTraits = tokenTypeTraits;
         this.tokenCmpFactories = tokenCmpFactories;
         // ToDo: totally replace tokenizerFactory with full-text config
@@ -85,7 +88,8 @@
                 pageWriteCallbackFactory, metadataPageManagerFactory, vbcProvider, ioSchedulerProvider,
                 mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties, durable, tokenTypeTraits, tokenCmpFactories,
                 tokenizerFactory, fullTextConfigEvaluatorFactory, isPartitioned, invertedIndexFields,
-                filterFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps, invertedIndexFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps, bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate);
+                filterFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps, invertedIndexFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps, bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate,
+                nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
     }
 
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/impls/AbstractOnDiskInvertedListCursor.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/impls/AbstractOnDiskInvertedListCursor.java
index 7ec6ce2..9886da4 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/impls/AbstractOnDiskInvertedListCursor.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/impls/AbstractOnDiskInvertedListCursor.java
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.utils.TaskUtil;
 import org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.std.buffermanager.ISimpleFrameBufferManager;
 import org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.std.buffermanager.SingleFrameBufferManager;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.invertedindex.api.IInvertedListCursor;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.invertedindex.api.IInvertedListTupleReference;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.invertedindex.util.InvertedIndexUtils;
@@ -68,6 +69,8 @@
     protected int bufferNumLoadedPages;
 
     protected final IInvertedListTupleReference tuple;
+    protected final ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits;
+    protected final INullIntrospector nullIntrospector;
     protected final ITypeTraits[] invListFields;
     protected ICachedPage page;
     // buffer manager to conform to the memory budget
@@ -79,19 +82,22 @@
     protected final IIndexCursorStats stats;
 
     protected AbstractOnDiskInvertedListCursor(IBufferCache bufferCache, int fileId, ITypeTraits[] invListFields,
-            IHyracksTaskContext ctx, IIndexCursorStats stats) throws HyracksDataException {
-        this(bufferCache, fileId, invListFields, ctx, stats, false);
+            IHyracksTaskContext ctx, IIndexCursorStats stats, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits,
+            INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) throws HyracksDataException {
+        this(bufferCache, fileId, invListFields, ctx, stats, false, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
     }
 
     protected AbstractOnDiskInvertedListCursor(IBufferCache bufferCache, int fileId, ITypeTraits[] invListFields,
-            IIndexCursorStats stats) throws HyracksDataException {
-        this(bufferCache, fileId, invListFields, null, stats, true);
+            IIndexCursorStats stats, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits, INullIntrospector nullIntrospector)
+            throws HyracksDataException {
+        this(bufferCache, fileId, invListFields, null, stats, true, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
     }
 
     // If isScan, use the SingleFrameBufferManager to minimize memory cost by allocating only one memory frame,
     // elsewhere use a regular buffer manager
     protected AbstractOnDiskInvertedListCursor(IBufferCache bufferCache, int fileId, ITypeTraits[] invListFields,
-            IHyracksTaskContext ctx, IIndexCursorStats stats, boolean isScan) throws HyracksDataException {
+            IHyracksTaskContext ctx, IIndexCursorStats stats, boolean isScan, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits,
+            INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) throws HyracksDataException {
         this.bufferCache = bufferCache;
         this.fileId = fileId;
 
@@ -104,7 +110,7 @@
         this.lastRandomSearchedElementIx = 0;
         this.moreBlocksToRead = true;
         this.invListFields = invListFields;
-        this.tuple = InvertedIndexUtils.createInvertedListTupleReference(invListFields);
+        this.tuple = InvertedIndexUtils.createInvertedListTupleReference(invListFields, nullTypeTraits);
         this.buffers = new ArrayList<ByteBuffer>();
         if (ctx == null && !isScan) {
             throw HyracksDataException.create(ErrorCode.CANNOT_CONTINUE_TEXT_SEARCH_HYRACKS_TASK_IS_NULL);
@@ -118,6 +124,8 @@
             this.bufferManagerForSearch = new SingleFrameBufferManager();
         }
         this.stats = stats;
+        this.nullTypeTraits = nullTypeTraits;
+        this.nullIntrospector = nullIntrospector;
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/impls/LSMInvertedIndex.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/impls/LSMInvertedIndex.java
index f2d5a37..a828d22 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/impls/LSMInvertedIndex.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/impls/LSMInvertedIndex.java
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.btree.impls.RangePredicate;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.btree.util.BTreeUtils;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IIndexOperationContext;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.impls.NoOpIndexAccessParameters;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.impls.NoOpOperationCallback;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.IComponentFilterHelper;
@@ -92,6 +93,8 @@
     protected final IBinaryComparatorFactory[] tokenCmpFactories;
     private final int[] filterFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps;
     private final int[] invertedIndexFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps;
+    protected final ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits;
+    protected final INullIntrospector nullIntrospector;
 
     public LSMInvertedIndex(IIOManager ioManager, List<IVirtualBufferCache> virtualBufferCaches,
             ILSMDiskComponentFactory componentFactory, IComponentFilterHelper filterHelper,
@@ -103,7 +106,8 @@
             ILSMMergePolicy mergePolicy, ILSMOperationTracker opTracker, ILSMIOOperationScheduler ioScheduler,
             ILSMIOOperationCallbackFactory ioOpCallbackFactory, ILSMPageWriteCallbackFactory pageWriteCallbackFactory,
             int[] invertedIndexFields, int[] filterFields, int[] filterFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps,
-            int[] invertedIndexFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps, boolean durable, ITracer tracer) throws HyracksDataException {
+            int[] invertedIndexFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps, boolean durable, ITracer tracer, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits,
+            INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) throws HyracksDataException {
         super(ioManager, virtualBufferCaches, diskBufferCache, fileManager, bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, mergePolicy,
                 opTracker, ioScheduler, ioOpCallbackFactory, pageWriteCallbackFactory, componentFactory,
                 componentFactory, filterFrameFactory, filterManager, filterFields, durable, filterHelper,
@@ -116,14 +120,17 @@
         this.tokenCmpFactories = tokenCmpFactories;
         this.filterFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps = filterFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps;
         this.invertedIndexFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps = invertedIndexFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps;
+        this.nullIntrospector = nullIntrospector;
+        this.nullTypeTraits = nullTypeTraits;
         int i = 0;
         for (IVirtualBufferCache virtualBufferCache : virtualBufferCaches) {
             InMemoryInvertedIndex memInvIndex =
                     createInMemoryInvertedIndex(virtualBufferCache, new VirtualFreePageManager(virtualBufferCache), i);
-            BTree deleteKeysBTree = BTreeUtils.createBTree(virtualBufferCache,
-                    new VirtualFreePageManager(virtualBufferCache), invListTypeTraits, invListCmpFactories,
-                    BTreeLeafFrameType.REGULAR_NSM,
-                    ioManager.resolveAbsolutePath(fileManager.getBaseDir() + "_virtual_del_" + i), false, null, null);
+            BTree deleteKeysBTree =
+                    BTreeUtils.createBTree(virtualBufferCache, new VirtualFreePageManager(virtualBufferCache),
+                            invListTypeTraits, invListCmpFactories, BTreeLeafFrameType.REGULAR_NSM,
+                            ioManager.resolveAbsolutePath(fileManager.getBaseDir() + "_virtual_del_" + i), false,
+                            nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
             LSMInvertedIndexMemoryComponent mutableComponent = new LSMInvertedIndexMemoryComponent(this, memInvIndex,
                     deleteKeysBTree, virtualBufferCache, filterHelper == null ? null : filterHelper.createFilter());
             memoryComponents.add(mutableComponent);
@@ -410,7 +417,8 @@
         return InvertedIndexUtils.createInMemoryBTreeInvertedindex(virtualBufferCache, virtualFreePageManager,
                 invListTypeTraits, invListCmpFactories, tokenTypeTraits, tokenCmpFactories, tokenizerFactory,
                 fullTextConfigEvaluatorFactory,
-                ioManager.resolveAbsolutePath(fileManager.getBaseDir() + "_virtual_vocab_" + id));
+                ioManager.resolveAbsolutePath(fileManager.getBaseDir() + "_virtual_vocab_" + id), nullTypeTraits,
+                nullIntrospector);
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -444,6 +452,16 @@
         return tokenCmpFactories;
     }
 
+    @Override
+    public ITypeTraits getNullTypeTraits() {
+        return nullTypeTraits;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public INullIntrospector getNullIntrospector() {
+        return nullIntrospector;
+    }
+
     public IBinaryTokenizerFactory getTokenizerFactory() {
         return tokenizerFactory;
     }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/impls/PartitionedLSMInvertedIndex.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/impls/PartitionedLSMInvertedIndex.java
index de1fc49..a801146 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/impls/PartitionedLSMInvertedIndex.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/impls/PartitionedLSMInvertedIndex.java
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.io.IIOManager;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.IComponentFilterHelper;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMComponentFilterFrameFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMDiskComponentFactory;
@@ -56,12 +57,14 @@
             ILSMMergePolicy mergePolicy, ILSMOperationTracker opTracker, ILSMIOOperationScheduler ioScheduler,
             ILSMIOOperationCallbackFactory ioOpCallbackFactory, ILSMPageWriteCallbackFactory pageWriteCallbackFactory,
             int[] invertedIndexFields, int[] filterFields, int[] filterFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps,
-            int[] invertedIndexFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps, boolean durable, ITracer tracer) throws HyracksDataException {
+            int[] invertedIndexFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps, boolean durable, ITracer tracer, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits,
+            INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) throws HyracksDataException {
         super(ioManager, virtualBufferCaches, componentFactory, filterHelper, filterFrameFactory, filterManager,
                 bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, diskBufferCache, fileManager, invListTypeTraits, invListCmpFactories,
                 tokenTypeTraits, tokenCmpFactories, tokenizerFactory, fullTextConfigEvaluatorFactory, mergePolicy,
                 opTracker, ioScheduler, ioOpCallbackFactory, pageWriteCallbackFactory, invertedIndexFields,
-                filterFields, filterFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps, invertedIndexFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps, durable, tracer);
+                filterFields, filterFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps, invertedIndexFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps, durable, tracer,
+                nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -70,7 +73,8 @@
         return InvertedIndexUtils.createPartitionedInMemoryBTreeInvertedindex(virtualBufferCache,
                 virtualFreePageManager, invListTypeTraits, invListCmpFactories, tokenTypeTraits, tokenCmpFactories,
                 tokenizerFactory, fullTextConfigEvaluatorFactory,
-                ioManager.resolveAbsolutePath(fileManager.getBaseDir() + "_virtual_vocab_" + id));
+                ioManager.resolveAbsolutePath(fileManager.getBaseDir() + "_virtual_vocab_" + id), nullTypeTraits,
+                nullIntrospector);
     }
 
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/inmemory/InMemoryInvertedIndex.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/inmemory/InMemoryInvertedIndex.java
index c2e07b3..7ee6af8 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/inmemory/InMemoryInvertedIndex.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/inmemory/InMemoryInvertedIndex.java
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.btree.impls.BTree.BTreeAccessor;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.btree.util.BTreeUtils;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IIndexOperationContext;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IPageManager;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.ophelpers.IndexOperation;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.invertedindex.api.IInPlaceInvertedIndex;
@@ -55,12 +56,15 @@
 
     protected final ITypeTraits[] btreeTypeTraits;
     protected final IBinaryComparatorFactory[] btreeCmpFactories;
+    protected final ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits;
+    protected final INullIntrospector nullIntrospector;
 
     public InMemoryInvertedIndex(IBufferCache virtualBufferCache, IPageManager virtualFreePageManager,
             ITypeTraits[] invListTypeTraits, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] invListCmpFactories,
             ITypeTraits[] tokenTypeTraits, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] tokenCmpFactories,
             IBinaryTokenizerFactory tokenizerFactory, IFullTextConfigEvaluatorFactory fullTextConfigEvaluatorFactory,
-            FileReference btreeFileRef) throws HyracksDataException {
+            FileReference btreeFileRef, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits, INullIntrospector nullIntrospector)
+            throws HyracksDataException {
         this.tokenTypeTraits = tokenTypeTraits;
         this.tokenCmpFactories = tokenCmpFactories;
         this.invListTypeTraits = invListTypeTraits;
@@ -79,8 +83,11 @@
             btreeTypeTraits[tokenTypeTraits.length + i] = invListTypeTraits[i];
             btreeCmpFactories[tokenTypeTraits.length + i] = invListCmpFactories[i];
         }
-        this.btree = BTreeUtils.createBTree(virtualBufferCache, virtualFreePageManager, btreeTypeTraits,
-                btreeCmpFactories, BTreeLeafFrameType.REGULAR_NSM, btreeFileRef, false, null, null);
+        this.btree =
+                BTreeUtils.createBTree(virtualBufferCache, virtualFreePageManager, btreeTypeTraits, btreeCmpFactories,
+                        BTreeLeafFrameType.REGULAR_NSM, btreeFileRef, false, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
+        this.nullTypeTraits = nullTypeTraits;
+        this.nullIntrospector = nullIntrospector;
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -219,6 +226,16 @@
     }
 
     @Override
+    public ITypeTraits getNullTypeTraits() {
+        return nullTypeTraits;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public INullIntrospector getNullIntrospector() {
+        return nullIntrospector;
+    }
+
+    @Override
     public int getNumOfFilterFields() {
         return 0;
     }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/inmemory/PartitionedInMemoryInvertedIndex.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/inmemory/PartitionedInMemoryInvertedIndex.java
index bd9ce60..e3bce41 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/inmemory/PartitionedInMemoryInvertedIndex.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/inmemory/PartitionedInMemoryInvertedIndex.java
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.accessors.ITupleReference;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.btree.impls.BTree.BTreeAccessor;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IIndexOperationContext;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IPageManager;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.ophelpers.IndexOperation;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.invertedindex.api.IInvertedIndexSearcher;
@@ -49,9 +50,11 @@
             ITypeTraits[] invListTypeTraits, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] invListCmpFactories,
             ITypeTraits[] tokenTypeTraits, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] tokenCmpFactories,
             IBinaryTokenizerFactory tokenizerFactory, IFullTextConfigEvaluatorFactory fullTextConfigEvaluatorFactory,
-            FileReference btreeFileRef) throws HyracksDataException {
+            FileReference btreeFileRef, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits, INullIntrospector nullIntrospector)
+            throws HyracksDataException {
         super(memBufferCache, memFreePageManager, invListTypeTraits, invListCmpFactories, tokenTypeTraits,
-                tokenCmpFactories, tokenizerFactory, fullTextConfigEvaluatorFactory, btreeFileRef);
+                tokenCmpFactories, tokenizerFactory, fullTextConfigEvaluatorFactory, btreeFileRef, nullTypeTraits,
+                nullIntrospector);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/InvertedListBuilderFactory.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/InvertedListBuilderFactory.java
index 0d00ed3..f4086cc 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/InvertedListBuilderFactory.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/InvertedListBuilderFactory.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.invertedindex.api.IInvertedListBuilder;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.invertedindex.api.IInvertedListBuilderFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.invertedindex.ondisk.fixedsize.FixedSizeElementInvertedListBuilder;
@@ -31,10 +32,15 @@
     protected final ITypeTraits[] invListFields;
     protected final ITypeTraits[] tokenTypeTraits;
     private final boolean isFixedSize;
+    private final ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits;
+    private final INullIntrospector nullIntrospector;
 
-    public InvertedListBuilderFactory(ITypeTraits[] tokenTypeTraits, ITypeTraits[] invListFields) {
+    public InvertedListBuilderFactory(ITypeTraits[] tokenTypeTraits, ITypeTraits[] invListFields,
+            ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits, INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) {
         this.tokenTypeTraits = tokenTypeTraits;
         this.invListFields = invListFields;
+        this.nullTypeTraits = nullTypeTraits;
+        this.nullIntrospector = nullIntrospector;
 
         isFixedSize = InvertedIndexUtils.checkTypeTraitsAllFixed(invListFields);
     }
@@ -44,7 +50,8 @@
         if (isFixedSize) {
             return new FixedSizeElementInvertedListBuilder(invListFields);
         } else {
-            return new VariableSizeElementInvertedListBuilder(tokenTypeTraits, invListFields);
+            return new VariableSizeElementInvertedListBuilder(tokenTypeTraits, invListFields, nullTypeTraits,
+                    nullIntrospector);
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/OnDiskInvertedIndex.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/OnDiskInvertedIndex.java
index 7a45c5d..48a173e 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/OnDiskInvertedIndex.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/OnDiskInvertedIndex.java
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.btree.impls.RangePredicate;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.btree.util.BTreeUtils;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IIndexOperationContext;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IPageManagerFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.impls.NoOpIndexAccessParameters;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.invertedindex.api.IInPlaceInvertedIndex;
@@ -103,6 +104,8 @@
     protected int rootPageId = 0;
     protected IBufferCache bufferCache;
     protected int fileId = -1;
+    protected final ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits;
+    protected final INullIntrospector nullIntrospector;
     protected final ITypeTraits[] invListTypeTraits;
     protected final IBinaryComparatorFactory[] invListCmpFactories;
     protected final ITypeTraits[] tokenTypeTraits;
@@ -119,7 +122,8 @@
     public OnDiskInvertedIndex(IBufferCache bufferCache, IInvertedListBuilder invListBuilder,
             ITypeTraits[] invListTypeTraits, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] invListCmpFactories,
             ITypeTraits[] tokenTypeTraits, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] tokenCmpFactories, FileReference btreeFile,
-            FileReference invListsFile, IPageManagerFactory pageManagerFactory) throws HyracksDataException {
+            FileReference invListsFile, IPageManagerFactory pageManagerFactory, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits,
+            INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) throws HyracksDataException {
         this.bufferCache = bufferCache;
         this.invListBuilder = invListBuilder;
         this.invListTypeTraits = invListTypeTraits;
@@ -128,7 +132,7 @@
         this.tokenCmpFactories = tokenCmpFactories;
         this.btree = BTreeUtils.createDiskBTree(bufferCache, getBTreeTypeTraits(tokenTypeTraits), tokenCmpFactories,
                 BTreeLeafFrameType.REGULAR_NSM, btreeFile, pageManagerFactory.createPageManager(bufferCache), false,
-                null, null);
+                nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
         this.numTokenFields = btree.getComparatorFactories().length;
         this.numInvListKeys = invListCmpFactories.length;
         this.invListsFile = invListsFile;
@@ -136,6 +140,8 @@
         this.invListEndPageIdField = numTokenFields + 1;
         this.invListStartOffField = numTokenFields + 2;
         this.invListNumElementsField = numTokenFields + 3;
+        this.nullTypeTraits = nullTypeTraits;
+        this.nullIntrospector = nullIntrospector;
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -197,10 +203,10 @@
     public IInvertedListCursor createInvertedListCursor(IHyracksTaskContext ctx) throws HyracksDataException {
         if (InvertedIndexUtils.checkTypeTraitsAllFixed(invListTypeTraits)) {
             return new FixedSizeElementOnDiskInvertedListCursor(bufferCache, fileId, invListTypeTraits, ctx,
-                    NoOpIndexCursorStats.INSTANCE);
+                    NoOpIndexCursorStats.INSTANCE, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
         } else {
             return new VariableSizeElementOnDiskInvertedListCursor(bufferCache, fileId, invListTypeTraits, ctx,
-                    NoOpIndexCursorStats.INSTANCE);
+                    NoOpIndexCursorStats.INSTANCE, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
         }
     }
 
@@ -210,7 +216,8 @@
         if (InvertedIndexUtils.checkTypeTraitsAllFixed(invListTypeTraits)) {
             return new FixedSizeElementInvertedListScanCursor(bufferCache, fileId, invListTypeTraits, stats);
         } else {
-            return new VariableSizeElementOnDiskInvertedListCursor(bufferCache, fileId, invListTypeTraits, stats);
+            return new VariableSizeElementOnDiskInvertedListCursor(bufferCache, fileId, invListTypeTraits, stats,
+                    nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
         }
     }
 
@@ -700,6 +707,16 @@
     }
 
     @Override
+    public ITypeTraits getNullTypeTraits() {
+        return nullTypeTraits;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public INullIntrospector getNullIntrospector() {
+        return nullIntrospector;
+    }
+
+    @Override
     public int getNumOfFilterFields() {
         return 0;
     }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/OnDiskInvertedIndexFactory.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/OnDiskInvertedIndexFactory.java
index f058e4a..780f36d 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/OnDiskInvertedIndexFactory.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/OnDiskInvertedIndexFactory.java
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.io.FileReference;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.io.IIOManager;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IPageManagerFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.impls.IndexFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.invertedindex.api.IInvertedIndex;
@@ -39,12 +40,14 @@
     protected final ITypeTraits[] tokenTypeTraits;
     protected final IBinaryComparatorFactory[] tokenCmpFactories;
     protected final IInvertedIndexFileNameMapper fileNameMapper;
+    protected final ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits;
+    protected final INullIntrospector nullIntrospector;
 
     public OnDiskInvertedIndexFactory(IIOManager ioManager, IBufferCache bufferCache,
             IInvertedListBuilderFactory invListBuilderFactory, ITypeTraits[] invListTypeTraits,
             IBinaryComparatorFactory[] invListCmpFactories, ITypeTraits[] tokenTypeTraits,
             IBinaryComparatorFactory[] tokenCmpFactories, IInvertedIndexFileNameMapper fileNameMapper,
-            IPageManagerFactory pageManagerFactory) {
+            IPageManagerFactory pageManagerFactory, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits, INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) {
         super(ioManager, bufferCache, pageManagerFactory);
         this.invListBuilderFactory = invListBuilderFactory;
         this.invListTypeTraits = invListTypeTraits;
@@ -52,6 +55,8 @@
         this.tokenTypeTraits = tokenTypeTraits;
         this.tokenCmpFactories = tokenCmpFactories;
         this.fileNameMapper = fileNameMapper;
+        this.nullTypeTraits = nullTypeTraits;
+        this.nullIntrospector = nullIntrospector;
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -60,6 +65,7 @@
         FileReference invListsFile = ioManager.resolveAbsolutePath(invListsFilePath);
         IInvertedListBuilder invListBuilder = invListBuilderFactory.create();
         return new OnDiskInvertedIndex(bufferCache, invListBuilder, invListTypeTraits, invListCmpFactories,
-                tokenTypeTraits, tokenCmpFactories, dictBTreeFile, invListsFile, freePageManagerFactory);
+                tokenTypeTraits, tokenCmpFactories, dictBTreeFile, invListsFile, freePageManagerFactory, nullTypeTraits,
+                nullIntrospector);
     }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/PartitionedOnDiskInvertedIndex.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/PartitionedOnDiskInvertedIndex.java
index fa5c365..ca4d94c 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/PartitionedOnDiskInvertedIndex.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/PartitionedOnDiskInvertedIndex.java
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.primitive.ShortPointable;
 import org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.accessors.ITupleReference;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IIndexOperationContext;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IPageManagerFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.invertedindex.api.IInvertedIndexSearcher;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.invertedindex.api.IInvertedListBuilder;
@@ -46,9 +47,10 @@
     public PartitionedOnDiskInvertedIndex(IBufferCache bufferCache, IInvertedListBuilder invListBuilder,
             ITypeTraits[] invListTypeTraits, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] invListCmpFactories,
             ITypeTraits[] tokenTypeTraits, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] tokenCmpFactories, FileReference btreeFile,
-            FileReference invListsFile, IPageManagerFactory pageManagerFactory) throws HyracksDataException {
+            FileReference invListsFile, IPageManagerFactory pageManagerFactory, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits,
+            INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) throws HyracksDataException {
         super(bufferCache, invListBuilder, invListTypeTraits, invListCmpFactories, tokenTypeTraits, tokenCmpFactories,
-                btreeFile, invListsFile, pageManagerFactory);
+                btreeFile, invListsFile, pageManagerFactory, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
     }
 
     public class PartitionedOnDiskInvertedIndexAccessor extends OnDiskInvertedIndexAccessor {
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/PartitionedOnDiskInvertedIndexFactory.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/PartitionedOnDiskInvertedIndexFactory.java
index 7f10658..f9f4012 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/PartitionedOnDiskInvertedIndexFactory.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/PartitionedOnDiskInvertedIndexFactory.java
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.io.FileReference;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.io.IIOManager;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IPageManagerFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.invertedindex.api.IInvertedIndexFileNameMapper;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.invertedindex.api.IInvertedListBuilder;
@@ -35,9 +36,9 @@
             IInvertedListBuilderFactory invListBuilderFactory, ITypeTraits[] invListTypeTraits,
             IBinaryComparatorFactory[] invListCmpFactories, ITypeTraits[] tokenTypeTraits,
             IBinaryComparatorFactory[] tokenCmpFactories, IInvertedIndexFileNameMapper fileNameMapper,
-            IPageManagerFactory pageManagerFactory) {
+            IPageManagerFactory pageManagerFactory, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits, INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) {
         super(ioManager, bufferCache, invListBuilderFactory, invListTypeTraits, invListCmpFactories, tokenTypeTraits,
-                tokenCmpFactories, fileNameMapper, pageManagerFactory);
+                tokenCmpFactories, fileNameMapper, pageManagerFactory, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -46,6 +47,7 @@
         FileReference invListsFile = ioManager.resolveAbsolutePath(invListsFilePath);
         IInvertedListBuilder invListBuilder = invListBuilderFactory.create();
         return new PartitionedOnDiskInvertedIndex(bufferCache, invListBuilder, invListTypeTraits, invListCmpFactories,
-                tokenTypeTraits, tokenCmpFactories, dictBTreeFile, invListsFile, freePageManagerFactory);
+                tokenTypeTraits, tokenCmpFactories, dictBTreeFile, invListsFile, freePageManagerFactory, nullTypeTraits,
+                nullIntrospector);
     }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/fixedsize/FixedSizeElementOnDiskInvertedListCursor.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/fixedsize/FixedSizeElementOnDiskInvertedListCursor.java
index 11c0901..ce6daa8 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/fixedsize/FixedSizeElementOnDiskInvertedListCursor.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/fixedsize/FixedSizeElementOnDiskInvertedListCursor.java
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
 import org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.accessors.ITupleReference;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.invertedindex.api.IInvertedListTupleReference;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.invertedindex.impls.AbstractOnDiskInvertedListCursor;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.invertedindex.util.InvertedIndexUtils;
@@ -49,11 +50,12 @@
     private int[] elementIndexes = new int[10];
 
     public FixedSizeElementOnDiskInvertedListCursor(IBufferCache bufferCache, int fileId, ITypeTraits[] invListFields,
-            IHyracksTaskContext ctx, IIndexCursorStats stats) throws HyracksDataException {
-        super(bufferCache, fileId, invListFields, ctx, stats);
+            IHyracksTaskContext ctx, IIndexCursorStats stats, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits,
+            INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) throws HyracksDataException {
+        super(bufferCache, fileId, invListFields, ctx, stats, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
 
         this.bufferEndElementIx = 0;
-        this.bufferEndElementTuple = InvertedIndexUtils.createInvertedListTupleReference(invListFields);
+        this.bufferEndElementTuple = InvertedIndexUtils.createInvertedListTupleReference(invListFields, nullTypeTraits);
 
         int tmpSize = 0;
         for (int i = 0; i < invListFields.length; i++) {
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/variablesize/VariableSizeElementInvertedListBuilder.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/variablesize/VariableSizeElementInvertedListBuilder.java
index 3ce26c5..c667487 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/variablesize/VariableSizeElementInvertedListBuilder.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/variablesize/VariableSizeElementInvertedListBuilder.java
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
 import org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.accessors.ITupleReference;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.ITreeIndexTupleWriter;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.tuples.TypeAwareTupleWriter;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.invertedindex.ondisk.AbstractInvertedListBuilder;
@@ -35,8 +36,8 @@
 
     // The tokenTypeTraits is necessary because the underlying TypeAwareTupleWriter requires all the type traits of the tuple
     // even if the first a few fields in the tuple are never accessed by the writer
-    public VariableSizeElementInvertedListBuilder(ITypeTraits[] tokenTypeTraits, ITypeTraits[] invListFields)
-            throws HyracksDataException {
+    public VariableSizeElementInvertedListBuilder(ITypeTraits[] tokenTypeTraits, ITypeTraits[] invListFields,
+            ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits, INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) throws HyracksDataException {
         super(invListFields);
 
         this.allFields = new ITypeTraits[invListFields.length + tokenTypeTraits.length];
@@ -46,7 +47,7 @@
         for (int i = 0; i < invListFields.length; i++) {
             allFields[i + tokenTypeTraits.length] = invListFields[i];
         }
-        this.writer = new TypeAwareTupleWriter(allFields, null, null);
+        this.writer = new TypeAwareTupleWriter(allFields, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
 
         InvertedIndexUtils.verifyHasVarSizeTypeTrait(invListFields);
     }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/variablesize/VariableSizeElementOnDiskInvertedListCursor.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/variablesize/VariableSizeElementOnDiskInvertedListCursor.java
index a5515b3..8d863b3 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/variablesize/VariableSizeElementOnDiskInvertedListCursor.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/variablesize/VariableSizeElementOnDiskInvertedListCursor.java
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
 import org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.accessors.ITupleReference;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.ITreeIndexTupleWriter;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.tuples.TypeAwareTupleWriter;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.invertedindex.api.IInvertedListTupleReference;
@@ -49,16 +50,18 @@
     private ITreeIndexTupleWriter tupleWriter;
 
     public VariableSizeElementOnDiskInvertedListCursor(IBufferCache bufferCache, int fileId,
-            ITypeTraits[] invListFields, IIndexCursorStats stats) throws HyracksDataException {
-        super(bufferCache, fileId, invListFields, stats);
+            ITypeTraits[] invListFields, IIndexCursorStats stats, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits,
+            INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) throws HyracksDataException {
+        super(bufferCache, fileId, invListFields, stats, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
         this.isInit = true;
-        this.tupleReference = new VariableSizeInvertedListTupleReference(invListFields);
-        this.tupleWriter = new TypeAwareTupleWriter(invListFields, null, null);
+        this.tupleReference = new VariableSizeInvertedListTupleReference(invListFields, nullTypeTraits);
+        this.tupleWriter = new TypeAwareTupleWriter(invListFields, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
     }
 
     public VariableSizeElementOnDiskInvertedListCursor(IBufferCache bufferCache, int fileId,
-            ITypeTraits[] invListFields, IHyracksTaskContext ctx, IIndexCursorStats stats) throws HyracksDataException {
-        super(bufferCache, fileId, invListFields, ctx, stats);
+            ITypeTraits[] invListFields, IHyracksTaskContext ctx, IIndexCursorStats stats, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits,
+            INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) throws HyracksDataException {
+        super(bufferCache, fileId, invListFields, ctx, stats, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
         isInit = true;
     }
 
@@ -69,8 +72,8 @@
         // Note that the cursors can be re-used in the upper-layer callers so we need to reset the state variables when open()
         currentElementIxForScan = 0;
         isInit = true;
-        this.tupleReference = new VariableSizeInvertedListTupleReference(invListFields);
-        this.tupleWriter = new TypeAwareTupleWriter(invListFields, null, null);
+        this.tupleReference = new VariableSizeInvertedListTupleReference(invListFields, nullTypeTraits);
+        this.tupleWriter = new TypeAwareTupleWriter(invListFields, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/variablesize/VariableSizeInvertedListSearchResultFrameTupleAccessor.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/variablesize/VariableSizeInvertedListSearchResultFrameTupleAccessor.java
index 75d0cfe..f71f347 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/variablesize/VariableSizeInvertedListSearchResultFrameTupleAccessor.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/variablesize/VariableSizeInvertedListSearchResultFrameTupleAccessor.java
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.ITreeIndexTupleWriter;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.tuples.TypeAwareTupleWriter;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.invertedindex.api.IInvertedListTupleReference;
@@ -54,12 +55,12 @@
     private IInvertedListTupleReference tupleReference;
     private ITreeIndexTupleWriter tupleWriter;
 
-    public VariableSizeInvertedListSearchResultFrameTupleAccessor(int frameSize, ITypeTraits[] fields)
-            throws HyracksDataException {
+    public VariableSizeInvertedListSearchResultFrameTupleAccessor(int frameSize, ITypeTraits[] fields,
+            ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits, INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) throws HyracksDataException {
         super(frameSize, fields);
 
-        this.tupleWriter = new TypeAwareTupleWriter(fields, null, null);
-        this.tupleReference = new VariableSizeInvertedListTupleReference(fields);
+        this.tupleWriter = new TypeAwareTupleWriter(fields, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
+        this.tupleReference = new VariableSizeInvertedListTupleReference(fields, nullTypeTraits);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/variablesize/VariableSizeInvertedListTupleReference.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/variablesize/VariableSizeInvertedListTupleReference.java
index 1e69076..997c93a 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/variablesize/VariableSizeInvertedListTupleReference.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/variablesize/VariableSizeInvertedListTupleReference.java
@@ -28,17 +28,18 @@
 
 public class VariableSizeInvertedListTupleReference extends AbstractInvertedListTupleReference {
 
-    private ITreeIndexTupleReference tupleReference;
+    private final ITreeIndexTupleReference tupleReference;
 
     @Override
     protected void verifyTypeTrait() throws HyracksDataException {
         InvertedIndexUtils.verifyHasVarSizeTypeTrait(typeTraits);
     }
 
-    public VariableSizeInvertedListTupleReference(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits) throws HyracksDataException {
+    public VariableSizeInvertedListTupleReference(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits)
+            throws HyracksDataException {
         super(typeTraits);
 
-        this.tupleReference = new TypeAwareTupleReference(typeTraits, null);
+        this.tupleReference = new TypeAwareTupleReference(typeTraits, nullTypeTraits);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/search/AbstractTOccurrenceSearcher.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/search/AbstractTOccurrenceSearcher.java
index 2fb620c..aa6f7c1 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/search/AbstractTOccurrenceSearcher.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/search/AbstractTOccurrenceSearcher.java
@@ -103,8 +103,8 @@
         if (bufferManager == null) {
             throw HyracksDataException.create(ErrorCode.CANNOT_CONTINUE_TEXT_SEARCH_BUFFER_MANAGER_IS_NULL);
         }
-        this.finalSearchResult =
-                new InvertedIndexFinalSearchResult(invIndex.getInvListTypeTraits(), ctx, bufferManager);
+        this.finalSearchResult = new InvertedIndexFinalSearchResult(invIndex.getInvListTypeTraits(), ctx, bufferManager,
+                invIndex.getNullTypeTraits(), invIndex.getNullIntrospector());
         this.invListMerger = new InvertedListMerger(ctx, invIndex, bufferManager);
         this.invListCmp = MultiComparator.create(invIndex.getInvListCmpFactories());
         this.invListCursorFactory = new InvertedListCursorFactory(invIndex, ctx);
@@ -118,9 +118,10 @@
         this.queryTokenAppender = new FrameTupleAppenderAccessor(QUERY_TOKEN_REC_DESC);
         this.queryTokenAppender.reset(queryTokenFrame, true);
         this.isSingleInvertedList = false;
-        this.searchResultTuple = InvertedIndexUtils.createInvertedListTupleReference(invIndex.getInvListTypeTraits());
+        this.searchResultTuple = InvertedIndexUtils.createInvertedListTupleReference(invIndex.getInvListTypeTraits(),
+                invIndex.getNullTypeTraits());
         this.searchResultFta = InvertedIndexUtils.createInvertedListFrameTupleAccessor(ctx.getInitialFrameSize(),
-                invIndex.getInvListTypeTraits());
+                invIndex.getInvListTypeTraits(), invIndex.getNullTypeTraits(), invIndex.getNullIntrospector());
     }
 
     protected void tokenizeQuery(InvertedIndexSearchPredicate searchPred) throws HyracksDataException {
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/search/InvertedIndexFinalSearchResult.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/search/InvertedIndexFinalSearchResult.java
index e5f4622..f07983f 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/search/InvertedIndexFinalSearchResult.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/search/InvertedIndexFinalSearchResult.java
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
 import org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.accessors.ITupleReference;
 import org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.std.buffermanager.ISimpleFrameBufferManager;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 
 /**
  * This is an in-memory based storage for final results of inverted-index searches.
@@ -34,8 +35,9 @@
 public class InvertedIndexFinalSearchResult extends InvertedIndexSearchResult {
 
     public InvertedIndexFinalSearchResult(ITypeTraits[] invListFields, IHyracksTaskContext ctx,
-            ISimpleFrameBufferManager bufferManager) throws HyracksDataException {
-        super(invListFields, ctx, bufferManager);
+            ISimpleFrameBufferManager bufferManager, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits, INullIntrospector nullIntrospector)
+            throws HyracksDataException {
+        super(invListFields, ctx, bufferManager, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/search/InvertedIndexSearchResult.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/search/InvertedIndexSearchResult.java
index 6958fd5..35d0dd8 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/search/InvertedIndexSearchResult.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/search/InvertedIndexSearchResult.java
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.io.RunFileWriter;
 import org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.std.buffermanager.BufferManagerBackedVSizeFrame;
 import org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.std.buffermanager.ISimpleFrameBufferManager;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.ITreeIndexTupleWriter;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.tuples.TypeAwareTupleWriter;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.invertedindex.api.IInvertedListSearchResultFrameTupleAppender;
@@ -84,14 +85,16 @@
     protected byte[] tempBytes;
 
     public InvertedIndexSearchResult(ITypeTraits[] invListFields, IHyracksTaskContext ctx,
-            ISimpleFrameBufferManager bufferManager) throws HyracksDataException {
+            ISimpleFrameBufferManager bufferManager, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits, INullIntrospector nullIntrospector)
+            throws HyracksDataException {
         this.invListFields = invListFields;
-        this.tupleWriter = new TypeAwareTupleWriter(invListFields, null, null);
+        this.tupleWriter = new TypeAwareTupleWriter(invListFields, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
         initTypeTraits(invListFields);
         this.ctx = ctx;
         appender = new InvertedListSearchResultFrameTupleAppender(ctx.getInitialFrameSize());
-        accessor = InvertedIndexUtils.createInvertedListFrameTupleAccessor(ctx.getInitialFrameSize(), typeTraits);
-        tuple = InvertedIndexUtils.createInvertedListTupleReference(typeTraits);
+        accessor = InvertedIndexUtils.createInvertedListFrameTupleAccessor(ctx.getInitialFrameSize(), typeTraits,
+                nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
+        tuple = InvertedIndexUtils.createInvertedListTupleReference(typeTraits, nullTypeTraits);
         this.bufferManager = bufferManager;
         this.isInReadMode = false;
         this.isWriteFinished = false;
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/search/InvertedListMerger.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/search/InvertedListMerger.java
index deea12a..8bf16fb 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/search/InvertedListMerger.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/search/InvertedListMerger.java
@@ -92,8 +92,10 @@
     public InvertedListMerger(IHyracksTaskContext ctx, IInvertedIndex invIndex, ISimpleFrameBufferManager bufferManager)
             throws HyracksDataException {
         this.invListCmp = MultiComparator.create(invIndex.getInvListCmpFactories());
-        this.prevSearchResult = new InvertedIndexSearchResult(invIndex.getInvListTypeTraits(), ctx, bufferManager);
-        this.newSearchResult = new InvertedIndexSearchResult(invIndex.getInvListTypeTraits(), ctx, bufferManager);
+        this.prevSearchResult = new InvertedIndexSearchResult(invIndex.getInvListTypeTraits(), ctx, bufferManager,
+                invIndex.getNullTypeTraits(), invIndex.getNullIntrospector());
+        this.newSearchResult = new InvertedIndexSearchResult(invIndex.getInvListTypeTraits(), ctx, bufferManager,
+                invIndex.getNullTypeTraits(), invIndex.getNullIntrospector());
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/util/InvertedIndexUtils.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/util/InvertedIndexUtils.java
index bee6be6..aefb461 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/util/InvertedIndexUtils.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/util/InvertedIndexUtils.java
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.btree.tuples.BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.btree.util.BTreeUtils;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IMetadataPageManagerFactory;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IPageManager;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IPageManagerFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.ITreeIndexFrameFactory;
@@ -84,41 +85,45 @@
             IPageManager virtualFreePageManager, ITypeTraits[] invListTypeTraits,
             IBinaryComparatorFactory[] invListCmpFactories, ITypeTraits[] tokenTypeTraits,
             IBinaryComparatorFactory[] tokenCmpFactories, IBinaryTokenizerFactory tokenizerFactory,
-            IFullTextConfigEvaluatorFactory fullTextConfigEvaluatorFactory, FileReference btreeFileRef)
-            throws HyracksDataException {
+            IFullTextConfigEvaluatorFactory fullTextConfigEvaluatorFactory, FileReference btreeFileRef,
+            ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits, INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) throws HyracksDataException {
         return new InMemoryInvertedIndex(memBufferCache, virtualFreePageManager, invListTypeTraits, invListCmpFactories,
-                tokenTypeTraits, tokenCmpFactories, tokenizerFactory, fullTextConfigEvaluatorFactory, btreeFileRef);
+                tokenTypeTraits, tokenCmpFactories, tokenizerFactory, fullTextConfigEvaluatorFactory, btreeFileRef,
+                nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
     }
 
     public static InMemoryInvertedIndex createPartitionedInMemoryBTreeInvertedindex(IBufferCache memBufferCache,
             IPageManager virtualFreePageManager, ITypeTraits[] invListTypeTraits,
             IBinaryComparatorFactory[] invListCmpFactories, ITypeTraits[] tokenTypeTraits,
             IBinaryComparatorFactory[] tokenCmpFactories, IBinaryTokenizerFactory tokenizerFactory,
-            IFullTextConfigEvaluatorFactory fullTextConfigEvaluatorFactory, FileReference btreeFileRef)
-            throws HyracksDataException {
+            IFullTextConfigEvaluatorFactory fullTextConfigEvaluatorFactory, FileReference btreeFileRef,
+            ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits, INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) throws HyracksDataException {
         return new PartitionedInMemoryInvertedIndex(memBufferCache, virtualFreePageManager, invListTypeTraits,
                 invListCmpFactories, tokenTypeTraits, tokenCmpFactories, tokenizerFactory,
-                fullTextConfigEvaluatorFactory, btreeFileRef);
+                fullTextConfigEvaluatorFactory, btreeFileRef, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
     }
 
     public static OnDiskInvertedIndex createOnDiskInvertedIndex(IIOManager ioManager, IBufferCache bufferCache,
             ITypeTraits[] invListTypeTraits, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] invListCmpFactories,
             ITypeTraits[] tokenTypeTraits, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] tokenCmpFactories, FileReference invListsFile,
-            IPageManagerFactory pageManagerFactory) throws HyracksDataException {
+            IPageManagerFactory pageManagerFactory, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits, INullIntrospector nullIntrospector)
+            throws HyracksDataException {
         IInvertedListBuilder builder = new FixedSizeElementInvertedListBuilder(invListTypeTraits);
         FileReference btreeFile = getBTreeFile(ioManager, invListsFile);
         return new OnDiskInvertedIndex(bufferCache, builder, invListTypeTraits, invListCmpFactories, tokenTypeTraits,
-                tokenCmpFactories, btreeFile, invListsFile, pageManagerFactory);
+                tokenCmpFactories, btreeFile, invListsFile, pageManagerFactory, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
     }
 
     public static PartitionedOnDiskInvertedIndex createPartitionedOnDiskInvertedIndex(IIOManager ioManager,
             IBufferCache bufferCache, ITypeTraits[] invListTypeTraits, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] invListCmpFactories,
             ITypeTraits[] tokenTypeTraits, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] tokenCmpFactories, FileReference invListsFile,
-            IPageManagerFactory pageManagerFactory) throws HyracksDataException {
+            IPageManagerFactory pageManagerFactory, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits, INullIntrospector nullIntrospector)
+            throws HyracksDataException {
         IInvertedListBuilder builder = new FixedSizeElementInvertedListBuilder(invListTypeTraits);
         FileReference btreeFile = getBTreeFile(ioManager, invListsFile);
         return new PartitionedOnDiskInvertedIndex(bufferCache, builder, invListTypeTraits, invListCmpFactories,
-                tokenTypeTraits, tokenCmpFactories, btreeFile, invListsFile, pageManagerFactory);
+                tokenTypeTraits, tokenCmpFactories, btreeFile, invListsFile, pageManagerFactory, nullTypeTraits,
+                nullIntrospector);
     }
 
     public static FileReference getBTreeFile(IIOManager ioManager, FileReference invListsFile)
@@ -128,9 +133,10 @@
 
     public static BTreeFactory createDeletedKeysBTreeFactory(IIOManager ioManager, ITypeTraits[] invListTypeTraits,
             IBinaryComparatorFactory[] invListCmpFactories, IBufferCache diskBufferCache,
-            IPageManagerFactory freePageManagerFactory) throws HyracksDataException {
+            IPageManagerFactory freePageManagerFactory, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits, INullIntrospector nullIntrospector)
+            throws HyracksDataException {
         BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory tupleWriterFactory =
-                new BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(invListTypeTraits, false, null, null);
+                new BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(invListTypeTraits, false, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
         ITreeIndexFrameFactory leafFrameFactory =
                 BTreeUtils.getLeafFrameFactory(tupleWriterFactory, BTreeLeafFrameType.REGULAR_NSM);
         ITreeIndexFrameFactory interiorFrameFactory = new BTreeNSMInteriorFrameFactory(tupleWriterFactory);
@@ -148,11 +154,11 @@
             ILSMIOOperationCallbackFactory ioOpCallbackFactory, ILSMPageWriteCallbackFactory pageWriteCallbackFactory,
             int[] invertedIndexFields, ITypeTraits[] filterTypeTraits, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] filterCmpFactories,
             int[] filterFields, int[] filterFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps, int[] invertedIndexFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps,
-            boolean durable, IMetadataPageManagerFactory pageManagerFactory, ITracer tracer)
-            throws HyracksDataException {
+            boolean durable, IMetadataPageManagerFactory pageManagerFactory, ITracer tracer, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits,
+            INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) throws HyracksDataException {
 
         BTreeFactory deletedKeysBTreeFactory = createDeletedKeysBTreeFactory(ioManager, invListTypeTraits,
-                invListCmpFactories, diskBufferCache, pageManagerFactory);
+                invListCmpFactories, diskBufferCache, pageManagerFactory, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
 
         int[] bloomFilterKeyFields = new int[invListCmpFactories.length];
         for (int i = 0; i < invListCmpFactories.length; i++) {
@@ -165,17 +171,17 @@
                 new LSMInvertedIndexFileManager(ioManager, onDiskDirFileRef, deletedKeysBTreeFactory);
 
         IInvertedListBuilderFactory invListBuilderFactory =
-                new InvertedListBuilderFactory(tokenTypeTraits, invListTypeTraits);
-        OnDiskInvertedIndexFactory invIndexFactory =
-                new OnDiskInvertedIndexFactory(ioManager, diskBufferCache, invListBuilderFactory, invListTypeTraits,
-                        invListCmpFactories, tokenTypeTraits, tokenCmpFactories, fileManager, pageManagerFactory);
+                new InvertedListBuilderFactory(tokenTypeTraits, invListTypeTraits, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
+        OnDiskInvertedIndexFactory invIndexFactory = new OnDiskInvertedIndexFactory(ioManager, diskBufferCache,
+                invListBuilderFactory, invListTypeTraits, invListCmpFactories, tokenTypeTraits, tokenCmpFactories,
+                fileManager, pageManagerFactory, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
 
         ComponentFilterHelper filterHelper = null;
         LSMComponentFilterFrameFactory filterFrameFactory = null;
         LSMComponentFilterManager filterManager = null;
         if (filterCmpFactories != null) {
             TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory filterTupleWriterFactory =
-                    new TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(filterTypeTraits, null, null);
+                    new TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(filterTypeTraits, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
             filterHelper = new ComponentFilterHelper(filterTupleWriterFactory, filterCmpFactories);
             filterFrameFactory = new LSMComponentFilterFrameFactory(filterTupleWriterFactory);
             filterManager = new LSMComponentFilterManager(filterFrameFactory);
@@ -188,7 +194,7 @@
                 invListCmpFactories, tokenTypeTraits, tokenCmpFactories, tokenizerFactory,
                 fullTextConfigEvaluatorFactory, mergePolicy, opTracker, ioScheduler, ioOpCallbackFactory,
                 pageWriteCallbackFactory, invertedIndexFields, filterFields, filterFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps,
-                invertedIndexFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps, durable, tracer);
+                invertedIndexFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps, durable, tracer, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
     }
 
     public static PartitionedLSMInvertedIndex createPartitionedLSMInvertedIndex(IIOManager ioManager,
@@ -201,10 +207,11 @@
             ILSMIOOperationCallbackFactory ioOpCallbackFactory, ILSMPageWriteCallbackFactory pageWriteCallbackFactory,
             int[] invertedIndexFields, ITypeTraits[] filterTypeTraits, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] filterCmpFactories,
             int[] filterFields, int[] filterFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps, int[] invertedIndexFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps,
-            boolean durable, IPageManagerFactory pageManagerFactory, ITracer tracer) throws HyracksDataException {
+            boolean durable, IPageManagerFactory pageManagerFactory, ITracer tracer, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits,
+            INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) throws HyracksDataException {
 
         BTreeFactory deletedKeysBTreeFactory = createDeletedKeysBTreeFactory(ioManager, invListTypeTraits,
-                invListCmpFactories, diskBufferCache, pageManagerFactory);
+                invListCmpFactories, diskBufferCache, pageManagerFactory, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
 
         int[] bloomFilterKeyFields = new int[invListCmpFactories.length];
         for (int i = 0; i < invListCmpFactories.length; i++) {
@@ -217,17 +224,17 @@
                 new LSMInvertedIndexFileManager(ioManager, onDiskDirFileRef, deletedKeysBTreeFactory);
 
         IInvertedListBuilderFactory invListBuilderFactory =
-                new InvertedListBuilderFactory(tokenTypeTraits, invListTypeTraits);
+                new InvertedListBuilderFactory(tokenTypeTraits, invListTypeTraits, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
         PartitionedOnDiskInvertedIndexFactory invIndexFactory = new PartitionedOnDiskInvertedIndexFactory(ioManager,
                 diskBufferCache, invListBuilderFactory, invListTypeTraits, invListCmpFactories, tokenTypeTraits,
-                tokenCmpFactories, fileManager, pageManagerFactory);
+                tokenCmpFactories, fileManager, pageManagerFactory, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
 
         ComponentFilterHelper filterHelper = null;
         LSMComponentFilterFrameFactory filterFrameFactory = null;
         LSMComponentFilterManager filterManager = null;
         if (filterCmpFactories != null) {
             TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory filterTupleWriterFactory =
-                    new TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(filterTypeTraits, null, null);
+                    new TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(filterTypeTraits, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
             filterHelper = new ComponentFilterHelper(filterTupleWriterFactory, filterCmpFactories);
             filterFrameFactory = new LSMComponentFilterFrameFactory(filterTupleWriterFactory);
             filterManager = new LSMComponentFilterManager(filterFrameFactory);
@@ -240,7 +247,7 @@
                 invListTypeTraits, invListCmpFactories, tokenTypeTraits, tokenCmpFactories, tokenizerFactory,
                 fullTextConfigEvaluatorFactory, mergePolicy, opTracker, ioScheduler, ioOpCallbackFactory,
                 pageWriteCallbackFactory, invertedIndexFields, filterFields, filterFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps,
-                invertedIndexFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps, durable, tracer);
+                invertedIndexFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps, durable, tracer, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
     }
 
     public static boolean checkTypeTraitsAllFixed(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits) {
@@ -266,21 +273,22 @@
         }
     }
 
-    public static IInvertedListTupleReference createInvertedListTupleReference(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits)
-            throws HyracksDataException {
+    public static IInvertedListTupleReference createInvertedListTupleReference(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits,
+            ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits) throws HyracksDataException {
         if (checkTypeTraitsAllFixed(typeTraits)) {
             return new FixedSizeInvertedListTupleReference(typeTraits);
         } else {
-            return new VariableSizeInvertedListTupleReference(typeTraits);
+            return new VariableSizeInvertedListTupleReference(typeTraits, nullTypeTraits);
         }
     }
 
-    public static IFrameTupleAccessor createInvertedListFrameTupleAccessor(int frameSize, ITypeTraits[] typeTraits)
-            throws HyracksDataException {
+    public static IFrameTupleAccessor createInvertedListFrameTupleAccessor(int frameSize, ITypeTraits[] typeTraits,
+            ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits, INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) throws HyracksDataException {
         if (checkTypeTraitsAllFixed(typeTraits)) {
             return new FixedSizeInvertedListSearchResultFrameTupleAccessor(frameSize, typeTraits);
         } else {
-            return new VariableSizeInvertedListSearchResultFrameTupleAccessor(frameSize, typeTraits);
+            return new VariableSizeInvertedListSearchResultFrameTupleAccessor(frameSize, typeTraits, nullTypeTraits,
+                    nullIntrospector);
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/ExternalRTreeLocalResource.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/ExternalRTreeLocalResource.java
index 9404d91..e6d50d0 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/ExternalRTreeLocalResource.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/ExternalRTreeLocalResource.java
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.io.IJsonSerializable;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.io.IPersistedResourceRegistry;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IMetadataPageManagerFactory;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMIOOperationCallbackFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMIOOperationSchedulerProvider;
@@ -61,12 +62,13 @@
             Map<String, String> mergePolicyProperties, boolean durable, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] btreeCmpFactories,
             IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory[] valueProviderFactories, RTreePolicyType rtreePolicyType,
             ILinearizeComparatorFactory linearizeCmpFactory, int[] rtreeFields, int[] buddyBTreeFields,
-            boolean isPointMBR, double bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate) {
+            boolean isPointMBR, double bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits,
+            INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) {
         super(path, storageManager, typeTraits, rtreeCmpFactories, filterTypeTraits, filterCmpFactories, filterFields,
                 opTrackerProvider, ioOpCallbackFactory, pageWriteCallbackFactory, metadataPageManagerFactory, null,
                 ioSchedulerProvider, mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties, durable, btreeCmpFactories,
                 valueProviderFactories, rtreePolicyType, linearizeCmpFactory, rtreeFields, buddyBTreeFields, isPointMBR,
-                bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate);
+                bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
     }
 
     private ExternalRTreeLocalResource(IPersistedResourceRegistry registry, JsonNode json,
@@ -90,7 +92,7 @@
                 opTrackerProvider.getOperationTracker(ncServiceCtx, this),
                 ioSchedulerProvider.getIoScheduler(ncServiceCtx), ioOpCallbackFactory, pageWriteCallbackFactory,
                 linearizeCmpFactory, buddyBTreeFields, durable, isPointMBR, metadataPageManagerFactory,
-                ncServiceCtx.getTracer());
+                ncServiceCtx.getTracer(), nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
 
     }
 
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/ExternalRTreeLocalResourceFactory.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/ExternalRTreeLocalResourceFactory.java
index 1f4971d..ca8caec 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/ExternalRTreeLocalResourceFactory.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/ExternalRTreeLocalResourceFactory.java
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.io.FileReference;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IMetadataPageManagerFactory;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMIOOperationCallbackFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMIOOperationSchedulerProvider;
@@ -49,12 +50,13 @@
             Map<String, String> mergePolicyProperties, boolean durable, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] btreeCmpFactories,
             IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory[] valueProviderFactories, RTreePolicyType rtreePolicyType,
             ILinearizeComparatorFactory linearizeCmpFactory, int[] rtreeFields, int[] buddyBTreeFields,
-            boolean isPointMBR, double bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate) {
+            boolean isPointMBR, double bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits,
+            INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) {
         super(storageManager, typeTraits, cmpFactories, filterTypeTraits, filterCmpFactories, filterFields,
                 opTrackerFactory, ioOpCallbackFactory, pageWriteCallbackFactory, metadataPageManagerFactory, null,
                 ioSchedulerProvider, mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties, durable, btreeCmpFactories,
                 valueProviderFactories, rtreePolicyType, linearizeCmpFactory, rtreeFields, buddyBTreeFields, isPointMBR,
-                bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate);
+                bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -63,7 +65,8 @@
                 filterTypeTraits, filterCmpFactories, filterFields, opTrackerProvider, ioOpCallbackFactory,
                 pageWriteCallbackFactory, metadataPageManagerFactory, ioSchedulerProvider, mergePolicyFactory,
                 mergePolicyProperties, durable, btreeCmpFactories, valueProviderFactories, rtreePolicyType,
-                linearizeCmpFactory, rtreeFields, buddyBTreeFields, isPointMBR, bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate);
+                linearizeCmpFactory, rtreeFields, buddyBTreeFields, isPointMBR, bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate,
+                nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
     }
 
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/LSMRTreeLocalResource.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/LSMRTreeLocalResource.java
index c7a59f4..dd21f7c 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/LSMRTreeLocalResource.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/LSMRTreeLocalResource.java
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.io.IJsonSerializable;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.io.IPersistedResourceRegistry;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IMetadataPageManagerFactory;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMIOOperationCallbackFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMIOOperationSchedulerProvider;
@@ -73,10 +74,12 @@
             Map<String, String> mergePolicyProperties, boolean durable, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] btreeCmpFactories,
             IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory[] valueProviderFactories, RTreePolicyType rtreePolicyType,
             ILinearizeComparatorFactory linearizeCmpFactory, int[] rtreeFields, int[] buddyBTreeFields,
-            boolean isPointMBR, double bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate) {
+            boolean isPointMBR, double bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits,
+            INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) {
         super(path, storageManager, typeTraits, rtreeCmpFactories, filterTypeTraits, filterCmpFactories, filterFields,
                 opTrackerProvider, ioOpCallbackFactory, pageWriteCallbackFactory, metadataPageManagerFactory,
-                vbcProvider, ioSchedulerProvider, mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties, durable, null, null);
+                vbcProvider, ioSchedulerProvider, mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties, durable, nullTypeTraits,
+                nullIntrospector);
         this.btreeCmpFactories = btreeCmpFactories;
         this.valueProviderFactories = valueProviderFactories;
         this.rtreePolicyType = rtreePolicyType;
@@ -117,7 +120,7 @@
                 opTrackerProvider.getOperationTracker(ncServiceCtx, this),
                 ioSchedulerProvider.getIoScheduler(ncServiceCtx), ioOpCallbackFactory, pageWriteCallbackFactory,
                 linearizeCmpFactory, rtreeFields, buddyBTreeFields, filterTypeTraits, filterCmpFactories, filterFields,
-                durable, isPointMBR, metadataPageManagerFactory);
+                durable, isPointMBR, metadataPageManagerFactory, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/LSMRTreeLocalResourceFactory.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/LSMRTreeLocalResourceFactory.java
index 31f78d8..873a023 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/LSMRTreeLocalResourceFactory.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/LSMRTreeLocalResourceFactory.java
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.io.FileReference;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IMetadataPageManagerFactory;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMIOOperationCallbackFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMIOOperationSchedulerProvider;
@@ -60,10 +61,12 @@
             Map<String, String> mergePolicyProperties, boolean durable, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] btreeCmpFactories,
             IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory[] valueProviderFactories, RTreePolicyType rtreePolicyType,
             ILinearizeComparatorFactory linearizeCmpFactory, int[] rtreeFields, int[] buddyBTreeFields,
-            boolean isPointMBR, double bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate) {
+            boolean isPointMBR, double bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits,
+            INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) {
         super(storageManager, typeTraits, cmpFactories, filterTypeTraits, filterCmpFactories, filterFields,
                 opTrackerProvider, ioOpCallbackFactory, pageWriteCallbackFactory, metadataPageManagerFactory,
-                vbcProvider, ioSchedulerProvider, mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties, durable, null, null);
+                vbcProvider, ioSchedulerProvider, mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties, durable, nullTypeTraits,
+                nullIntrospector);
         this.btreeCmpFactories = btreeCmpFactories;
         this.valueProviderFactories = valueProviderFactories;
         this.rtreePolicyType = rtreePolicyType;
@@ -81,6 +84,6 @@
                 pageWriteCallbackFactory, metadataPageManagerFactory, vbcProvider, ioSchedulerProvider,
                 mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties, durable, btreeCmpFactories, valueProviderFactories,
                 rtreePolicyType, linearizeCmpFactory, rtreeFields, buddyBTreeFields, isPointMBR,
-                bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate);
+                bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
     }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterLocalResource.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterLocalResource.java
index a0d0220..33b9da6 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterLocalResource.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterLocalResource.java
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.io.IJsonSerializable;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.io.IPersistedResourceRegistry;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IMetadataPageManagerFactory;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMIOOperationCallbackFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMIOOperationSchedulerProvider;
@@ -70,10 +71,12 @@
             ILSMIOOperationSchedulerProvider ioSchedulerProvider, ILSMMergePolicyFactory mergePolicyFactory,
             Map<String, String> mergePolicyProperties, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] btreeCmpFactories,
             IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory[] valueProviderFactories, RTreePolicyType rtreePolicyType,
-            ILinearizeComparatorFactory linearizeCmpFactory, int[] rtreeFields, boolean isPointMBR, boolean durable) {
+            ILinearizeComparatorFactory linearizeCmpFactory, int[] rtreeFields, boolean isPointMBR, boolean durable,
+            ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits, INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) {
         super(path, storageManager, typeTraits, rtreeCmpFactories, filterTypeTraits, filterCmpFactories, filterFields,
                 opTrackerProvider, ioOpCallbackFactory, pageWriteCallbackFactory, metadataPageManagerFactory,
-                vbcProvider, ioSchedulerProvider, mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties, durable, null, null);
+                vbcProvider, ioSchedulerProvider, mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties, durable, nullTypeTraits,
+                nullIntrospector);
         this.btreeCmpFactories = btreeCmpFactories;
         this.valueProviderFactories = valueProviderFactories;
         this.rtreePolicyType = rtreePolicyType;
@@ -108,7 +111,8 @@
                 mergePolicyFactory.createMergePolicy(mergePolicyProperties, serviceCtx),
                 opTrackerProvider.getOperationTracker(serviceCtx, this), ioSchedulerProvider.getIoScheduler(serviceCtx),
                 ioOpCallbackFactory, pageWriteCallbackFactory, linearizeCmpFactory, rtreeFields, filterTypeTraits,
-                filterCmpFactories, filterFields, durable, isPointMBR, metadataPageManagerFactory);
+                filterCmpFactories, filterFields, durable, isPointMBR, metadataPageManagerFactory, nullTypeTraits,
+                nullIntrospector);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterLocalResourceFactory.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterLocalResourceFactory.java
index ed4c5b5..e9b4c90 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterLocalResourceFactory.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterLocalResourceFactory.java
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.io.FileReference;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IMetadataPageManagerFactory;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMIOOperationCallbackFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMIOOperationSchedulerProvider;
@@ -57,10 +58,12 @@
             Map<String, String> mergePolicyProperties, boolean durable,
             IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory[] valueProviderFactories, RTreePolicyType rtreePolicyType,
             ILinearizeComparatorFactory linearizeCmpFactory, int[] rtreeFields, boolean isPointMBR,
-            IBinaryComparatorFactory[] btreeComparatorFactories) {
+            IBinaryComparatorFactory[] btreeComparatorFactories, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits,
+            INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) {
         super(storageManager, rteeTypeTraits, rtreeCmpFactories, filterTypeTraits, filterCmpFactories, filterFields,
                 opTrackerFactory, ioOpCallbackFactory, pageWriteCallbackFactory, metadataPageManagerFactory,
-                vbcProvider, ioSchedulerProvider, mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties, durable, null, null);
+                vbcProvider, ioSchedulerProvider, mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties, durable, nullTypeTraits,
+                nullIntrospector);
         this.valueProviderFactories = valueProviderFactories;
         this.rtreePolicyType = rtreePolicyType;
         this.linearizeCmpFactory = linearizeCmpFactory;
@@ -75,6 +78,7 @@
                 cmpFactories, filterTypeTraits, filterCmpFactories, filterFields, opTrackerProvider,
                 ioOpCallbackFactory, pageWriteCallbackFactory, metadataPageManagerFactory, vbcProvider,
                 ioSchedulerProvider, mergePolicyFactory, mergePolicyProperties, btreeComparatorFactories,
-                valueProviderFactories, rtreePolicyType, linearizeCmpFactory, rtreeFields, isPointMBR, durable);
+                valueProviderFactories, rtreePolicyType, linearizeCmpFactory, rtreeFields, isPointMBR, durable,
+                nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
     }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/tuples/LSMRTreeCopyTupleWriter.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/tuples/LSMRTreeCopyTupleWriter.java
index 3b7c150..4f3b49b 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/tuples/LSMRTreeCopyTupleWriter.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/tuples/LSMRTreeCopyTupleWriter.java
@@ -21,11 +21,13 @@
 
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
 import org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.accessors.ITupleReference;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 
 public class LSMRTreeCopyTupleWriter extends LSMRTreeTupleWriter {
-    public LSMRTreeCopyTupleWriter(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits) {
+    public LSMRTreeCopyTupleWriter(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits,
+            INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) {
         // Third parameter is never used locally, just give false.
-        super(typeTraits, false);
+        super(typeTraits, false, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/tuples/LSMRTreeCopyTupleWriterFactory.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/tuples/LSMRTreeCopyTupleWriterFactory.java
index 6585ffe..41fa508 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/tuples/LSMRTreeCopyTupleWriterFactory.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/tuples/LSMRTreeCopyTupleWriterFactory.java
@@ -20,18 +20,20 @@
 package org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.rtree.tuples;
 
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.rtree.tuples.RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.rtree.tuples.RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory;
 
 public class LSMRTreeCopyTupleWriterFactory extends RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory {
     private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
 
-    public LSMRTreeCopyTupleWriterFactory(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits) {
-        super(typeTraits);
+    public LSMRTreeCopyTupleWriterFactory(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits,
+            INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) {
+        super(typeTraits, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
     }
 
     @Override
     public RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter createTupleWriter() {
-        return new LSMRTreeCopyTupleWriter(typeTraits);
+        return new LSMRTreeCopyTupleWriter(typeTraits, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
     }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/tuples/LSMRTreeTupleReference.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/tuples/LSMRTreeTupleReference.java
index 86a6a39..3e25e8d 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/tuples/LSMRTreeTupleReference.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/tuples/LSMRTreeTupleReference.java
@@ -26,8 +26,8 @@
 
 public class LSMRTreeTupleReference extends RTreeTypeAwareTupleReference implements ILSMTreeTupleReference {
 
-    public LSMRTreeTupleReference(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits) {
-        super(typeTraits);
+    public LSMRTreeTupleReference(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits) {
+        super(typeTraits, nullTypeTraits);
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -45,4 +45,10 @@
     public int getTupleStart() {
         return tupleStartOff;
     }
+
+    @Override
+    protected int getAdjustedFieldIdx(int fieldIdx) {
+        // 1 for antimatter
+        return fieldIdx + 1;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/tuples/LSMRTreeTupleReferenceForPointMBR.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/tuples/LSMRTreeTupleReferenceForPointMBR.java
index ef9eb47..878606f 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/tuples/LSMRTreeTupleReferenceForPointMBR.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/tuples/LSMRTreeTupleReferenceForPointMBR.java
@@ -34,8 +34,8 @@
     private final boolean antimatterAware;
 
     public LSMRTreeTupleReferenceForPointMBR(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, int keyFieldCount, int valueFieldCount,
-            boolean antimatterAware) {
-        super(typeTraits);
+            boolean antimatterAware, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits) {
+        super(typeTraits, nullTypeTraits);
         this.inputKeyFieldCount = keyFieldCount;
         this.inputTotalFieldCount = keyFieldCount + valueFieldCount;
         this.storedKeyFieldCount = keyFieldCount / 2;
@@ -53,10 +53,21 @@
         // decode field slots in three steps
         int field = 0;
         int cumul = 0;
+        int nullFlagsRunner = 0;
         //step1. decode field slots for stored key
-        for (int i = 0; i < storedKeyFieldCount; i++) {
-            //key or value fields
-            cumul += typeTraits[i].getFixedLength();
+        encDec.reset(buf, tupleStartOff + nullFlagsBytes);
+        for (int i = 0; i < storedKeyFieldCount; i++, nullFlagsRunner++) {
+            if (!typeTraits[i].isFixedLength()) {
+                // for variable length fields, read the encoded length whether it's a value or null
+                cumul += encDec.decode();
+            } else {
+                // for fixed length fields, if the field is null, get the null length
+                if (nullTypeTraits != null && isNull(buf, tupleStartOff, nullFlagsRunner)) {
+                    cumul += nullTypeTraits.getFixedLength();
+                } else {
+                    cumul += typeTraits[i].getFixedLength();
+                }
+            }
             decodedFieldSlots[field++] = cumul;
         }
         //step2. decode field slots for non-stored (duplicated point) key
@@ -65,17 +76,19 @@
             decodedFieldSlots[field++] = decodedFieldSlots[i];
         }
         //step3. decode field slots for value field
-        encDec.reset(buf, tupleStartOff + nullFlagsBytes);
-        for (int i = inputKeyFieldCount; i < inputTotalFieldCount; i++) {
+        for (int i = inputKeyFieldCount; i < inputTotalFieldCount; i++, nullFlagsRunner++) {
             if (!typeTraits[i].isFixedLength()) {
-                //value fields
+                // for variable length fields, read the encoded length whether it's a value or null
                 cumul += encDec.decode();
-                decodedFieldSlots[field++] = cumul;
             } else {
-                //key or value fields
-                cumul += typeTraits[i].getFixedLength();
-                decodedFieldSlots[field++] = cumul;
+                // for fixed length fields, if the field is null, get the null length
+                if (nullTypeTraits != null && isNull(buf, tupleStartOff, nullFlagsRunner)) {
+                    cumul += nullTypeTraits.getFixedLength();
+                } else {
+                    cumul += typeTraits[i].getFixedLength();
+                }
             }
+            decodedFieldSlots[field++] = cumul;
         }
 
         dataStartOff = encDec.getPos();
@@ -103,19 +116,21 @@
 
     @Override
     public int getFieldLength(int fIdx) {
-        if (getInternalFieldIdx(fIdx) == 0) {
+        int internalFieldIdx = getInternalFieldIdx(fIdx);
+        if (internalFieldIdx == 0) {
             return decodedFieldSlots[0];
         } else {
-            return decodedFieldSlots[getInternalFieldIdx(fIdx)] - decodedFieldSlots[getInternalFieldIdx(fIdx) - 1];
+            return decodedFieldSlots[internalFieldIdx] - decodedFieldSlots[internalFieldIdx - 1];
         }
     }
 
     @Override
     public int getFieldStart(int fIdx) {
-        if (getInternalFieldIdx(fIdx) == 0) {
+        int internalFieldIdx = getInternalFieldIdx(fIdx);
+        if (internalFieldIdx == 0) {
             return dataStartOff;
         } else {
-            return dataStartOff + decodedFieldSlots[getInternalFieldIdx(fIdx) - 1];
+            return dataStartOff + decodedFieldSlots[internalFieldIdx - 1];
         }
     }
 
@@ -145,4 +160,10 @@
         // Check antimatter bit.
         return BitOperationUtils.getBit(buf, tupleStartOff, ANTIMATTER_BIT_OFFSET);
     }
+
+    @Override
+    protected int getAdjustedFieldIdx(int fieldIdx) {
+        // 1 for antimatter
+        return antimatterAware ? fieldIdx + 1 : fieldIdx;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/tuples/LSMRTreeTupleWriter.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/tuples/LSMRTreeTupleWriter.java
index 5650cbb..6417839 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/tuples/LSMRTreeTupleWriter.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/tuples/LSMRTreeTupleWriter.java
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
 import org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.accessors.ITupleReference;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.util.BitOperationUtils;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMTreeTupleWriter;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.rtree.tuples.RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter;
@@ -30,14 +31,15 @@
 public class LSMRTreeTupleWriter extends RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter implements ILSMTreeTupleWriter {
     private boolean isAntimatter;
 
-    public LSMRTreeTupleWriter(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, boolean isAntimatter) {
-        super(typeTraits);
+    public LSMRTreeTupleWriter(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, boolean isAntimatter, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits,
+            INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) {
+        super(typeTraits, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
         this.isAntimatter = isAntimatter;
     }
 
     @Override
     public LSMRTreeTupleReference createTupleReference() {
-        return new LSMRTreeTupleReference(typeTraits);
+        return new LSMRTreeTupleReference(typeTraits, nullTypeTraits);
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -72,4 +74,9 @@
         this.isAntimatter = isAntimatter;
     }
 
+    @Override
+    protected int getAdjustedFieldIdx(int fieldIdx) {
+        // 1 for antimatter
+        return fieldIdx + 1;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/tuples/LSMRTreeTupleWriterFactory.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/tuples/LSMRTreeTupleWriterFactory.java
index 4ad5e3a..040c805 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/tuples/LSMRTreeTupleWriterFactory.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/tuples/LSMRTreeTupleWriterFactory.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 package org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.rtree.tuples;
 
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.rtree.tuples.RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory;
 
 public class LSMRTreeTupleWriterFactory extends RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory {
@@ -27,14 +28,15 @@
     private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
     private final boolean isAntimatter;
 
-    public LSMRTreeTupleWriterFactory(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, boolean isAntimatter) {
-        super(typeTraits);
+    public LSMRTreeTupleWriterFactory(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, boolean isAntimatter, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits,
+            INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) {
+        super(typeTraits, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
         this.isAntimatter = isAntimatter;
     }
 
     @Override
     public LSMRTreeTupleWriter createTupleWriter() {
-        return new LSMRTreeTupleWriter(typeTraits, isAntimatter);
+        return new LSMRTreeTupleWriter(typeTraits, isAntimatter, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
     }
 
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/tuples/LSMRTreeTupleWriterFactoryForPointMBR.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/tuples/LSMRTreeTupleWriterFactoryForPointMBR.java
index 6a87af2..625883f 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/tuples/LSMRTreeTupleWriterFactoryForPointMBR.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/tuples/LSMRTreeTupleWriterFactoryForPointMBR.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 package org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.rtree.tuples;
 
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.rtree.tuples.RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.rtree.tuples.RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory;
 
@@ -32,8 +33,8 @@
     private final boolean isAntimatter;
 
     public LSMRTreeTupleWriterFactoryForPointMBR(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, int keyFieldCount, int valueFieldCount,
-            boolean antimatterAware, boolean isDelete) {
-        super(typeTraits);
+            boolean antimatterAware, boolean isDelete, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits, INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) {
+        super(typeTraits, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
         this.keyFieldCount = keyFieldCount;
         this.valueFieldCount = valueFieldCount;
         this.antimatterAware = antimatterAware;
@@ -43,7 +44,7 @@
     @Override
     public RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter createTupleWriter() {
         return new LSMRTreeTupleWriterForPointMBR(typeTraits, keyFieldCount, valueFieldCount, antimatterAware,
-                isAntimatter);
+                isAntimatter, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
     }
 
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/tuples/LSMRTreeTupleWriterForPointMBR.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/tuples/LSMRTreeTupleWriterForPointMBR.java
index ae2d642..ff66a85 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/tuples/LSMRTreeTupleWriterForPointMBR.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/tuples/LSMRTreeTupleWriterForPointMBR.java
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
 import org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.accessors.ITupleReference;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.util.BitOperationUtils;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMTreeTupleReference;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMTreeTupleWriter;
@@ -54,8 +55,9 @@
     private boolean isAntimatter;
 
     public LSMRTreeTupleWriterForPointMBR(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, int keyFieldCount, int valueFieldCount,
-            boolean antimatterAware, boolean isAntimatter) {
-        super(typeTraits);
+            boolean antimatterAware, boolean isAntimatter, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits,
+            INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) {
+        super(typeTraits, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
         this.inputKeyFieldCount = keyFieldCount;
         this.valueFieldCount = valueFieldCount;
         this.inputTotalFieldCount = keyFieldCount + valueFieldCount;
@@ -81,14 +83,15 @@
 
     @Override
     public LSMRTreeTupleReferenceForPointMBR createTupleReference() {
-        return new LSMRTreeTupleReferenceForPointMBR(typeTraits, inputKeyFieldCount, valueFieldCount, antimatterAware);
+        return new LSMRTreeTupleReferenceForPointMBR(typeTraits, inputKeyFieldCount, valueFieldCount, antimatterAware,
+                nullTypeTraits);
     }
 
     @Override
     public int writeTuple(ITupleReference tuple, byte[] targetBuf, int targetOff) {
         int runner = targetOff;
         int nullFlagsBytes = getNullFlagsBytes(tuple);
-        // write null indicator bits
+        // reset null indicator bits
         for (int i = 0; i < nullFlagsBytes; i++) {
             targetBuf[runner++] = (byte) 0;
         }
@@ -100,15 +103,28 @@
             }
         }
 
+        int nullRunner = 0;
         // write key fields
-        for (int i = 0; i < storedKeyFieldCount; i++) {
-            System.arraycopy(tuple.getFieldData(i), tuple.getFieldStart(i), targetBuf, runner, tuple.getFieldLength(i));
-            runner += tuple.getFieldLength(i);
+        for (int i = 0; i < storedKeyFieldCount; i++, nullRunner++) {
+            byte[] fieldData = tuple.getFieldData(i);
+            int fieldOffset = tuple.getFieldStart(i);
+            int fieldLength = tuple.getFieldLength(i);
+            if (nullIntrospector != null && nullIntrospector.isNull(fieldData, fieldOffset, fieldLength)) {
+                setNullFlag(targetBuf, targetOff, nullRunner);
+            }
+            System.arraycopy(fieldData, fieldOffset, targetBuf, runner, fieldLength);
+            runner += fieldLength;
         }
         // write value fields
-        for (int i = inputKeyFieldCount; i < inputTotalFieldCount; i++) {
-            System.arraycopy(tuple.getFieldData(i), tuple.getFieldStart(i), targetBuf, runner, tuple.getFieldLength(i));
-            runner += tuple.getFieldLength(i);
+        for (int i = inputKeyFieldCount; i < inputTotalFieldCount; i++, nullRunner++) {
+            byte[] fieldData = tuple.getFieldData(i);
+            int fieldOffset = tuple.getFieldStart(i);
+            int fieldLength = tuple.getFieldLength(i);
+            if (nullIntrospector != null && nullIntrospector.isNull(fieldData, fieldOffset, fieldLength)) {
+                setNullFlag(targetBuf, targetOff, nullRunner);
+            }
+            System.arraycopy(fieldData, fieldOffset, targetBuf, runner, fieldLength);
+            runner += fieldLength;
         }
 
         //set antimatter bit if necessary
@@ -138,7 +154,7 @@
 
     @Override
     protected int getNullFlagsBytes(ITupleReference tuple) {
-        return BitOperationUtils.getFlagBytes(storedTotalFieldCount + (antimatterAware ? 1 : 0));
+        return BitOperationUtils.getFlagBytes(storedTotalFieldCount + valueFieldCount + (antimatterAware ? 1 : 0));
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -167,4 +183,9 @@
     public void setAntimatter(boolean isAntimatter) {
         this.isAntimatter = isAntimatter;
     }
+
+    @Override
+    protected int getAdjustedFieldIdx(int fieldIdx) {
+        return antimatterAware ? fieldIdx + 1 : fieldIdx;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/utils/LSMRTreeUtils.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/utils/LSMRTreeUtils.java
index cf44b2f..a436c43 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/utils/LSMRTreeUtils.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/utils/LSMRTreeUtils.java
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.btree.impls.BTree;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.btree.tuples.BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IMetadataPageManagerFactory;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.ITreeIndexFrameFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.tuples.TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory;
@@ -85,7 +86,8 @@
             ILSMPageWriteCallbackFactory pageWriteCallbackFactory, ILinearizeComparatorFactory linearizeCmpFactory,
             int[] rtreeFields, int[] buddyBTreeFields, ITypeTraits[] filterTypeTraits,
             IBinaryComparatorFactory[] filterCmpFactories, int[] filterFields, boolean durable, boolean isPointMBR,
-            IMetadataPageManagerFactory freePageManagerFactory) throws HyracksDataException {
+            IMetadataPageManagerFactory freePageManagerFactory, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits,
+            INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) throws HyracksDataException {
         int valueFieldCount = buddyBTreeFields.length;
         int keyFieldCount = typeTraits.length - valueFieldCount;
         ITypeTraits[] btreeTypeTraits = new ITypeTraits[valueFieldCount];
@@ -93,16 +95,16 @@
             btreeTypeTraits[i] = typeTraits[buddyBTreeFields[i]];
         }
         RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory rtreeInteriorFrameTupleWriterFactory =
-                new RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits);
+                new RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
         RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory rtreeLeafFrameTupleWriterFactory = null;
         if (isPointMBR) {
-            rtreeLeafFrameTupleWriterFactory =
-                    new LSMRTreeTupleWriterFactoryForPointMBR(typeTraits, keyFieldCount, valueFieldCount, false, false);
+            rtreeLeafFrameTupleWriterFactory = new LSMRTreeTupleWriterFactoryForPointMBR(typeTraits, keyFieldCount,
+                    valueFieldCount, false, false, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
         } else {
             rtreeLeafFrameTupleWriterFactory = rtreeInteriorFrameTupleWriterFactory;
         }
         BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory btreeTupleWriterFactory =
-                new BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(btreeTypeTraits, false, null, null);
+                new BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(btreeTypeTraits, false, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
         RTreeFrameFactory rtreeInteriorFrameFactory = new RTreeNSMInteriorFrameFactory(
                 rtreeInteriorFrameTupleWriterFactory, valueProviderFactories, rtreePolicyType, isPointMBR);
         RTreeFrameFactory rtreeLeafFrameFactory = new RTreeNSMLeafFrameFactory(rtreeLeafFrameTupleWriterFactory,
@@ -128,7 +130,7 @@
         LSMComponentFilterManager filterManager = null;
         if (filterCmpFactories != null) {
             TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory filterTupleWriterFactory =
-                    new TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(filterTypeTraits, null, null);
+                    new TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(filterTypeTraits, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
             filterHelper = new ComponentFilterHelper(filterTupleWriterFactory, filterCmpFactories);
             filterFrameFactory = new LSMComponentFilterFrameFactory(filterTupleWriterFactory);
             filterManager = new LSMComponentFilterManager(filterFrameFactory);
@@ -155,28 +157,33 @@
             ILSMIOOperationCallbackFactory ioOpCallbackFactory, ILSMPageWriteCallbackFactory pageWriteCallbackFactory,
             ILinearizeComparatorFactory linearizerCmpFactory, int[] rtreeFields, ITypeTraits[] filterTypeTraits,
             IBinaryComparatorFactory[] filterCmpFactories, int[] filterFields, boolean durable, boolean isPointMBR,
-            IMetadataPageManagerFactory freePageManagerFactory) throws HyracksDataException {
+            IMetadataPageManagerFactory freePageManagerFactory, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits,
+            INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) throws HyracksDataException {
         RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory rtreeInteriorFrameTupleWriterFactory =
-                new LSMRTreeTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, false);
+                new LSMRTreeTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, false, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
         RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory rtreeLeafFrameTupleWriterFactory;
         RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory rtreeLeafFrameCopyTupleWriterFactory;
         RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory rtreeLeafFrameBulkLoadWriterFactory;
         if (isPointMBR) {
             int keyFieldCount = rtreeCmpFactories.length;
             int valueFieldCount = btreeComparatorFactories.length - keyFieldCount;
-            rtreeLeafFrameTupleWriterFactory =
-                    new LSMRTreeTupleWriterFactoryForPointMBR(typeTraits, keyFieldCount, valueFieldCount, true, false);
-            rtreeLeafFrameCopyTupleWriterFactory =
-                    new LSMRTreeTupleWriterFactoryForPointMBR(typeTraits, keyFieldCount, valueFieldCount, true, false);
-            rtreeLeafFrameBulkLoadWriterFactory =
-                    new LSMRTreeTupleWriterFactoryForPointMBR(typeTraits, keyFieldCount, valueFieldCount, true, false);
+            rtreeLeafFrameTupleWriterFactory = new LSMRTreeTupleWriterFactoryForPointMBR(typeTraits, keyFieldCount,
+                    valueFieldCount, true, false, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
+            rtreeLeafFrameCopyTupleWriterFactory = new LSMRTreeTupleWriterFactoryForPointMBR(typeTraits, keyFieldCount,
+                    valueFieldCount, true, false, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
+            rtreeLeafFrameBulkLoadWriterFactory = new LSMRTreeTupleWriterFactoryForPointMBR(typeTraits, keyFieldCount,
+                    valueFieldCount, true, false, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
         } else {
-            rtreeLeafFrameTupleWriterFactory = new LSMRTreeTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, false);
-            rtreeLeafFrameCopyTupleWriterFactory = new LSMRTreeCopyTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits);
-            rtreeLeafFrameBulkLoadWriterFactory = new LSMRTreeTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, false);
+            rtreeLeafFrameTupleWriterFactory =
+                    new LSMRTreeTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, false, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
+            rtreeLeafFrameCopyTupleWriterFactory =
+                    new LSMRTreeCopyTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
+            rtreeLeafFrameBulkLoadWriterFactory =
+                    new LSMRTreeTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, false, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
         }
 
-        LSMRTreeTupleWriterFactory btreeTupleWriterFactory = new LSMRTreeTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, true);
+        LSMRTreeTupleWriterFactory btreeTupleWriterFactory =
+                new LSMRTreeTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, true, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
 
         RTreeFrameFactory rtreeInteriorFrameFactory = new RTreeNSMInteriorFrameFactory(
                 rtreeInteriorFrameTupleWriterFactory, valueProviderFactories, rtreePolicyType, isPointMBR);
@@ -219,7 +226,7 @@
         LSMComponentFilterManager filterManager = null;
         if (filterCmpFactories != null) {
             TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory filterTupleWriterFactory =
-                    new TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(filterTypeTraits, null, null);
+                    new TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(filterTypeTraits, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
             filterHelper = new ComponentFilterHelper(filterTupleWriterFactory, filterCmpFactories);
             filterFrameFactory = new LSMComponentFilterFrameFactory(filterTupleWriterFactory);
             filterManager = new LSMComponentFilterManager(filterFrameFactory);
@@ -247,8 +254,8 @@
             ILSMOperationTracker opTracker, ILSMIOOperationScheduler ioScheduler,
             ILSMIOOperationCallbackFactory ioOpCallbackFactory, ILSMPageWriteCallbackFactory pageWriteCallbackFactory,
             ILinearizeComparatorFactory linearizeCmpFactory, int[] buddyBTreeFields, boolean durable,
-            boolean isPointMBR, IMetadataPageManagerFactory freePageManagerFactory, ITracer tracer)
-            throws HyracksDataException {
+            boolean isPointMBR, IMetadataPageManagerFactory freePageManagerFactory, ITracer tracer,
+            ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits, INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) throws HyracksDataException {
 
         int keyFieldCount = rtreeCmpFactories.length;
         int valueFieldCount = typeTraits.length - keyFieldCount;
@@ -257,16 +264,16 @@
             btreeTypeTraits[i] = typeTraits[buddyBTreeFields[i]];
         }
         RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory rtreeInteriorFrameTupleWriterFactory =
-                new RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits);
+                new RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
         RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory rtreeLeafFrameTupleWriterFactory = null;
         if (isPointMBR) {
-            rtreeLeafFrameTupleWriterFactory =
-                    new LSMRTreeTupleWriterFactoryForPointMBR(typeTraits, keyFieldCount, valueFieldCount, false, false);
+            rtreeLeafFrameTupleWriterFactory = new LSMRTreeTupleWriterFactoryForPointMBR(typeTraits, keyFieldCount,
+                    valueFieldCount, false, false, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
         } else {
             rtreeLeafFrameTupleWriterFactory = rtreeInteriorFrameTupleWriterFactory;
         }
         BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory btreeTupleWriterFactory =
-                new BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(btreeTypeTraits, false, null, null);
+                new BTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(btreeTypeTraits, false, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
         RTreeFrameFactory rtreeInteriorFrameFactory = new RTreeNSMInteriorFrameFactory(
                 rtreeInteriorFrameTupleWriterFactory, valueProviderFactories, rtreePolicyType, isPointMBR);
         RTreeFrameFactory rtreeLeafFrameFactory = new RTreeNSMLeafFrameFactory(rtreeLeafFrameTupleWriterFactory,
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/dataflow/RTreeResource.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/dataflow/RTreeResource.java
index f9eb844..9195982 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/dataflow/RTreeResource.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/dataflow/RTreeResource.java
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.io.FileReference;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.io.IIOManager;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IPageManagerFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.rtree.frames.RTreePolicyType;
@@ -42,10 +43,13 @@
     private final IPageManagerFactory pageManagerFactory;
     private final IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory[] valueProviderFactories;
     private final RTreePolicyType rtreePolicyType;
+    private final ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits;
+    private final INullIntrospector nullIntrospector;
 
     public RTreeResource(String path, IStorageManager storageManager, ITypeTraits[] typeTraits,
             IBinaryComparatorFactory[] comparatorFactories, IPageManagerFactory pageManagerFactory,
-            IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory[] valueProviderFactories, RTreePolicyType rtreePolicyType) {
+            IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory[] valueProviderFactories, RTreePolicyType rtreePolicyType,
+            ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits, INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) {
         this.path = path;
         this.storageManager = storageManager;
         this.typeTraits = typeTraits;
@@ -53,6 +57,8 @@
         this.pageManagerFactory = pageManagerFactory;
         this.valueProviderFactories = valueProviderFactories;
         this.rtreePolicyType = rtreePolicyType;
+        this.nullTypeTraits = nullTypeTraits;
+        this.nullIntrospector = nullIntrospector;
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -60,7 +66,8 @@
         IIOManager ioManager = ctx.getIoManager();
         FileReference resourceRef = ioManager.resolve(path);
         return RTreeUtils.createRTree(storageManager.getBufferCache(ctx), typeTraits, valueProviderFactories,
-                comparatorFactories, rtreePolicyType, resourceRef, false, pageManagerFactory);
+                comparatorFactories, rtreePolicyType, resourceRef, false, pageManagerFactory, nullTypeTraits,
+                nullIntrospector);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/dataflow/RTreeResourceFactory.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/dataflow/RTreeResourceFactory.java
index 1a3bb0b..43ccc0d 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/dataflow/RTreeResourceFactory.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/dataflow/RTreeResourceFactory.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.IBinaryComparatorFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.io.FileReference;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IPageManagerFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.rtree.frames.RTreePolicyType;
@@ -30,29 +31,34 @@
 
 public class RTreeResourceFactory implements IResourceFactory {
 
-    private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
+    private static final long serialVersionUID = 2L;
     private final IStorageManager storageManager;
     private final ITypeTraits[] typeTraits;
     private final IBinaryComparatorFactory[] comparatorFactories;
     private final IPageManagerFactory pageManagerFactory;
     private final IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory[] valueProviderFactories;
     private final RTreePolicyType rtreePolicyType;
+    private final ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits;
+    private final INullIntrospector nullIntrospector;
 
     public RTreeResourceFactory(IStorageManager storageManager, ITypeTraits[] typeTraits,
             IBinaryComparatorFactory[] comparatorFactories, IPageManagerFactory pageManagerFactory,
-            IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory[] valueProviderFactories, RTreePolicyType rtreePolicyType) {
+            IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory[] valueProviderFactories, RTreePolicyType rtreePolicyType,
+            ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits, INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) {
         this.storageManager = storageManager;
         this.typeTraits = typeTraits;
         this.comparatorFactories = comparatorFactories;
         this.pageManagerFactory = pageManagerFactory;
         this.valueProviderFactories = valueProviderFactories;
         this.rtreePolicyType = rtreePolicyType;
+        this.nullTypeTraits = nullTypeTraits;
+        this.nullIntrospector = nullIntrospector;
     }
 
     @Override
     public IResource createResource(FileReference fileRef) {
         return new RTreeResource(fileRef.getRelativePath(), storageManager, typeTraits, comparatorFactories,
-                pageManagerFactory, valueProviderFactories, rtreePolicyType);
+                pageManagerFactory, valueProviderFactories, rtreePolicyType, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
     }
 
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/tuples/RTreeTypeAwareTupleReference.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/tuples/RTreeTypeAwareTupleReference.java
index 8f7f3f0..8f1b660 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/tuples/RTreeTypeAwareTupleReference.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/tuples/RTreeTypeAwareTupleReference.java
@@ -26,8 +26,8 @@
 
 public class RTreeTypeAwareTupleReference extends TypeAwareTupleReference implements ITreeIndexTupleReference {
 
-    public RTreeTypeAwareTupleReference(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits) {
-        super(typeTraits, null);
+    public RTreeTypeAwareTupleReference(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits) {
+        super(typeTraits, nullTypeTraits);
     }
 
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/tuples/RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/tuples/RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter.java
index 42a9662..02bf4a2 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/tuples/RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/tuples/RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter.java
@@ -22,14 +22,16 @@
 import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
 
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.ITreeIndexTupleReference;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.tuples.TypeAwareTupleWriter;
 import org.apache.hyracks.util.encoding.VarLenIntEncoderDecoder;
 
 public class RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter extends TypeAwareTupleWriter {
 
-    public RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits) {
-        super(typeTraits, null, null);
+    public RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits,
+            INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) {
+        super(typeTraits, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
     }
 
     public int writeTupleFields(ITreeIndexTupleReference[] refs, int startField, ByteBuffer targetBuf, int targetOff) {
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/tuples/RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/tuples/RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory.java
index 0069cc3..56241e0 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/tuples/RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/tuples/RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory.java
@@ -20,18 +20,20 @@
 package org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.rtree.tuples;
 
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.tuples.TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory;
 
 public class RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory extends TypeAwareTupleWriterFactory {
 
     private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
 
-    public RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits) {
-        super(typeTraits, null, null);
+    public RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits,
+            INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) {
+        super(typeTraits, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
     }
 
     @Override
     public RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter createTupleWriter() {
-        return new RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter(typeTraits);
+        return new RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriter(typeTraits, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
     }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/util/RTreeUtils.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/util/RTreeUtils.java
index 204248f..7df5802 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/util/RTreeUtils.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/util/RTreeUtils.java
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.io.FileReference;
 import org.apache.hyracks.data.std.api.IPointableFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.accessors.ITupleReference;
+import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.INullIntrospector;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IPageManagerFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.ITreeIndexFrameFactory;
@@ -45,9 +46,10 @@
     public static RTree createRTree(IBufferCache bufferCache, ITypeTraits[] typeTraits,
             IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory[] valueProviderFactories, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] cmpFactories,
             RTreePolicyType rtreePolicyType, FileReference file, boolean isPointMBR,
-            IPageManagerFactory pageManagerFactory) {
+            IPageManagerFactory pageManagerFactory, ITypeTraits nullTypeTraits, INullIntrospector nullIntrospector) {
 
-        RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory tupleWriterFactory = new RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits);
+        RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory tupleWriterFactory =
+                new RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, nullTypeTraits, nullIntrospector);
         ITreeIndexFrameFactory interiorFrameFactory = new RTreeNSMInteriorFrameFactory(tupleWriterFactory,
                 valueProviderFactories, rtreePolicyType, isPointMBR);
         ITreeIndexFrameFactory leafFrameFactory =
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/OnDiskInvertedIndexLifecycleTest.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/OnDiskInvertedIndexLifecycleTest.java
index 0c626df..1b17ef9 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/OnDiskInvertedIndexLifecycleTest.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/OnDiskInvertedIndexLifecycleTest.java
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@
                 .resolveAbsolutePath(harness.getInvListsFileRef().getFile().getAbsolutePath() + "_btree");
         index = new OnDiskInvertedIndex(harness.getDiskBufferCache(), invListBuilder, invListTypeTraits,
                 invListCmpFactories, tokenTypeTraits, tokenCmpFactories, harness.getInvListsFileRef(), btreeFile,
-                harness.getMetadataPageManagerFactory());
+                harness.getMetadataPageManagerFactory(), null, null);
 
     }
 
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/util/LSMInvertedIndexTestContext.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/util/LSMInvertedIndexTestContext.java
index 3e8db34..e745f5d 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/util/LSMInvertedIndexTestContext.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/util/LSMInvertedIndexTestContext.java
@@ -159,7 +159,8 @@
                 invIndex = InvertedIndexUtils.createInMemoryBTreeInvertedindex(harness.getVirtualBufferCaches().get(0),
                         new VirtualFreePageManager(harness.getVirtualBufferCaches().get(0)), invListTypeTraits,
                         invListCmpFactories, tokenTypeTraits, tokenCmpFactories, tokenizerFactory,
-                        fullTextConfigEvaluatorFactory, ioManager.resolveAbsolutePath(harness.getOnDiskDir()));
+                        fullTextConfigEvaluatorFactory, ioManager.resolveAbsolutePath(harness.getOnDiskDir()), null,
+                        null);
                 break;
             }
             case PARTITIONED_INMEMORY: {
@@ -167,47 +168,53 @@
                         harness.getVirtualBufferCaches().get(0),
                         new VirtualFreePageManager(harness.getVirtualBufferCaches().get(0)), invListTypeTraits,
                         invListCmpFactories, tokenTypeTraits, tokenCmpFactories, tokenizerFactory,
-                        fullTextConfigEvaluatorFactory, ioManager.resolveAbsolutePath(harness.getOnDiskDir()));
+                        fullTextConfigEvaluatorFactory, ioManager.resolveAbsolutePath(harness.getOnDiskDir()), null,
+                        null);
                 break;
             }
             case ONDISK: {
                 invIndex = InvertedIndexUtils.createOnDiskInvertedIndex(ioManager, harness.getDiskBufferCache(),
                         invListTypeTraits, invListCmpFactories, tokenTypeTraits, tokenCmpFactories,
-                        harness.getInvListsFileRef(), harness.getMetadataPageManagerFactory());
+                        harness.getInvListsFileRef(), harness.getMetadataPageManagerFactory(), null, null);
                 break;
             }
             case PARTITIONED_ONDISK: {
-                invIndex = InvertedIndexUtils.createPartitionedOnDiskInvertedIndex(ioManager,
-                        harness.getDiskBufferCache(), invListTypeTraits, invListCmpFactories, tokenTypeTraits,
-                        tokenCmpFactories, harness.getInvListsFileRef(), harness.getMetadataPageManagerFactory());
+                invIndex =
+                        InvertedIndexUtils.createPartitionedOnDiskInvertedIndex(ioManager, harness.getDiskBufferCache(),
+                                invListTypeTraits, invListCmpFactories, tokenTypeTraits, tokenCmpFactories,
+                                harness.getInvListsFileRef(), harness.getMetadataPageManagerFactory(), null, null);
                 break;
             }
             case LSM: {
-                invIndex = InvertedIndexUtils.createLSMInvertedIndex(ioManager, harness.getVirtualBufferCaches(),
-                        invListTypeTraits, invListCmpFactories, tokenTypeTraits, tokenCmpFactories, tokenizerFactory,
-                        fullTextConfigEvaluatorFactory, harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getOnDiskDir(),
-                        harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), harness.getMergePolicy(),
-                        harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(),
-                        harness.getIOOperationCallbackFactory(), harness.getPageWriteCallbackFactory(),
-                        invertedIndexFields, filterTypeTraits, filterCmpFactories, filterFields,
-                        filterFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps, invertedIndexFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps, true,
-                        harness.getMetadataPageManagerFactory(),
-                        new Tracer(LSMInvertedIndexTestContext.class.getSimpleName(),
-                                ITraceCategoryRegistry.CATEGORIES_ALL, new TraceCategoryRegistry()));
+                invIndex =
+                        InvertedIndexUtils.createLSMInvertedIndex(ioManager, harness.getVirtualBufferCaches(),
+                                invListTypeTraits, invListCmpFactories, tokenTypeTraits, tokenCmpFactories,
+                                tokenizerFactory, fullTextConfigEvaluatorFactory, harness.getDiskBufferCache(),
+                                harness.getOnDiskDir(), harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(),
+                                harness.getMergePolicy(), harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(),
+                                harness.getIOOperationCallbackFactory(), harness.getPageWriteCallbackFactory(),
+                                invertedIndexFields, filterTypeTraits, filterCmpFactories, filterFields,
+                                filterFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps, invertedIndexFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps, true,
+                                harness.getMetadataPageManagerFactory(),
+                                new Tracer(LSMInvertedIndexTestContext.class.getSimpleName(),
+                                        ITraceCategoryRegistry.CATEGORIES_ALL, new TraceCategoryRegistry()),
+                                null, null);
                 break;
             }
             case PARTITIONED_LSM: {
-                invIndex = InvertedIndexUtils.createPartitionedLSMInvertedIndex(ioManager,
-                        harness.getVirtualBufferCaches(), invListTypeTraits, invListCmpFactories, tokenTypeTraits,
-                        tokenCmpFactories, tokenizerFactory, fullTextConfigEvaluatorFactory,
-                        harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getOnDiskDir(), harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(),
-                        harness.getMergePolicy(), harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(),
-                        harness.getIOOperationCallbackFactory(), harness.getPageWriteCallbackFactory(),
-                        invertedIndexFields, filterTypeTraits, filterCmpFactories, filterFields,
-                        filterFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps, invertedIndexFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps, true,
-                        harness.getMetadataPageManagerFactory(),
-                        new Tracer(LSMInvertedIndexTestContext.class.getSimpleName(),
-                                ITraceCategoryRegistry.CATEGORIES_ALL, new TraceCategoryRegistry()));
+                invIndex = InvertedIndexUtils
+                        .createPartitionedLSMInvertedIndex(ioManager, harness.getVirtualBufferCaches(),
+                                invListTypeTraits, invListCmpFactories, tokenTypeTraits, tokenCmpFactories,
+                                tokenizerFactory, fullTextConfigEvaluatorFactory, harness.getDiskBufferCache(),
+                                harness.getOnDiskDir(), harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(),
+                                harness.getMergePolicy(), harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(),
+                                harness.getIOOperationCallbackFactory(), harness.getPageWriteCallbackFactory(),
+                                invertedIndexFields, filterTypeTraits, filterCmpFactories, filterFields,
+                                filterFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps, invertedIndexFieldsForNonBulkLoadOps, true,
+                                harness.getMetadataPageManagerFactory(),
+                                new Tracer(LSMInvertedIndexTestContext.class.getSimpleName(),
+                                        ITraceCategoryRegistry.CATEGORIES_ALL, new TraceCategoryRegistry()),
+                                null, null);
                 break;
             }
             default: {
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeExamplesTest.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeExamplesTest.java
index 3ca25ab..9e6fb83 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeExamplesTest.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeExamplesTest.java
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@
                 harness.getIOOperationCallbackFactory(), harness.getPageWriteCallbackFactory(),
                 LSMRTreeUtils.proposeBestLinearizer(typeTraits, rtreeCmpFactories.length), rtreeFields, btreeFields,
                 filterTypeTraits, filterCmpFactories, filterFields, true, false,
-                harness.getMetadataPageManagerFactory());
+                harness.getMetadataPageManagerFactory(), null, null);
     }
 
     @Before
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesExamplesTest.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesExamplesTest.java
index 75f656d..baf54f3 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesExamplesTest.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesExamplesTest.java
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@
                 harness.getPageWriteCallbackFactory(),
                 LSMRTreeUtils.proposeBestLinearizer(typeTraits, rtreeCmpFactories.length), rtreeFields,
                 filterTypeTraits, filterCmpFactories, filterFields, true, false,
-                harness.getMetadataPageManagerFactory());
+                harness.getMetadataPageManagerFactory(), null, null);
     }
 
     @Before
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/multithread/LSMRTreeMultiThreadTest.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/multithread/LSMRTreeMultiThreadTest.java
index bbf6263..980f21f 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/multithread/LSMRTreeMultiThreadTest.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/multithread/LSMRTreeMultiThreadTest.java
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@
                 harness.getMergePolicy(), harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(),
                 harness.getIOOperationCallbackFactory(), harness.getPageWriteCallbackFactory(),
                 LSMRTreeUtils.proposeBestLinearizer(typeTraits, rtreeCmpFactories.length), null, btreeFields, null,
-                null, null, true, false, harness.getMetadataPageManagerFactory());
+                null, null, true, false, harness.getMetadataPageManagerFactory(), null, null);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/multithread/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesMultiThreadTest.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/multithread/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesMultiThreadTest.java
index 7d6e2e6..f40add9 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/multithread/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesMultiThreadTest.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/multithread/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesMultiThreadTest.java
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@
                 harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(), harness.getIOOperationCallbackFactory(),
                 harness.getPageWriteCallbackFactory(),
                 LSMRTreeUtils.proposeBestLinearizer(typeTraits, rtreeCmpFactories.length), null, null, null, null, true,
-                false, harness.getMetadataPageManagerFactory());
+                false, harness.getMetadataPageManagerFactory(), null, null);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/util/LSMRTreeTestContext.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/util/LSMRTreeTestContext.java
index 2140558..02742a8 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/util/LSMRTreeTestContext.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/util/LSMRTreeTestContext.java
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@
                 typeTraits, rtreeCmpFactories, btreeCmpFactories, valueProviderFactories, rtreePolicyType,
                 bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, mergePolicy, opTracker, ioScheduler, ioOpCallbackFactory,
                 pageWriteCallbackFactory, LSMRTreeUtils.proposeBestLinearizer(typeTraits, rtreeCmpFactories.length),
-                null, btreeFields, null, null, null, true, isPointMBR, metadataPageManagerFactory);
+                null, btreeFields, null, null, null, true, isPointMBR, metadataPageManagerFactory, null, null);
         LSMRTreeTestContext testCtx = new LSMRTreeTestContext(fieldSerdes, lsmTree);
         return testCtx;
     }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/util/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesTestContext.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/util/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesTestContext.java
index f9d9046..ff953f1 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/util/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesTestContext.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/util/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesTestContext.java
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@
                 virtualBufferCaches, file, diskBufferCache, typeTraits, rtreeCmpFactories, btreeCmpFactories,
                 valueProviderFactories, rtreePolicyType, mergePolicy, opTracker, ioScheduler, ioOpCallbackFactory,
                 pageWriteCallbackFactory, LSMRTreeUtils.proposeBestLinearizer(typeTraits, rtreeCmpFactories.length),
-                null, null, null, null, true, false, metadataPageManagerFactory);
+                null, null, null, null, true, false, metadataPageManagerFactory, null, null);
         LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesTestContext testCtx =
                 new LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesTestContext(fieldSerdes, lsmTree);
         return testCtx;
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-rtree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/RTreeExamplesTest.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-rtree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/RTreeExamplesTest.java
index 999fd65..cb68d77 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-rtree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/RTreeExamplesTest.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-rtree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/RTreeExamplesTest.java
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@
             RTreePolicyType rtreePolicyType, int[] rtreeFields, int[] btreeFields, ITypeTraits[] filterTypeTraits,
             IBinaryComparatorFactory[] filterCmpFactories, int[] filterFields) throws HyracksDataException {
         return RTreeUtils.createRTree(harness.getBufferCache(), typeTraits, valueProviderFactories, rtreeCmpFactories,
-                rtreePolicyType, harness.getFileReference(), false, harness.getMetadataManagerFactory());
+                rtreePolicyType, harness.getFileReference(), false, harness.getMetadataManagerFactory(), null, null);
     }
 
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-rtree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/RTreeSearchCursorTest.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-rtree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/RTreeSearchCursorTest.java
index bef7ac7..19672dd 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-rtree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/RTreeSearchCursorTest.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-rtree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/RTreeSearchCursorTest.java
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@
     public static final IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory[] VALUE_PROVIDER_FACTORY =
             RTreeUtils.createPrimitiveValueProviderFactories(CMP_FACTORIES.length, IntegerPointable.FACTORY);
     public static final RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory TUPLE_WRITER_FACTORY =
-            new RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(TYPE_TRAITS);
+            new RTreeTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(TYPE_TRAITS, null, null);
     public static final ITreeIndexMetadataFrameFactory META_FRAME_FACTORY = new LIFOMetaDataFrameFactory();
     public static final ITreeIndexFrameFactory INTERIOR_FRAME_FACTORY = new RTreeNSMInteriorFrameFactory(
             TUPLE_WRITER_FACTORY, VALUE_PROVIDER_FACTORY, RTreePolicyType.RTREE, false);
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-rtree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/multithread/RTreeMultiThreadTest.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-rtree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/multithread/RTreeMultiThreadTest.java
index faa63c5..02c267d 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-rtree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/multithread/RTreeMultiThreadTest.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-rtree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/multithread/RTreeMultiThreadTest.java
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@
             IBinaryComparatorFactory[] btreeCmpFactories, IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory[] valueProviderFactories,
             RTreePolicyType rtreePolicyType, int[] btreeFields) throws HyracksDataException {
         return RTreeUtils.createRTree(harness.getBufferCache(), typeTraits, valueProviderFactories, rtreeCmpFactories,
-                rtreePolicyType, harness.getFileReference(), false, harness.getMetadataManagerFactory());
+                rtreePolicyType, harness.getFileReference(), false, harness.getMetadataManagerFactory(), null, null);
 
     }
 
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-rtree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/utils/RTreeTestContext.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-rtree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/utils/RTreeTestContext.java
index bf70dc1..06ee100 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-rtree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/utils/RTreeTestContext.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-rtree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/utils/RTreeTestContext.java
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@
         ITypeTraits[] typeTraits = SerdeUtils.serdesToTypeTraits(fieldSerdes);
         IBinaryComparatorFactory[] cmpFactories = SerdeUtils.serdesToComparatorFactories(fieldSerdes, numKeyFields);
         RTree rtree = RTreeUtils.createRTree(bufferCache, typeTraits, valueProviderFactories, cmpFactories,
-                rtreePolicyType, file, false, pageManagerFactory);
+                rtreePolicyType, file, false, pageManagerFactory, null, null);
         RTreeTestContext testCtx = new RTreeTestContext(fieldSerdes, rtree);
         return testCtx;
     }