diff --git a/.github/workflows/functionsTests.yml b/.github/workflows/functionsTests.yml
index 7d0349a..d3930b1 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/functionsTests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/functionsTests.yml
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
         tests: [
           aggregate,
           append,
+          binary.frame,
           binary.matrix,
           binary.matrix_full_cellwise,
           binary.matrix_full_other,
diff --git a/docs/site/dml-language-reference.md b/docs/site/dml-language-reference.md
index 5d7a96b..f5d9700 100644
--- a/docs/site/dml-language-reference.md
+++ b/docs/site/dml-language-reference.md
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@
     * [Indexing Frames](#indexing-frames)
     * [Casting Frames](#casting-frames)
     * [Transforming Frames](#transforming-frames)
+    * [Processing Frames](#processing-frames)
   * [Modules](#modules)
   * [Reserved Keywords](#reserved-keywords)
 
@@ -2023,6 +2024,47 @@
     2.000 2.000 1.000 2.000 2.500 2.000 2.000 1.000 889.000
     4.000 1.000 1.000 3.000 1.500 1.000 1.000 1.000 628.000
 
+### Processing Frames
+
+Built-In functions <code>dml_map()</code> is supported for frames to execute any arbitrary Java code on a frame.
+
+**Table F5**: Frame dml_map Built-In Function
+
+Function | Description | Parameters | Example
+-------- | ----------- | ---------- | -------
+dml_map() | It will execute the given java code on a frame (column-vector).| Input: (X &lt;frame&gt;, y &lt;String&gt;) <br/>Output: &lt;frame&gt;. <br/> X is a frame and y is a String containing the Java code to be executed on frame X. where X is a column vector. | X = read("file1", data_type="frame", rows=2, cols=3, format="binary") <br/> y = "Java code" <br/> Z = dml_map(X, y) <br/> # Dimensions of Z = Dimensions of X; <br/> example: Z = dml_map(X, "x.charAt(2)")
+Example let X = 
+
+ ##### FRAME: nrow = 10, ncol = 1 <br/>
+    # C1 
+    # STRING 
+    west  
+    south 
+    north 
+    east  
+    south 
+    north 
+    north 
+    west  
+    west
+    east  
+
+Z = dml_map(X, "x.toUpperCase()") <br/>
+print(toString(Z))
+ ##### FRAME: nrow = 10, ncol = 1 <br/>
+    # C1 
+    # STRING 
+    WEST  
+    SOUTH 
+    NORTH 
+    EAST  
+    SOUTH 
+    NORTH 
+    NORTH 
+    WEST  
+    WEST
+    EAST 
+
 
 * * *
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/common/Builtins.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/common/Builtins.java
index 9e14f50..20fad72 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/common/Builtins.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/common/Builtins.java
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@
 	DROP_INVALID_LENGTH("dropInvalidLength", false),
 	EIGEN("eigen", false, ReturnType.MULTI_RETURN),
 	EXISTS("exists", false),
-	ExecutePipeline("executePipeline", true),
+	EXECUTE_PIPELINE("executePipeline", true),
 	EXP("exp", false),
 	EVAL("eval", false),
 	FLOOR("floor", false),
@@ -127,6 +127,7 @@
 	LSTM("lstm", false, ReturnType.MULTI_RETURN),
 	LSTM_BACKWARD("lstm_backward", false, ReturnType.MULTI_RETURN),
 	LU("lu", false, ReturnType.MULTI_RETURN),
+	MAP("map", false),
 	MEAN("mean", "avg", false),
 	MICE("mice", true),
 	MIN("min", "pmin", false),
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/common/Types.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/common/Types.java
index 978c644..651214e 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/common/Types.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/common/Types.java
@@ -267,12 +267,12 @@
 	public enum OpOp2 {
 		AND(true), BITWAND(true), BITWOR(true), BITWSHIFTL(true), BITWSHIFTR(true),
 		BITWXOR(true), CBIND(false), CONCAT(false), COV(false), DIV(true),
-		DROP_INVALID_TYPE(false), DROP_INVALID_LENGTH(false),
-		EQUAL(true), GREATER(true), GREATEREQUAL(true),
-		INTDIV(true), INTERQUANTILE(false), IQM(false), LESS(true), LESSEQUAL(true),
-		LOG(true), MAX(true), MEDIAN(false), MIN(true), MINUS(true), MODULUS(true),
-		MOMENT(false), MULT(true), NOTEQUAL(true), OR(true), PLUS(true), POW(true),
-		PRINT(false), QUANTILE(false), SOLVE(false), RBIND(false), XOR(true),
+		DROP_INVALID_TYPE(false), DROP_INVALID_LENGTH(false), EQUAL(true), GREATER(true),
+		GREATEREQUAL(true), INTDIV(true), INTERQUANTILE(false), IQM(false), LESS(true),
+		LESSEQUAL(true), LOG(true), MAP(false), MAX(true), MEDIAN(false), MIN(true), 
+		MINUS(true), MODULUS(true), MOMENT(false), MULT(true), NOTEQUAL(true), OR(true),
+		PLUS(true), POW(true), PRINT(false), QUANTILE(false), SOLVE(false), RBIND(false),
+		XOR(true),
 		//fused ML-specific operators for performance
 		MINUS_NZ(false), //sparse-safe minus: X-(mean*ppred(X,0,!=))
 		LOG_NZ(false), //sparse-safe log; ppred(X,0,"!=")*log(X,0.5)
@@ -317,6 +317,7 @@
 				case BITWSHIFTR:   return "bitwShiftR";
 				case DROP_INVALID_TYPE: return "dropInvalidType";
 				case DROP_INVALID_LENGTH: return "dropInvalidLength";
+				case MAP:          return "dml_map";
 				default:           return name().toLowerCase();
 			}
 		}
@@ -350,6 +351,7 @@
 				case "bitwShiftR":  return BITWSHIFTR;
 				case "dropInvalidType": return DROP_INVALID_TYPE;
 				case "dropInvalidLength": return DROP_INVALID_LENGTH;
+				case "map":         return MAP;
 				default:            return valueOf(opcode.toUpperCase());
 			}
 		}
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/hops/BinaryOp.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/hops/BinaryOp.java
index 586d675..cc5d58d 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/hops/BinaryOp.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/hops/BinaryOp.java
@@ -1054,7 +1054,10 @@
 	{
 		if( !(that instanceof BinaryOp) )
 			return false;
-		
+
+		if(op == OpOp2.MAP)
+			return false; // custom UDFs
+
 		BinaryOp that2 = (BinaryOp)that;
 		return (   op == that2.op
 				&& outer == that2.outer
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/parser/BuiltinFunctionExpression.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/parser/BuiltinFunctionExpression.java
index 7db411c..088e740 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/parser/BuiltinFunctionExpression.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/parser/BuiltinFunctionExpression.java
@@ -1549,6 +1549,16 @@
 			output.setValueType(id.getValueType());
 			break;
 
+		case MAP:
+			checkNumParameters(2);
+			checkMatrixFrameParam(getFirstExpr());
+			checkScalarParam(getSecondExpr());
+			output.setDataType(DataType.FRAME);
+			output.setDimensions(id.getDim1(), 1);
+			output.setBlocksize (id.getBlocksize());
+			output.setValueType(ValueType.STRING);
+			break;
+
 		default:
 			if( isMathFunction() ) {
 				checkMathFunctionParam();
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/parser/DMLTranslator.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/parser/DMLTranslator.java
index 4747bfe..c2e0f95 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/parser/DMLTranslator.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/parser/DMLTranslator.java
@@ -2536,6 +2536,7 @@
 			break;
 		case DROP_INVALID_TYPE:
 		case DROP_INVALID_LENGTH:
+		case MAP:
 			currBuiltinOp = new BinaryOp(target.getName(), target.getDataType(),
 				target.getValueType(), OpOp2.valueOf(source.getOpCode().name()), expr, expr2);
 			break;
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/runtime/functionobjects/Builtin.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/runtime/functionobjects/Builtin.java
index 5d66c15..3022c5d 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/runtime/functionobjects/Builtin.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/runtime/functionobjects/Builtin.java
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@
 	public enum BuiltinCode { SIN, COS, TAN, SINH, COSH, TANH, ASIN, ACOS, ATAN, LOG, LOG_NZ, MIN,
 		MAX, ABS, SIGN, SQRT, EXP, PLOGP, PRINT, PRINTF, NROW, NCOL, LENGTH, LINEAGE, ROUND, MAXINDEX, MININDEX,
 		STOP, CEIL, FLOOR, CUMSUM, CUMPROD, CUMMIN, CUMMAX, CUMSUMPROD, INVERSE, SPROP, SIGMOID, EVAL, LIST,
-		TYPEOF, DETECTSCHEMA, ISNA, ISNAN, ISINF, DROP_INVALID_TYPE, DROP_INVALID_LENGTH,
+		TYPEOF, DETECTSCHEMA, ISNA, ISNAN, ISINF, DROP_INVALID_TYPE, DROP_INVALID_LENGTH, DML_MAP,
 		COUNT_DISTINCT, COUNT_DISTINCT_APPROX}
 
 
@@ -107,6 +107,7 @@
 		String2BuiltinCode.put( "isinf", BuiltinCode.ISINF);
 		String2BuiltinCode.put( "dropInvalidType", BuiltinCode.DROP_INVALID_TYPE);
 		String2BuiltinCode.put( "dropInvalidLength", BuiltinCode.DROP_INVALID_LENGTH);
+		String2BuiltinCode.put( "dml_map", BuiltinCode.DML_MAP);
 	}
 	
 	private Builtin(BuiltinCode bf) {
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/runtime/instructions/CPInstructionParser.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/runtime/instructions/CPInstructionParser.java
index d280b16..f8a2636 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/runtime/instructions/CPInstructionParser.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/runtime/instructions/CPInstructionParser.java
@@ -154,6 +154,7 @@
 		String2CPInstructionType.put( "min"  , CPType.Binary);
 		String2CPInstructionType.put( "dropInvalidType"  , CPType.Binary);
 		String2CPInstructionType.put( "dropInvalidLength"  , CPType.Binary);
+		String2CPInstructionType.put( "dml_map"  , CPType.Binary);
 
 		String2CPInstructionType.put( "nmax", CPType.BuiltinNary);
 		String2CPInstructionType.put( "nmin", CPType.BuiltinNary);
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/runtime/instructions/SPInstructionParser.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/runtime/instructions/SPInstructionParser.java
index b4104e1..42bf6f9 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/runtime/instructions/SPInstructionParser.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/runtime/instructions/SPInstructionParser.java
@@ -179,6 +179,7 @@
 		String2SPInstructionType.put( "map-*",    SPType.Binary);
 		String2SPInstructionType.put( "dropInvalidType", SPType.Binary);
 		String2SPInstructionType.put( "mapdropInvalidLength", SPType.Binary);
+		String2SPInstructionType.put( "dml_map", SPType.Binary);
 		// Relational Instruction Opcodes
 		String2SPInstructionType.put( "=="   , SPType.Binary);
 		String2SPInstructionType.put( "!="   , SPType.Binary);
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/runtime/instructions/cp/BinaryCPInstruction.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/runtime/instructions/cp/BinaryCPInstruction.java
index bd87a15..2f0aad4 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/runtime/instructions/cp/BinaryCPInstruction.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/runtime/instructions/cp/BinaryCPInstruction.java
@@ -57,6 +57,8 @@
 			return new BinaryFrameFrameCPInstruction(operator, in1, in2, out, opcode, str);
 		else if (in1.getDataType() == DataType.FRAME && in2.getDataType() == DataType.MATRIX)
 			return new BinaryFrameMatrixCPInstruction(operator, in1, in2, out, opcode, str);
+		else if (in1.getDataType() == DataType.FRAME && in2.getDataType() == DataType.SCALAR)
+			return new BinaryFrameScalarCPInstruction(operator, in1, in2, out, opcode, str);
 		else
 			return new BinaryMatrixScalarCPInstruction(operator, in1, in2, out, opcode, str);
 	}
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/runtime/instructions/cp/BinaryFrameScalarCPInstruction.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/runtime/instructions/cp/BinaryFrameScalarCPInstruction.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bcf7cb5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/runtime/instructions/cp/BinaryFrameScalarCPInstruction.java
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.apache.sysds.runtime.instructions.cp;
+
+import org.apache.sysds.runtime.controlprogram.context.ExecutionContext;
+import org.apache.sysds.runtime.matrix.data.FrameBlock;
+import org.apache.sysds.runtime.matrix.operators.Operator;
+
+public class BinaryFrameScalarCPInstruction extends BinaryCPInstruction
+{
+	protected BinaryFrameScalarCPInstruction(Operator op, CPOperand in1,
+			CPOperand in2, CPOperand out, String opcode, String istr) {
+		super(CPType.Binary, op, in1, in2, out, opcode, istr);
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	public void processInstruction(ExecutionContext ec)  {
+		// get input frames
+		FrameBlock inBlock = ec.getFrameInput(input1.getName());
+		String stringExpression = ec.getScalarInput(input2).getStringValue();
+		//compute results
+		FrameBlock outBlock = inBlock.map(stringExpression);
+		// Attach result frame with FrameBlock associated with output_name
+		ec.setFrameOutput(output.getName(), outBlock);
+		// Release the memory occupied by input frames
+		ec.releaseFrameInput(input1.getName());
+	}
+}
+
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/runtime/instructions/spark/BinaryFrameFrameSPInstruction.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/runtime/instructions/spark/BinaryFrameFrameSPInstruction.java
index 6966178..deb8fb4 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/runtime/instructions/spark/BinaryFrameFrameSPInstruction.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/runtime/instructions/spark/BinaryFrameFrameSPInstruction.java
@@ -22,11 +22,8 @@
 import org.apache.spark.api.java.JavaPairRDD;
 import org.apache.spark.api.java.function.Function;
 import org.apache.spark.broadcast.Broadcast;
-import org.apache.sysds.common.Types;
-import org.apache.sysds.runtime.DMLRuntimeException;
 import org.apache.sysds.runtime.controlprogram.context.ExecutionContext;
 import org.apache.sysds.runtime.controlprogram.context.SparkExecutionContext;
-import org.apache.sysds.runtime.instructions.InstructionUtils;
 import org.apache.sysds.runtime.instructions.cp.CPOperand;
 import org.apache.sysds.runtime.matrix.data.FrameBlock;
 import org.apache.sysds.runtime.matrix.operators.BinaryOperator;
@@ -34,25 +31,11 @@
 import scala.Tuple2;
 
 public class BinaryFrameFrameSPInstruction extends BinarySPInstruction {
-	protected BinaryFrameFrameSPInstruction(Operator op, CPOperand in1, CPOperand in2, CPOperand out, String opcode, String istr) {
+	protected BinaryFrameFrameSPInstruction(Operator op, CPOperand in1, CPOperand in2, CPOperand out,
+			String opcode, String istr) {
 		super(SPType.Binary, op, in1, in2, out, opcode, istr);
 	}
 
-	public static BinarySPInstruction parseInstruction ( String str) {
-		String[] parts = InstructionUtils.getInstructionPartsWithValueType(str);
-		InstructionUtils.checkNumFields (parts, 3);
-		String opcode = parts[0];
-		CPOperand in1 = new CPOperand(parts[1]);
-		CPOperand in2 = new CPOperand(parts[2]);
-		CPOperand out = new CPOperand(parts[3]);
-		Types.DataType dt1 = in1.getDataType();
-		Types.DataType dt2 = in2.getDataType();
-		Operator operator = InstructionUtils.parseBinaryOrBuiltinOperator(opcode, in1, in2);
-		if(dt1 == Types.DataType.FRAME && dt2 == Types.DataType.FRAME)
-			return new BinaryFrameFrameSPInstruction(operator, in1, in2, out, opcode, str);
-		else
-			throw new DMLRuntimeException("Frame binary operation not yet implemented for frame-scalar, or frame-matrix");
-	}
 
 	@Override
 	public void processInstruction(ExecutionContext ec) {
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/runtime/instructions/spark/BinaryFrameScalarSPInstruction.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/runtime/instructions/spark/BinaryFrameScalarSPInstruction.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a395c16
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/runtime/instructions/spark/BinaryFrameScalarSPInstruction.java
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.apache.sysds.runtime.instructions.spark;
+
+import org.apache.spark.api.java.JavaPairRDD;
+import org.apache.spark.api.java.function.Function;
+import org.apache.sysds.runtime.controlprogram.context.ExecutionContext;
+import org.apache.sysds.runtime.controlprogram.context.SparkExecutionContext;
+import org.apache.sysds.runtime.instructions.cp.CPOperand;
+import org.apache.sysds.runtime.matrix.data.FrameBlock;
+import org.apache.sysds.runtime.matrix.operators.Operator;
+
+public class BinaryFrameScalarSPInstruction extends BinarySPInstruction {
+	protected BinaryFrameScalarSPInstruction (Operator op, CPOperand in1, CPOperand in2, CPOperand out,
+			String opcode, String istr) {
+		super(SPType.Binary, op, in1, in2, out, opcode, istr);
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	public void processInstruction(ExecutionContext ec) {
+		SparkExecutionContext sec = (SparkExecutionContext)ec;
+
+		// Get input RDDs
+		JavaPairRDD<Long, FrameBlock> in1 = sec.getFrameBinaryBlockRDDHandleForVariable(input1.getName());
+		String expression = sec.getScalarInput(input2).getStringValue();
+
+		// Create local compiled functions (once) and execute on RDD
+		JavaPairRDD<Long, FrameBlock> out = in1.mapValues(new RDDStringProcessing(expression));
+
+		sec.setRDDHandleForVariable(output.getName(), out);
+		sec.addLineageRDD(output.getName(), input1.getName());
+	}
+
+	private static class RDDStringProcessing implements Function<FrameBlock,FrameBlock> {
+		private static final long serialVersionUID = 5850400295183766400L;
+
+		private String _expr = null;
+
+		public RDDStringProcessing(String expr) {
+			_expr = expr;
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public FrameBlock call(FrameBlock arg0) throws Exception {
+			return arg0.map(_expr);
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/runtime/instructions/spark/BinarySPInstruction.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/runtime/instructions/spark/BinarySPInstruction.java
index ee96dc9..f4f98dc 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/runtime/instructions/spark/BinarySPInstruction.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/runtime/instructions/spark/BinarySPInstruction.java
@@ -109,7 +109,9 @@
 		}
 		else if( dt1 == DataType.FRAME || dt2 == DataType.FRAME ) {
 			if(dt1 == DataType.FRAME && dt2 == DataType.FRAME)
-				return BinaryFrameFrameSPInstruction.parseInstruction(str);
+				return new BinaryFrameFrameSPInstruction(operator, in1, in2, out, opcode, str);
+			if(dt1 == DataType.FRAME && dt2 == DataType.SCALAR)
+				return  new BinaryFrameScalarSPInstruction(operator, in1, in2, out, opcode, str);
 
 		}
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/runtime/matrix/data/FrameBlock.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/runtime/matrix/data/FrameBlock.java
index 8a094d0..d5ee5a7 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/runtime/matrix/data/FrameBlock.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/runtime/matrix/data/FrameBlock.java
@@ -47,7 +47,9 @@
 import org.apache.sysds.api.DMLException;
 import org.apache.sysds.common.Types.ValueType;
 import org.apache.sysds.runtime.DMLRuntimeException;
+import org.apache.sysds.runtime.codegen.CodegenUtils;
 import org.apache.sysds.runtime.controlprogram.caching.CacheBlock;
+import org.apache.sysds.runtime.controlprogram.parfor.util.IDSequence;
 import org.apache.sysds.runtime.functionobjects.ValueComparisonFunction;
 import org.apache.sysds.runtime.instructions.cp.*;
 import org.apache.sysds.runtime.io.IOUtilFunctions;
@@ -59,9 +61,9 @@
 
 @SuppressWarnings({"rawtypes","unchecked"}) //allow generic native arrays
 public class FrameBlock implements CacheBlock, Externalizable  {
-	private static final Log LOG = LogFactory.getLog(FrameBlock.class.getName());
-	
 	private static final long serialVersionUID = -3993450030207130665L;
+	private static final Log LOG = LogFactory.getLog(FrameBlock.class.getName());
+	private static final IDSequence CLASS_ID = new IDSequence();
 	
 	public static final int BUFFER_SIZE = 1 * 1000 * 1000; //1M elements, size of default matrix block 
 
@@ -2078,4 +2080,56 @@
 		mergedFrame.appendRow(rowTemp1);
 		return mergedFrame;
 	}
+
+	public FrameBlock map(String lambdaExpr) {
+		return map(getCompiledFunction(lambdaExpr));
+	}
+	
+	public FrameBlock map(FrameMapFunction lambdaExpr) {
+		// Prepare temporary output array
+		String[][] output = new String[getNumRows()][getNumColumns()];
+		
+		// Execute map function on all cells
+		for(int j=0; j<getNumColumns(); j++) {
+			Array input = getColumn(j);
+			for (int i = 0; i < input._size; i++)
+				if(input.get(i) != null)
+					output[i][j] = lambdaExpr.apply(String.valueOf(input.get(i)));
+		}
+
+		return  new FrameBlock(UtilFunctions.nCopies(getNumColumns(), ValueType.STRING), output);
+	}
+
+	public static FrameMapFunction getCompiledFunction(String lambdaExpr) {
+		// split lambda expression
+		String[] parts = lambdaExpr.split("->");
+		if( parts.length != 2 )
+			throw new DMLRuntimeException("Unsupported lambda expression: "+lambdaExpr);
+		String varname = parts[0].trim();
+		String expr = parts[1].trim();
+		
+		// construct class code
+		String cname = "StringProcessing"+CLASS_ID.getNextID();
+		StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
+		sb.append("import org.apache.sysds.runtime.util.UtilFunctions;\n");
+		sb.append("import org.apache.sysds.runtime.matrix.data.FrameBlock.FrameMapFunction;\n");
+		sb.append("public class "+cname+" extends FrameMapFunction {\n");
+		sb.append("@Override\n");
+		sb.append("public String apply(String "+varname+") {\n");
+		sb.append("  return String.valueOf("+expr+"); }}\n");
+
+		// compile class, and create FrameMapFunction object
+		try {
+			return (FrameMapFunction) CodegenUtils
+				.compileClass(cname, sb.toString()).newInstance();
+		}
+		catch(InstantiationException | IllegalAccessException e) {
+			throw new DMLRuntimeException("Failed to compile FrameMapFunction.", e);
+		}
+	}
+
+	public static abstract class FrameMapFunction implements Serializable {
+		private static final long serialVersionUID = -8398572153616520873L;
+		public abstract String apply(String input);
+	}
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/runtime/util/UtilFunctions.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/runtime/util/UtilFunctions.java
index 77149d1..bb98f5c 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/runtime/util/UtilFunctions.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/sysds/runtime/util/UtilFunctions.java
@@ -19,12 +19,9 @@
 
 package org.apache.sysds.runtime.util;
 
-import java.util.ArrayList;
-import java.util.Arrays;
-import java.util.BitSet;
-import java.util.HashSet;
-import java.util.List;
-import java.util.Set;
+import java.text.ParseException;
+import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;
+import java.util.*;
 
 import org.apache.commons.lang.ArrayUtils;
 import org.apache.commons.math3.random.RandomDataGenerator;
@@ -794,4 +791,49 @@
 				break;
 		}
 	}
+	
+	private static final Map<String, String> DATE_FORMATS = new HashMap<String, String>() {
+		private static final long serialVersionUID = 6826162458614520846L; {
+		put("^\\d{4}-\\d{1,2}-\\d{1,2}\\s\\d{1,2}:\\d{2}:\\d{2}$", "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss");
+		put("^\\d{1,2}-\\d{1,2}-\\d{4}\\s\\d{1,2}:\\d{2}:\\d{2}$", "dd-MM-yyyy HH:mm:ss");
+		put("^\\d{1,2}/\\d{1,2}/\\d{4}\\s\\d{1,2}:\\d{2}:\\d{2}$", "MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm:ss");
+		put("^\\d{4}/\\d{1,2}/\\d{1,2}\\s\\d{1,2}:\\d{2}:\\d{2}$", "yyyy/MM/dd HH:mm:ss");
+		put("^\\d{1,2}\\s[a-z]{3}\\s\\d{4}\\s\\d{1,2}:\\d{2}:\\d{2}$", "dd MMM yyyy HH:mm:ss");
+		put("^\\d{1,2}\\s[a-z]{4,}\\s\\d{4}\\s\\d{1,2}:\\d{2}:\\d{2}$", "dd MMMM yyyy HH:mm:ss");
+		put("^\\d{8}$", "yyyyMMdd");
+		put("^\\d{1,2}-\\d{1,2}-\\d{4}$", "dd-MM-yyyy");
+		put("^\\d{4}-\\d{1,2}-\\d{1,2}$", "yyyy-MM-dd");
+		put("^\\d{1,2}/\\d{1,2}/\\d{4}$", "MM/dd/yyyy");
+		put("^\\d{4}/\\d{1,2}/\\d{1,2}$", "yyyy/MM/dd");
+		put("^\\d{1,2}\\s[a-z]{3}\\s\\d{4}$", "dd MMM yyyy");
+		put("^\\d{1,2}\\s[a-z]{4,}\\s\\d{4}$", "dd MMMM yyyy");
+		put("^\\d{12}$", "yyyyMMddHHmm");
+		put("^\\d{8}\\s\\d{4}$", "yyyyMMdd HHmm");
+		put("^\\d{1,2}-\\d{1,2}-\\d{4}\\s\\d{1,2}:\\d{2}$", "dd-MM-yyyy HH:mm");
+		put("^\\d{4}-\\d{1,2}-\\d{1,2}\\s\\d{1,2}:\\d{2}$", "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm");
+		put("^\\d{1,2}/\\d{1,2}/\\d{4}\\s\\d{1,2}:\\d{2}$", "MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm");
+		put("^\\d{4}/\\d{1,2}/\\d{1,2}\\s\\d{1,2}:\\d{2}$", "yyyy/MM/dd HH:mm");
+		put("^\\d{1,2}\\s[a-z]{3}\\s\\d{4}\\s\\d{1,2}:\\d{2}$", "dd MMM yyyy HH:mm");
+		put("^\\d{1,2}\\s[a-z]{4,}\\s\\d{4}\\s\\d{1,2}:\\d{2}$", "dd MMMM yyyy HH:mm");
+		put("^\\d{14}$", "yyyyMMddHHmmss");
+		put("^\\d{8}\\s\\d{6}$", "yyyyMMdd HHmmss");
+	}};
+
+	public static long toMillis (String dateString) {
+		long value = 0;
+		try {
+			value = new SimpleDateFormat(getDateFormat(dateString)).parse(dateString).getTime();
+		}
+		catch(ParseException e) {
+			throw new DMLRuntimeException(e);
+		}
+		return value ;
+	}
+
+	private static String getDateFormat (String dateString) {
+		return DATE_FORMATS.keySet().parallelStream().filter(e -> dateString.toLowerCase().matches(e)).findFirst()
+			.map(DATE_FORMATS::get).orElseThrow(() -> new NullPointerException("Unknown date format."));
+	}
+
+
 }
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/sysds/test/functions/binary/frame/FrameMapTest.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/sysds/test/functions/binary/frame/FrameMapTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..db5e0ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/sysds/test/functions/binary/frame/FrameMapTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,176 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.apache.sysds.test.functions.binary.frame;
+
+import org.apache.sysds.common.Types;
+import org.apache.sysds.common.Types.FileFormat;
+import org.apache.sysds.lops.LopProperties.ExecType;
+import org.apache.sysds.runtime.io.FrameWriterFactory;
+import org.apache.sysds.runtime.matrix.data.FrameBlock;
+import org.apache.sysds.runtime.util.UtilFunctions;
+import org.apache.sysds.test.AutomatedTestBase;
+import org.apache.sysds.test.TestConfiguration;
+import org.apache.sysds.test.TestUtils;
+import org.junit.AfterClass;
+import org.junit.BeforeClass;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+public class FrameMapTest extends AutomatedTestBase {
+	private final static String TEST_NAME = "dmlMap";
+	private final static String TEST_DIR = "functions/binary/frame/";
+	private static final String TEST_CLASS_DIR = TEST_DIR + FrameMapTest.class.getSimpleName() + "/";
+
+	private final static int rows = 100005;
+	private final static int rows2 = 10;
+	private final static Types.ValueType[] schemaStrings1 = {Types.ValueType.STRING};
+
+	static enum TestType {
+		SPLIT,
+		CHAR_AT,
+		REPLACE,
+		UPPER_CASE,
+		DATE_UTILS
+	}
+	@BeforeClass
+	public static void init() {
+		TestUtils.clearDirectory(TEST_DATA_DIR + TEST_CLASS_DIR);
+	}
+
+	@AfterClass
+	public static void cleanUp() {
+		if (TEST_CACHE_ENABLED) {
+			TestUtils.clearDirectory(TEST_DATA_DIR + TEST_CLASS_DIR);
+		}
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	public void setUp() {
+		TestUtils.clearAssertionInformation();
+		addTestConfiguration(TEST_NAME, new TestConfiguration(TEST_CLASS_DIR, TEST_NAME, new String[] {"D"}));
+		if (TEST_CACHE_ENABLED) {
+			setOutAndExpectedDeletionDisabled(true);
+		}
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testUpperCaseOperationCP() {
+		runDmlMapTest("x -> x.toUpperCase()", TestType.UPPER_CASE, ExecType.CP);
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testSplitOperationCP() {
+		runDmlMapTest("x -> x.split(\"r\")[1]", TestType.SPLIT, ExecType.CP);
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testChatAtOperationCP() {
+		runDmlMapTest("y -> y.charAt(0)", TestType.CHAR_AT, ExecType.CP);
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testReplaceOperationCP() {
+		runDmlMapTest("x -> x.replaceAll(\"[a-zA-Z]\", \"\")", TestType.REPLACE, ExecType.CP);
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testDateUtilsOperationCP() {
+		runDmlMapTest("x -> UtilFunctions.toMillis(x)", TestType.DATE_UTILS, ExecType.CP);
+	}
+	
+	@Test
+	public void testSplitOperationSP() {
+		runDmlMapTest("x -> x.split(\"r\")[1]", TestType.SPLIT, ExecType.SPARK);
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testChatAtOperationSP() {
+		runDmlMapTest("y -> y.charAt(0)", TestType.CHAR_AT, ExecType.SPARK);
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testDateUtilsOperationSp() {
+		runDmlMapTest("x -> UtilFunctions.toMillis(x)", TestType.DATE_UTILS, ExecType.SPARK);
+	}
+
+	private void runDmlMapTest( String expression, TestType type, ExecType et)
+	{
+		Types.ExecMode platformOld = setExecMode(et);
+
+		try {
+			getAndLoadTestConfiguration(TEST_NAME);
+
+			String HOME = SCRIPT_DIR + TEST_DIR;
+			fullDMLScriptName = HOME + TEST_NAME + ".dml";
+			programArgs = new String[] { "-stats","-args", input("A"), expression,
+										output("O"), output("I")};
+
+			if(type == TestType.DATE_UTILS) {
+				String[][] date = new String[rows2][1];
+				for(int i = 0; i<rows2; i++)
+					date[i][0] = (i%30)+"/"+(i%12)+"/200"+(i%20);
+				FrameWriterFactory.createFrameWriter(FileFormat.CSV).
+					writeFrameToHDFS(new FrameBlock(schemaStrings1, date), input("A"), rows2, 1);
+			}
+			else {
+				double[][] A = getRandomMatrix(rows, 1, 0, 1, 1, 2);
+				writeInputFrameWithMTD("A", A, true, schemaStrings1, FileFormat.CSV);
+			}
+
+			setOutputBuffering(false);
+			runTest(true, false, null, -1);
+
+			FrameBlock outputFrame = readDMLFrameFromHDFS("O", FileFormat.CSV);
+			FrameBlock inputFrame = readDMLFrameFromHDFS("I", FileFormat.CSV);
+
+			String[] output = (String[])outputFrame.getColumnData(0);
+			String[] input = (String[])inputFrame.getColumnData(0);
+
+			switch (type) {
+				case SPLIT:
+					for(int i = 0; i<input.length; i++)
+						TestUtils.compareScalars(input[i].split("r")[1], output[i]);
+					break;
+				case CHAR_AT:
+					for(int i = 0; i<input.length; i++)
+						TestUtils.compareScalars(String.valueOf(input[i].charAt(0)), output[i]);
+					break;
+				case REPLACE:
+					for(int i = 0; i<input.length; i++)
+						TestUtils.compareScalars(String.valueOf(input[i].
+							replaceAll("[a-zA-Z]", "")), output[i]);
+					break;
+				case UPPER_CASE:
+					for(int i = 0; i<input.length; i++)
+						TestUtils.compareScalars(String.valueOf(input[i].toUpperCase()), output[i]);
+					break;
+				case DATE_UTILS:
+					for(int i =0; i<input.length; i++)
+						TestUtils.compareScalars(String.valueOf(UtilFunctions.toMillis(input[i])), output[i]);
+					break;
+			}
+		}
+		catch (Exception ex) {
+			throw new RuntimeException(ex);
+		}
+		finally {
+			resetExecMode(platformOld);
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/src/test/scripts/functions/binary/frame/dmlMap.dml b/src/test/scripts/functions/binary/frame/dmlMap.dml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..482c37e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/scripts/functions/binary/frame/dmlMap.dml
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+#-------------------------------------------------------------
+#
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+# with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+# 
+#   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+# 
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+# software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+# "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+# KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+# specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+#
+#-------------------------------------------------------------
+
+# input: 1) frame, 2) lamba expression to execute for each non-null cell
+# output: frame of string columns
+
+# Examples: 
+#   map(X, "x -> x.split(\"r\")[1]")
+#   map(X, "x -> x.charAt(2)")
+#   map(X, "y -> UtilFunctions.toMillis(y)")
+
+X = read($1, data_type = "frame", format = "csv", header = FALSE)
+# column vector and string operation
+Y = map(X, $2)
+write(Y, $3,  format="csv")
+write(X, $4,  format="csv")
\ No newline at end of file