@Test
  public void testAlterPartitionsNullPartitionList() throws Exception {
    try {
      createTable4PartColsParts(client);
      Partition part = client.listPartitions(DB_NAME, TABLE_NAME, (short)-1).get(0);
      client.alter_partitions(DB_NAME, TABLE_NAME, null);
      fail("Should have thrown exception");
    } catch (NullPointerException | TTransportException | TProtocolException e) {
      //TODO: should not throw different exceptions for different HMS deployment types
    }
  }
Testing
   alter_partitions(String,String,List(Partition)) ->
   alter_partitions_with_environment_context(String,String,List(Partition),null).
standalone-metastore/metastore-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/metastore/client/TestAlterPartitions.java