Full Unicode case-mapping parity for case-insensitive field matching
- Dominant language
- C++
- Stars
- 221
- Forks
- 124
- Avg merge
- 1d 16h
- Merged PRs (30d)
- 21
Description
### Context
Issue #613 asks for case-insensitive field matching consistent with iceberg-java and iceberg-python (both Unicode-aware), with `İ` (U+0130) as the example. PR #760 (Part of #613) made `StringUtils::ToLower` Unicode-aware using utf8proc **simple (1:1)** case mapping and added allocation-free ASCII fast paths.
This issue captures the **design and remaining plan** to reach full parity and tracks the follow-up PRs.
### Remaining gap
utf8proc's simple mapping still diverges from java for the few code points where simple ≠ full case mapping — chiefly `İ`:
| input | iceberg-cpp (simple) | iceberg-java `toLowerCase(Locale.ROOT)` / Python `str.lower()` |
|---|---|---|
| `İ` (U+0130) | `i` (U+0069) | `i̇` (U+0069 U+0307) |
So `EqualsIgnoreCase("İD", "id")` is **true** in iceberg-cpp but **false** in java/python — the inconsistency #613 is about.
### Design questions
- Match iceberg-java `toLowerCase(Locale.ROOT)` exactly; confirm the operation PyIceberg uses for matching and that it agrees.
- Full lowercase mapping vs. Unicode case folding: utf8proc offers full case folding (`utf8proc_map` + `UTF8PROC_CASEFOLD`); verify it reproduces the java/python result, or add a small explicit mapping.
- Keep the ASCII fast path; stream the non-ASCII path rather than materialize.
### Work Items
- [ ] Full case mapping to close the `İ` / java-parity gap
- [ ] Streaming / allocation-free non-ASCII comparison in `EqualsIgnoreCase` / `StartsWithIgnoreCase` (deferred from #760)
### References
- Issue: #613 (origin)
Contributor guide
No contributing guide indexed for this repository
Research direction
Start by reviewing StringUtils::ToLower and the EqualsIgnoreCase/StartsWithIgnoreCase paths from PR #760, then compare utf8proc full case folding with iceberg-java and PyIceberg for the İ example. Done means Java/Python-compatible full case mapping, preserved ASCII fast paths, and a streaming or allocation-free non-ASCII comparison path.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- cpp
- Domain
- backend
- Issue type
- Feature
- Difficulty
- 5/5
- Estimated time
- Over a week
- Activity status
- Quiet
- Clarity
- Needs clarification
- Newbie friendliness
- 35/100