apache / apache/parquet-java

Parquet protobuf: List wrapper should be optional

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#2,133 0 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
Component: Java Component: Parquet Priority: Minor Type: bug
Dominant language
Java
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Description

Following  , parquet-protobuf will conform to the specs[1] regarding the definition of lists and will adopt the 3-level structure:
```java

*required* group my_list (LIST) {
repeated group list {
optional binary element (UTF8);
}
}
```
The first level has the repetition level **required**, however this won't allow making the distinction between a null list and an empty one.

This ticket is for changing the root level repetition to **optional** as following:
```java

*optional* group my_list (LIST) {
repeated group list {
optional binary element (UTF8);
}
}
```
This will allow differentiating between null and empty lists.

[1] https://github.com/apache/parquet-format/blob/master/LogicalTypes.md#lists

**Reporter**: [Benoit Hanotte](https://issues.apache.org/jira/secure/ViewProfile.jspa?name=b.hanotte)

**Note**: *This issue was originally created as [PARQUET-1216](https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/PARQUET-1216). Please see the [migration documentation](https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/PARQUET-2502) for further details.*

Contributor guide

No contributing guide indexed for this repository

Research direction

Start by locating the parquet-protobuf implementation of list schemas and compare it with the Parquet lists specification linked in the issue and the referenced parquet-mr change. Done means the root LIST group is optional, while the nested list and element structure remains as shown, allowing null and empty lists to be distinguished.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
java
Domain
data-engineering
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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