lance-format / lance-format/lance

Support version metadata when writing a dataset

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A-python enhancement help wanted rust
Dominant language
Rust
Stars
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Forks
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Avg merge
3d 18h
Merged PRs (30d)
272

Description

Motivation

Version metadata can be used for debugging and lineage tracking

Proto definition

  1. Deprecate https://github.com/lancedb/lance/blob/cb092db625baade0b5568c1a98039e5a991d48e8/protos/table.proto#L134-L139
  2. Make it an optional field instead

Write

  1. Add Rust struct for VersionAuxData (https://github.com/eto-ai/lance/blob/main/protos/format.proto#L79) along with pb<>rust conversion traits
  2. Write the aux data section similar to how index metadata is written (https://github.com/eto-ai/lance/blob/main/rust/src/io/writer.rs#L79). write_manifest should take additional version metadata as parameter
    note make sure the version_aux_data file position is tested

Read

  1. Add fn to read version aux data in the Version struct (https://github.com/eto-ai/lance/blob/main/rust/src/dataset.rs#L66)
  2. Instead of returning a PyDict for each version (https://github.com/eto-ai/lance/blob/main/python/src/dataset.rs#L182), create a pyo3 struct Version that is exposed to python. This struct should have a function to read the aux data and cache it in memory.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start with protos/table.proto and protos/format.proto, then inspect Rust's existing index metadata writing in rust/src/io/writer.rs. Trace Version in rust/src/dataset.rs and the current Python version representation in python/src/dataset.rs. Done means version auxiliary data is written and readable through the exposed Python Version, with its file position covered by a test.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
python, rust
Domain
data-engineering
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Clearly specified
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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