oxidecomputer / oxidecomputer/omicron

Oximeter could support `std::time::Duration` as a measurement type

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enhancement Metrics oximeter
Dominant language
Rust
Stars
572
Forks
97
Avg merge
2d 12h
Merged PRs (30d)
96

Description

We currently support float and integer numeric measurement types. So to represent a duration, one needs to pick a unit and make that clear somehow. Using an f64 with seconds as the unit is a natural choice, but may not be the easiest to work with. We could support std::time::Durations directly, which would remove ambiguity and allow folks to work with whatever scale is natural to their application.

We could convert this to f64s on the way to / from ClickHouse in seconds; use a fixed precision, say u64s in nanoseconds; or use the INTERVAL type. The latter seems like the safest, but it's not clear how well-supported that is on our version of ClickHouse (v22.8.9.24-1).

Contributor guide

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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 by tracing Oximeter's existing float and integer measurement handling, then check how ClickHouse v22.8.9.24-1 supports INTERVAL and compare the proposed seconds, nanoseconds, and INTERVAL representations. Done means selecting a representation and supporting std::time::Duration measurements end to end without unit ambiguity.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
rust
Domain
backend, databases
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
30/100

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