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feat(ipc): Add ArrowIpcWriterSetMessageMetadata - #967
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Message::custom_metadata can be attached through the encoder (ArrowIpcEncoderSetMessageMetadata), but an ArrowIpcWriter's encoder is private, so a writer could not attach metadata to the RecordBatch messages it writes. The new function holds the metadata in the writer and attaches it to the next RecordBatch, not to DictionaryBatch messages written ahead of it (by ArrowIpcWriterWriteDictionaryBatch() or within ArrowIpcWriterWriteArrayStream()). Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
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## main #967 +/- ##
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+ Coverage 78.44% 78.45% +0.01%
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paleolimbot
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Codex kindly reminded me that if writing the batch returns an error code for some reason that the metadata will still be queued for the next batch. I'm not sure if that matters in practice, possibly just something to document so that the caller knows to clear the metadata if that matters.
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`ArrowIpcWriterWriteArrayStream()` writes the DictionaryBatch messages each array depends on, but only when it is given a whole `ArrowArrayStream`. A caller that produces batches one at a time and writes them with `ArrowIpcWriterWriteArrayView()` has no public way to get those dictionaries written. It would have to work out the dictionary IDs itself, matching the depth-first order the schema encoder assigns them in, and call `ArrowIpcWriterWriteDictionaryBatch()` for each one. This PR adds `ArrowIpcWriterWriteArrayViewWithDictionaries(writer, view, error)`. It writes a DictionaryBatch for each dictionary-encoded field of the view and then the RecordBatch. That is the same per-array step `WriteArrayStream()` already performs, and `WriteArrayStream()` now calls the new function, so there is one code path. The behavior is unchanged: every dictionary is written in full before every RecordBatch, and file mode has the same limits as `WriteArrayStream()`. The doc comment says so rather than promising anything beyond that. Things worth a look in review: - #928 changes how `WriteArrayStream()` writes dictionaries. It skips a dictionary that is unchanged from the previous batch, and writes nested dictionaries before their parent. Because it does that by keeping the previous `ArrowArray` alive and comparing buffer addresses, the skip can't apply here: this function only gets a borrowed view. The other #928 changes (dependency-first order, file-mode bookkeeping) would apply here too, because the two paths share the helper. Whichever lands second needs a small rebase in `writer.c` and in `MakeDictionaryStructArray`, which I've extended with the same `value1` parameter #928 adds. I can do that rebase. - `in` must not be NULL (a DCHECK, matching `ArrowIpcWriterWriteDictionaryBatch()`). EOS still goes through `ArrowIpcWriterWriteArrayView(writer, NULL, ...)`. Motivation: I'm moving the IPC layer of a DuckDB extension from Arrow C++ to nanoarrow. It writes one batch at a time to a worker process, and DuckDB `ENUM` columns arrive as dictionary arrays. This is the batch-at-a-time version of what `WriteArrayStream()` already does. Together with #967 (`ArrowIpcWriterSetMessageMetadata`), it covers what the extension needed from Arrow C++'s `RecordBatchWriter::WriteRecordBatch()`. Tests: - `WriteArrayViewWithDictionariesMatchesArrayStream` writes a dictionary-encoded batch through the new function and through `WriteArrayStream()`, and checks the bytes are identical. - `WriteArrayViewWithDictionariesPerBatch` writes two batches with different dictionaries one at a time. It checks the message sequence (schema, dictionary, batch, dictionary, batch) and that the reader resolves each batch against its own dictionary. ctest passes locally (macOS arm64, Debug, ZSTD/LZ4, 390 tests). One run hit a single failure in `NanoarrowIntegrationTestBatch`, which doesn't touch the writer. It didn't recur in isolation or in five more full runs. The IPC writer and reader tests are clean under ASan/UBSan. 🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code) Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 5.5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
…ge-metadata # Conflicts: # src/nanoarrow/ipc/writer_test.cc
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
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ArrowIpcEncoderSetMessageMetadata()(#924, narrowed in #937) attachesMessage::custom_metadatato the next message an encoder encodes. AnArrowIpcWriterkeeps its encoder private, though, so a caller using the writer has no way to attach metadata to the RecordBatch messages it writes. The only option is to drop down to the encoder and redo the writer's framing, footer bookkeeping and dictionary handling by hand.This PR adds
ArrowIpcWriterSetMessageMetadata(writer, metadata, error). The writer holds the metadata and attaches it to the next RecordBatch message written byArrowIpcWriterWriteArrayView()orArrowIpcWriterWriteArrayStream(). The metadata applies to that one message. PassingNULLclears metadata that has been set but not yet written. Like the encoder function, it takes ownership of the buffer.The metadata is held by the writer rather than set on the encoder right away. Setting it on the encoder would attach it to whichever message is encoded next, and that can be a DictionaryBatch written ahead of the batch. This happens both with an explicit
ArrowIpcWriterWriteDictionaryBatch()call and insideArrowIpcWriterWriteArrayStream(). RecordBatch-level metadata belongs on the RecordBatch, so the writer passes it to the encoder just before encoding that batch.Things worth a look in review:
WriteArrayStream()the metadata lands on the first RecordBatch only. Per-batch metadata over a stream would need a callback or a per-array side channel, which seemed out of scope. The batch-at-a-time pattern isSetMessageMetadata()+WriteArrayView().writer.c, so whichever lands second will need a small rebase. I can do that.Motivation: I'm moving the IPC layer of a DuckDB extension from Arrow C++ to nanoarrow. Its RPC protocol carries per-batch state in RecordBatch
custom_metadata(what Arrow C++ writes forRecordBatchWriter::WriteRecordBatch(batch, custom_metadata)), and this was the one thing the writer couldn't express.Tests:
MessageMetadataAttachesToNextRecordBatchsets metadata, writes a DictionaryBatch and then a RecordBatch, and checks that only the RecordBatch carries it. It also checks that the following batch doesn't inherit the metadata, and that set-then-cleared metadata is never written.MessageMetadataWithArrayStreamcoversWriteArrayStream()writing its own dictionaries.ctest passes locally (macOS arm64, Debug, ZSTD/LZ4, 390 tests). The IPC writer, encoder and files tests are clean under ASan/UBSan.
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