It appears the rename in the Java implementation caught bad timing because *avgValueSizes()* was just recently added to a few central places like *ContentFile/Metrics/BaseFile/ContentFileParser *and the REST spec and then released with 1.12.0. Typically we would deprecate those and then introduce *totalBytes()* in all places where *avgValueSizes()* exists today to maintain API stability. Steven brought up the option to replace all *avgValueSizes()* places with the new method and add those API breakages to RevAPI since those methods shouldn't be used by anyone today.
I'm raising this here to get people's thoughts on this On Wed, Sep 30, 2026 at 12:40 AM Ryan Blue <[email protected]> wrote: > +1 for using total rather than average. > > On Tue, Sep 29, 2026 at 8:30 AM Steven Wu <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Dan, >> >> Here is the slack thread: >> https://apache-iceberg.slack.com/archives/C0BDHBAGARG/p1790113027624689 >> >> Yes, your assumption is correct. >> >> Thanks, >> Steven >> >> >> >> >> >> On Tue, Sep 29, 2026 at 8:28 AM Daniel Weeks <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> Eduard, >>> >>> Could you link to the slack discussion (I wasn't able to find it)? >>> >>> Is it safe to assume that we can determine the average via the >>> combination of *total_bytes* and *value_count*? If that's true, it >>> seems that *total_bytes* would be more valuable for estimation purposes >>> since you have an explicit upper bound on size. >>> >>> -Dan >>> >>> On Tue, Sep 29, 2026 at 8:03 AM Eduard Tudenhöfner < >>> [email protected]> wrote: >>> >>>> Hey everyone, >>>> >>>> We had a few discussions around the *avg_value_size_in_bytes* field on >>>> the Iceberg slack and how it makes e.g. aggregations more difficult than >>>> necessary. We concluded that it's probably best to track the *total* >>>> instead of the *avg.* >>>> That being said, the field is being renamed to *total_bytes* in >>>> https://github.com/apache/iceberg/pull/18308. >>>> >>>> Please speak up if you have any concerns about this change. >>>> >>>> Thanks, >>>> Eduard >>>> >>>
