hi Zoltan -- given the raging fire that is 0.14.0 as a result of these
issues and others we need to make a new release within the next 7-10
days. We can point you to nightly Python builds to make testing for
you easier so you don't have to build the project yourself.

- Wes

On Wed, Jul 10, 2019 at 9:11 AM Zoltan Ivanfi <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> Oh, and one more thing: Before releasing the next Arrow version
> incorporating the new logical types, we should definitely test that their
> behaviour matches that of parquet-mr. When is the next release planned to
> come out?
>
> Br,
>
> Zoltan
>
> On Wed, Jul 10, 2019 at 3:57 PM Zoltan Ivanfi <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > Hi Wes,
> >
> > Yes, I agree that we should do that, but then we have a problem of what to
> > do in the other direction, i.e. when we use the new logical types API to
> > read a TIMESTAMP_MILLIS or TIMESTAMP_MICROS, how should we set the UTC
> > normalized flag? Tim has started a discussion about that, suggesting to use
> > three states that I just answered.
> >
> > Br,
> >
> > Zoltan
> >
> > On Wed, Jul 10, 2019 at 3:52 PM Wes McKinney <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> >> Thank for the comments.
> >>
> >> So in summary I think that we need to set the TIMESTAMP_* converted
> >> types to maintain forward compatibility and stay consistent with what
> >> we were doing in the C++ library prior to the introduction of the
> >> LogicalType metadata.
> >>
> >> On Wed, Jul 10, 2019 at 8:20 AM Zoltan Ivanfi <[email protected]>
> >> wrote:
> >> >
> >> > Hi Wes,
> >> >
> >> > Both of the semantics are deterministic in one aspect and
> >> indeterministic
> >> > in another. Timestamps of instant semantic will always refer to the same
> >> > instant, but their user-facing representation (how they get displayed)
> >> > depends on the user's time zone. Timestamps of local semantics always
> >> have
> >> > the same user-facing representation but the instant they refer to is
> >> > undefined (or ambigous, depending on your point of view).
> >> >
> >> > My understanding is that Spark uses instant semantics, i.e., timestamps
> >> are
> >> > stored normalized to UTC and are displayed adjusted to the user's local
> >> > time zone.
> >> >
> >> > Br,
> >> >
> >> > Zoltan
> >> >
> >> > On Tue, Jul 9, 2019 at 7:04 PM Wes McKinney <[email protected]>
> >> wrote:
> >> >
> >> > > Thanks Zoltan.
> >> > >
> >> > > This is definitely a tricky issue.
> >> > >
> >> > > Spark's application of localtime semantics to timestamp data has been
> >> > > a source of issues for many people. Personally I don't find that
> >> > > behavior to be particularly helpful since depending on the session
> >> > > time zone, you will get different results on data not marked as
> >> > > UTC-normalized.
> >> > >
> >> > > In pandas, as contrast, we apply UTC semantics to
> >> > > naive/not-explicitly-normalized data so at least the code produces
> >> > > deterministic results on all environments. That seems strictly better
> >> > > to me -- if you want a localized interpretation of naive data, you
> >> > > must opt into this rather than having it automatically selected based
> >> > > on your locale. The instances of people shooting their toes off due to
> >> > > time zones are practically non-existent, whereas I'm hearing about
> >> > > Spark gotchas all the time.
> >> > >
> >> > > On Tue, Jul 9, 2019 at 11:34 AM Zoltan Ivanfi 
> >> > > <[email protected]
> >> >
> >> > > wrote:
> >> > > >
> >> > > > Hi Wes,
> >> > > >
> >> > > > The rules for TIMESTAMP forward-compatibility were created based on
> >> the
> >> > > > assumption that TIMESTAMP_MILLIS and TIMESTAMP_MICROS have only
> >> been used
> >> > > > in the instant aka. UTC-normalized semantics so far. This
> >> assumption was
> >> > > > supported by two sources:
> >> > > >
> >> > > > 1. The specification: parquet-format defined TIMESTAMP_MILLIS and
> >> > > > TIMESTAMP_MICROS as the number of milli/microseconds elapsed since
> >> the
> >> > > Unix
> >> > > > epoch, an instant specified in UTC, from which it follows that they
> >> have
> >> > > > instant semantics (because timestamps of local semantics do not
> >> > > correspond
> >> > > > to a single instant).
> >> > > >
> >> > > > 2. Anecdotal knowledge: We were not aware of any software component
> >> that
> >> > > > used these types differently from the specification.
> >> > > >
> >> > > > Based on your e-mail, we were wrong on #2.
> >> > > >
> >> > > > From this false premise it followed that TIMESTAMPs with local
> >> semantics
> >> > > > were a new type and did not need to be annotated with the old types
> >> to
> >> > > > maintain compatibility. In fact, annotating them with the old types
> >> were
> >> > > > considered to be harmful, since it would have mislead older readers
> >> into
> >> > > > thinking that they can read TIMESTAMPs with local semantics, when in
> >> > > > reality they would have misinterpreted them as TIMESTAMPs with
> >> instant
> >> > > > semantics. This would have lead to a difference of several hours,
> >> > > > corresponding to the time zone offset.
> >> > > >
> >> > > > In the light of your e-mail, this misinterpretation of timestamps
> >> may
> >> > > > already be happening, since if Arrow annotates local timestamps with
> >> > > > TIMESTAMP_MILLIS or TIMESTMAP_MICROS, Spark probably misinterprets
> >> them
> >> > > as
> >> > > > timestamps with instant semantics, leading to a difference of
> >> several
> >> > > hours.
> >> > > >
> >> > > > Based on this, I think it would make sense from Arrow's point of
> >> view to
> >> > > > annotate both semantics with the old types, since that is its
> >> historical
> >> > > > behaviour and keeping it up is needed for maintaining compatibilty.
> >> I'm
> >> > > not
> >> > > > so sure about the Java library though, since as far as I know, these
> >> > > types
> >> > > > were never used in the local sense there (although I may be wrong
> >> again).
> >> > > > Were we to decide that Arrow and parquet-mr should behave
> >> differently in
> >> > > > this aspect though, it may be tricky to convey this distinction in
> >> the
> >> > > > specification. I would be interested in hearing your and other
> >> > > developers'
> >> > > > opinions on this.
> >> > > >
> >> > > > Thanks,
> >> > > >
> >> > > > Zoltan
> >> > > >
> >> > > > On Tue, Jul 9, 2019 at 5:39 PM Wes McKinney <[email protected]>
> >> wrote:
> >> > > >
> >> > > > > hi folks,
> >> > > > >
> >> > > > > We have just recently implemented the new LogicalType unions in
> >> the
> >> > > > > Parquet C++ library and we have run into a forward compatibility
> >> > > > > problem with reader versions prior to this implementation.
> >> > > > >
> >> > > > > To recap the issue, prior to the introduction of LogicalType, the
> >> > > > > Parquet format had no explicit notion of time zones or UTC
> >> > > > > normalization. The new TimestampType provides a flag to indicate
> >> > > > > UTC-normalization
> >> > > > >
> >> > > > > struct TimestampType {
> >> > > > > 1: required bool isAdjustedToUTC
> >> > > > > 2: required TimeUnit unit
> >> > > > > }
> >> > > > >
> >> > > > > When using this new type, the ConvertedType field must also be
> >> set for
> >> > > > > forward compatibility (so that old readers can still understand
> >> the
> >> > > > > data), but parquet.thrift says
> >> > > > >
> >> > > > > // use ConvertedType TIMESTAMP_MICROS for
> >> TIMESTAMP(isAdjustedToUTC =
> >> > > > > true, unit = MICROS)
> >> > > > > // use ConvertedType TIMESTAMP_MILLIS for
> >> TIMESTAMP(isAdjustedToUTC =
> >> > > > > true, unit = MILLIS)
> >> > > > > 8: TimestampType TIMESTAMP
> >> > > > >
> >> > > > > In Apache Arrow, we have 2 varieties of timestamps:
> >> > > > >
> >> > > > > * Timestamp without time zone (no UTC normalization indicated)
> >> > > > > * Timestamp with time zone (values UTC-normalized)
> >> > > > >
> >> > > > > Prior to the introduction of LogicalType, we would set either
> >> > > > > TIMESTAMP_MILLIS or TIMESTAMP_MICROS unconditional on UTC
> >> > > > > normalization. So when reading the data back, any notion of
> >> having had
> >> > > > > a time zone is lost (it could be stored in schema metadata if
> >> > > > > desired).
> >> > > > >
> >> > > > > I believe that setting the TIMESTAMP_* ConvertedType _only_ when
> >> > > > > isAdjustedToUTC is true creates a forward compatibility break in
> >> this
> >> > > > > regard. This was reported to us shortly after releasing Apache
> >> Arrow
> >> > > > > 0.14.0:
> >> > > > >
> >> > > > > https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/ARROW-5878
> >> > > > >
> >> > > > > We are discussing setting the ConvertedType unconditionally in
> >> > > > >
> >> > > > > https://github.com/apache/arrow/pull/4825
> >> > > > >
> >> > > > > This might need to be a setting that is toggled when data is
> >> coming
> >> > > > > from Arrow, but I wonder if the text in parquet.thrift is the
> >> intended
> >> > > > > forward compatibility interpretation, and if not should we amend.
> >> > > > >
> >> > > > > Thanks,
> >> > > > > Wes
> >> > > > >
> >> > >
> >>
> >

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