jorisvandenbossche commented on PR #35036:
URL: https://github.com/apache/arrow/pull/35036#issuecomment-1517599393

   > Do we have dictionary scalars?
   
   It's actually a good question what we see as "logical" nulls for dictionary 
encoded arrays. The difference with REE and union is that dictionary arrays 
_do_ have a top-level validity bitmap (for the indices), but you can also have 
nulls in the dictionary, and so in that sense it becomes similar as run_end 
encoded arrays. 
   
   The spec explicitly mentions that the `null_count` only considers the 
top-level validity bitmap:
   
   > The null count of such arrays is dictated only by the validity bitmap
   of its indices, irrespective of any null values in the dictionary.
   
   But we could have a similar discussion about whether "logical" nulls would 
deviate from this physical null count, just as we now do for REE and union.
   
   (this is probably food for a separate issue, though)


-- 
This is an automated message from the Apache Git Service.
To respond to the message, please log on to GitHub and use the
URL above to go to the specific comment.

To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected]

For queries about this service, please contact Infrastructure at:
[email protected]

Reply via email to