feat: define a materialized view by its query, with Functions in FROM position (#4190)

A view definition was a structured record under a `kind` tag, one kind
per query shape, and a Function returning `list<struct>` was about to
add a third. That names shapes instead of describing a relation.

A materialized view is now a relation defined by a query, stored as one
canonical SQL string under a format number:

```sql
SELECT columns FROM [ns.]table [, function(args) AS alias | , UNNEST(column) AS alias]
[WHERE predicate] [LIMIT n]
```

Any other clause is refused at parse time. Older readers report the view
as unrefreshable, the pre-format layouts still read, and a legacy view
is rewritten on its next refresh that commits, rebuilt only where its
raw text meant something else under lance's parser.

A Function in FROM position yields one row per element it returns, as a
table function does in any dialect. The server stages its list output in
a hidden table and records that binding beside the query, which stays as
the user wrote it; refresh scans the staging and unnests the column, the
same operator as UNNEST over a list column the table already holds. Row
ids repeat per element, so eviction and incremental append are
unchanged. A local database refuses a Function in FROM position, since
it has no executor.
This commit is contained in:
Wyatt Alt
2026-09-18 12:16:25 -07:00
committed by GitHub
parent 7955c50929
commit 01ee01dbc8
13 changed files with 2262 additions and 460 deletions
+34 -24
View File
@@ -217,10 +217,7 @@ def test_definition_round_trips(tmp_path):
view = db.open_materialized_view("adults")
assert view.definition == MaterializedViewDefinition(
source_table="people",
projections=[("name", "`name`"), ("age", "`age`")],
filter="age >= 18",
inputs=["age", "name"],
query="SELECT name, age FROM people WHERE age >= 18"
)
@@ -305,7 +302,7 @@ async def test_async_create_refresh_and_open(tmp_path):
reopened = await db.open_materialized_view("shouts")
definition = await reopened.definition()
assert definition.projections == [("shout", "upper(name)")]
assert definition.query == "SELECT upper(name) AS shout FROM people"
assert await db.list_materialized_views() == ["shouts"]
@@ -423,7 +420,7 @@ def test_namespace_connection_materialized_views(tmp_path):
assert db.list_materialized_views() == ["adults"]
reopened = db.open_materialized_view("adults")
assert reopened.definition.source_table == "people"
assert reopened.definition.query.startswith("SELECT name, age FROM ")
with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="not a materialized view"):
db.open_materialized_view("people")
@@ -458,7 +455,7 @@ async def test_async_namespace_connection_materialized_views(tmp_path):
assert await db.list_materialized_views() == ["adults"]
reopened = await db.open_materialized_view("adults")
assert (await reopened.definition()).source_table == "people"
assert (await reopened.definition()).query.startswith("SELECT name, age FROM ")
# The view's table came through the namespace, not straight from the
# inner connection: a bare inner table carries no namespace context, so
@@ -484,36 +481,49 @@ async def test_async_namespace_connection_materialized_views(tmp_path):
assert await db.list_materialized_views() == []
def test_namespaced_select_kind_is_read_and_unknown_kinds_are_refused():
def test_stored_queries_and_legacy_layouts_are_read():
import json
import pyarrow as pa
from lancedb.materialized_view import _definition_from_schema
def schema_with(definition: dict) -> pa.Schema:
return pa.schema([pa.field("id", pa.int32())]).with_metadata(
def read(definition: dict) -> MaterializedViewDefinition:
schema = pa.schema([pa.field("id", pa.int32())]).with_metadata(
{b"mv.definition": json.dumps(definition).encode()}
)
return _definition_from_schema(schema, "v")
# "namespaced_select" is the namespaced form of "select": same shape,
# a separate kind so readers that predate it refuse instead of
# resolving the source at the root.
definition = _definition_from_schema(
schema_with(
query = "SELECT id, c.chunk FROM ns.docs, UNNEST(chunks) AS c WHERE id > 1"
assert read({"format": 1, "query": query}).query == query
# The structured layout written before the format number reads as the
# query it described, under either of its kind tags.
assert (
read(
{
"kind": "namespaced_select",
"source_table": "people",
"source_namespace": ["ns"],
"projections": [{"output": "name", "expression": "name"}],
"projections": [
{"output": "name", "expression": "`name`"},
{"output": "Shout", "expression": "upper(name)"},
],
"filter": "age >= 18",
"limit": 10,
}
),
"v",
).query
== "SELECT `name`, upper(name) AS `Shout` FROM ns.people "
"WHERE age >= 18 LIMIT 10"
)
assert read({"kind": "select", "source_table": "people"}).query == (
"SELECT * FROM people"
)
assert definition.source_table == "people"
assert definition.source_namespace == ["ns"]
with pytest.raises(NotImplementedError, match="cannot refresh"):
_definition_from_schema(
schema_with({"kind": "select_v3", "source_table": "people"}), "v"
)
# A newer writer's layout is reported, never guessed at.
for newer in (
{"format": 2, "query": query},
{"kind": "select_v3", "source_table": "people"},
):
with pytest.raises(NotImplementedError, match="cannot refresh"):
read(newer)