make pandas an optional dependency in lancedb as well (#385)

python/lancedb/common.py

@@ -11,19 +11,18 @@
 #  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 #  limitations under the License.
 from pathlib import Path
-from typing import List, Union
+from typing import Iterable, List, Union
 
 import numpy as np
-import pandas as pd
 import pyarrow as pa
 
-from .pydantic import LanceModel
+from .util import safe_import_pandas
 
+pd = safe_import_pandas()
+
+DATA = Union[List[dict], dict, "pd.DataFrame", pa.Table, Iterable[pa.RecordBatch]]
 VEC = Union[list, np.ndarray, pa.Array, pa.ChunkedArray]
 URI = Union[str, Path]
-
-# TODO support generator
-DATA = Union[List[dict], List[LanceModel], dict, pd.DataFrame]
 VECTOR_COLUMN_NAME = "vector"
 
 

python/lancedb/context.py

@@ -12,12 +12,13 @@
 #  limitations under the License.
 from __future__ import annotations
 
-import pandas as pd
-
 from .exceptions import MissingColumnError, MissingValueError
+from .util import safe_import_pandas
+
+pd = safe_import_pandas()
 
 
-def contextualize(raw_df: pd.DataFrame) -> Contextualizer:
+def contextualize(raw_df: "pd.DataFrame") -> Contextualizer:
     """Create a Contextualizer object for the given DataFrame.
 
     Used to create context windows. Context windows are rolling subsets of text
@@ -175,8 +176,12 @@ class Contextualizer:
         self._min_window_size = min_window_size
         return self
 
-    def to_df(self) -> pd.DataFrame:
+    def to_df(self) -> "pd.DataFrame":
         """Create the context windows and return a DataFrame."""
+        if pd is None:
+            raise ImportError(
+                "pandas is required to create context windows using lancedb"
+            )
 
         if self._text_col not in self._raw_df.columns.tolist():
             raise MissingColumnError(self._text_col)

python/lancedb/db.py

@@ -16,9 +16,8 @@ from __future__ import annotations
 import os
 from abc import ABC, abstractmethod
 from pathlib import Path
-from typing import Dict, Iterable, List, Optional, Tuple, Union
+from typing import Optional
 
-import pandas as pd
 import pyarrow as pa
 from pyarrow import fs
 
@@ -39,9 +38,7 @@ class DBConnection(ABC):
     def create_table(
         self,
         name: str,
-        data: Optional[
-            Union[List[dict], dict, pd.DataFrame, pa.Table, Iterable[pa.RecordBatch]],
-        ] = None,
+        data: Optional[DATA] = None,
         schema: Optional[pa.Schema] = None,
         mode: str = "create",
         on_bad_vectors: str = "error",

python/lancedb/embeddings.py

@@ -16,15 +16,19 @@ import sys
 from typing import Callable, Union
 
 import numpy as np
-import pandas as pd
 import pyarrow as pa
 from lance.vector import vec_to_table
 from retry import retry
 
+from .util import safe_import_pandas
+
+pd = safe_import_pandas()
+DATA = Union[pa.Table, "pd.DataFrame"]
+
 
 def with_embeddings(
     func: Callable,
-    data: Union[pa.Table, pd.DataFrame],
+    data: DATA,
     column: str = "text",
     wrap_api: bool = True,
     show_progress: bool = False,
@@ -60,7 +64,7 @@ def with_embeddings(
     func = func.batch_size(batch_size)
     if show_progress:
         func = func.show_progress()
-    if isinstance(data, pd.DataFrame):
+    if pd is not None and isinstance(data, pd.DataFrame):
         data = pa.Table.from_pandas(data, preserve_index=False)
     embeddings = func(data[column].to_numpy())
     table = vec_to_table(np.array(embeddings))

python/lancedb/query.py

@@ -16,12 +16,14 @@ from __future__ import annotations
 from typing import List, Literal, Optional, Type, Union
 
 import numpy as np
-import pandas as pd
 import pyarrow as pa
 import pydantic
 
 from .common import VECTOR_COLUMN_NAME
 from .pydantic import LanceModel
+from .util import safe_import_pandas
+
+pd = safe_import_pandas()
 
 
 class Query(pydantic.BaseModel):
@@ -199,7 +201,7 @@ class LanceQueryBuilder:
         self._refine_factor = refine_factor
         return self
 
-    def to_df(self) -> pd.DataFrame:
+    def to_df(self) -> "pd.DataFrame":
         """
         Execute the query and return the results as a pandas DataFrame.
         In addition to the selected columns, LanceDB also returns a vector
@@ -250,7 +252,7 @@ class LanceQueryBuilder:
 
 
 class LanceFtsQueryBuilder(LanceQueryBuilder):
-    def to_arrow(self) -> pd.Table:
+    def to_arrow(self) -> pa.Table:
         try:
             import tantivy
         except ImportError:

python/lancedb/remote/db.py

@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ import pyarrow as pa
 
 from lancedb.common import DATA
 from lancedb.db import DBConnection
-from lancedb.schema import schema_to_json
 from lancedb.table import Table, _sanitize_data
 
 from .arrow import to_ipc_binary

python/lancedb/remote/table.py

@@ -16,11 +16,11 @@ from functools import cached_property
 from typing import Union
 
 import pyarrow as pa
+from lance import json_to_schema
 
 from lancedb.common import DATA, VEC, VECTOR_COLUMN_NAME
 
-from ..query import LanceQueryBuilder, Query
-from ..schema import json_to_schema
+from ..query import LanceQueryBuilder
 from ..table import Query, Table, _sanitize_data
 from .arrow import to_ipc_binary
 from .client import ARROW_STREAM_CONTENT_TYPE

python/lancedb/schema.py

@@ -12,11 +12,7 @@
 #  limitations under the License.
 
 """Schema related utilities."""
-
-from typing import Any, Dict, Type
-
 import pyarrow as pa
-from lance import json_to_schema, schema_to_json
 
 
 def vector(dimension: int, value_type: pa.DataType = pa.float32()) -> pa.DataType:

python/lancedb/table.py

@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ from typing import Iterable, List, Union
 
 import lance
 import numpy as np
-import pandas as pd
 import pyarrow as pa
 import pyarrow.compute as pc
 from lance import LanceDataset
@@ -29,7 +28,9 @@ from lance.vector import vec_to_table
 from .common import DATA, VEC, VECTOR_COLUMN_NAME
 from .pydantic import LanceModel
 from .query import LanceFtsQueryBuilder, LanceQueryBuilder, Query
-from .util import fs_from_uri
+from .util import fs_from_uri, safe_import_pandas
+
+pd = safe_import_pandas()
 
 
 def _sanitize_data(data, schema, on_bad_vectors, fill_value):
@@ -44,7 +45,7 @@ def _sanitize_data(data, schema, on_bad_vectors, fill_value):
         )
     if isinstance(data, dict):
         data = vec_to_table(data)
-    if isinstance(data, pd.DataFrame):
+    if pd is not None and isinstance(data, pd.DataFrame):
         data = pa.Table.from_pandas(data)
         data = _sanitize_schema(
             data, schema=schema, on_bad_vectors=on_bad_vectors, fill_value=fill_value
@@ -99,7 +100,7 @@ class Table(ABC):
         """
         raise NotImplementedError
 
-    def to_pandas(self) -> pd.DataFrame:
+    def to_pandas(self):
         """Return the table as a pandas DataFrame.
 
         Returns
@@ -333,7 +334,7 @@ class LanceTable(Table):
         """Return the first n rows of the table."""
         return self._dataset.head(n)
 
-    def to_pandas(self) -> pd.DataFrame:
+    def to_pandas(self) -> "pd.DataFrame":
         """Return the table as a pandas DataFrame.
 
         Returns

python/lancedb/util.py

@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ import os
 from typing import Tuple
 from urllib.parse import urlparse
 
-import pyarrow as pa
 import pyarrow.fs as pa_fs
 
 
@@ -76,3 +75,12 @@ def fs_from_uri(uri: str) -> Tuple[pa_fs.FileSystem, str]:
         return fs, path
 
     return pa_fs.FileSystem.from_uri(uri)
+
+
+def safe_import_pandas():
+    try:
+        import pandas as pd
+
+        return pd
+    except ImportError:
+        return None