Column¶

[[creating-instance]] [[expr]] Column represents a column in a Dataset.md[Dataset] that holds a Catalyst expressions/Expression.md[Expression] that produces a value per row.

NOTE: A Column is a value generator for every row in a Dataset.

[[star]] A special column * references all columns in a Dataset.

With the SparkSession.md#implicits[implicits] converstions imported, you can create "free" column references using Scala's symbols.

[source, scala]¶

val spark: SparkSession = ... import spark.implicits._

import org.apache.spark.sql.Column scala> val nameCol: Column = 'name nameCol: org.apache.spark.sql.Column = name

NOTE: "Free" column references are Columns with no association to a Dataset.

You can also create free column references from $-prefixed strings.

[source, scala]¶

// Note that $ alone creates a ColumnName scala> val idCol = $"id" idCol: org.apache.spark.sql.ColumnName = id

import org.apache.spark.sql.Column

// The target type triggers the implicit conversion to Column scala> val idCol: Column = $"id" idCol: org.apache.spark.sql.Column = id

Beside using the implicits conversions, you can create columns using spark-sql-functions.md#col[col] and spark-sql-functions.md#column[column] functions.

[source, scala]¶

import org.apache.spark.sql.functions._

scala> val nameCol = col("name") nameCol: org.apache.spark.sql.Column = name

scala> val cityCol = column("city") cityCol: org.apache.spark.sql.Column = city

Finally, you can create a bound Column using the Dataset the column is supposed to be part of using Dataset.md#apply[Dataset.apply] factory method or Dataset.md#col[Dataset.col] operator.

NOTE: You can use bound Column references only with the Datasets they have been created from.

[source, scala]¶

scala> val textCol = dataset.col("text") textCol: org.apache.spark.sql.Column = text

scala> val idCol = dataset.apply("id") idCol: org.apache.spark.sql.Column = id

scala> val idCol = dataset("id") idCol: org.apache.spark.sql.Column = id

You can reference nested columns using . (dot).

[[operators]] .Column Operators [cols="1,3",options="header",width="100%"] |=== | Operator | Description

| <> | Specifying type hint about the expected return value of the column

<>
===

[NOTE]¶

Column has a reference to Catalyst's expressions/Expression.md[Expression] it was created for using expr method.

[source, scala]¶

scala> window('time, "5 seconds").expr res0: org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.expressions.Expression = timewindow('time, 5000000, 5000000, 0) AS window#1

====

Tip

Read about typed column references in TypedColumn.

=== [[as]] Specifying Type Hint -- as Operator

as[U : Encoder]: TypedColumn[Any, U]

as creates a TypedColumn (that gives a type hint about the expected return value of the column).

[source, scala]¶

scala> $"id".as[Int] res1: org.apache.spark.sql.TypedColumn[Any,Int] = id

=== [[name]] name Operator

[source, scala]¶

name(alias: String): Column¶

name...FIXME

NOTE: name is used when...FIXME

=== [[withColumn]] Adding Column to Dataset -- withColumn Method

[source, scala]¶

withColumn(colName: String, col: Column): DataFrame¶

withColumn method returns a new DataFrame with the new column col with colName name added.

NOTE: withColumn can replace an existing colName column.

[source, scala]¶

scala> val df = Seq((1, "jeden"), (2, "dwa")).toDF("number", "polish") df: org.apache.spark.sql.DataFrame = [number: int, polish: string]

scala> df.show +------+------+ |number|polish| +------+------+ | 1| jeden| | 2| dwa| +------+------+

scala> df.withColumn("polish", lit(1)).show +------+------+ |number|polish| +------+------+ | 1| 1| | 2| 1| +------+------+

You can add new columns do a Dataset using Dataset.md#withColumn[withColumn] method.

[source, scala]¶

val spark: SparkSession = ... val dataset = spark.range(5)

// Add a new column called "group" scala> dataset.withColumn("group", 'id % 2).show +---+-----+ | id|group| +---+-----+ | 0| 0| | 1| 1| | 2| 0| | 3| 1| | 4| 0| +---+-----+

=== [[apply]] Creating Column Instance For Catalyst Expression -- apply Factory Method

[source, scala]¶

val spark: SparkSession = ... case class Word(id: Long, text: String) val dataset = Seq(Word(0, "hello"), Word(1, "spark")).toDS

scala> val idCol = dataset.apply("id") idCol: org.apache.spark.sql.Column = id

// or using Scala's magic a little bit // the following is equivalent to the above explicit apply call scala> val idCol = dataset("id") idCol: org.apache.spark.sql.Column = id

=== [[like]] like Operator

CAUTION: FIXME

[source, scala]¶

scala> df("id") like "0" res0: org.apache.spark.sql.Column = id LIKE 0

scala> df.filter('id like "0").show +---+-----+ | id| text| +---+-----+ | 0|hello| +---+-----+

=== [[symbols-as-column-names]] Symbols As Column Names

[source, scala]¶

scala> val df = Seq((0, "hello"), (1, "world")).toDF("id", "text") df: org.apache.spark.sql.DataFrame = [id: int, text: string]

scala> df.select('id) res0: org.apache.spark.sql.DataFrame = [id: int]

scala> df.select('id).show +---+ | id| +---+ | 0| | 1| +---+

=== [[over]] Defining Windowing Column (Analytic Clause) -- over Operator

[source, scala]¶

over(): Column over(window: WindowSpec): Column

over creates a windowing column (aka analytic clause) that allows to execute a spark-sql-functions.md[aggregate function] over a <> (i.e. a group of records that are in some relation to the current record).

TIP: Read up on windowed aggregation in Spark SQL in spark-sql-functions-windows.md[Window Aggregate Functions].

[source, scala]¶

scala> val overUnspecifiedFrame = $"someColumn".over() overUnspecifiedFrame: org.apache.spark.sql.Column = someColumn OVER (UnspecifiedFrame)

import org.apache.spark.sql.expressions.Window import org.apache.spark.sql.expressions.WindowSpec val spec: WindowSpec = Window.rangeBetween(Window.unboundedPreceding, Window.currentRow) scala> val overRange = $"someColumn" over spec overRange: org.apache.spark.sql.Column = someColumn OVER (RANGE BETWEEN UNBOUNDED PRECEDING AND CURRENT ROW)

=== [[cast]] cast Operator

cast method casts a column to a data type. It makes for type-safe maps with Row objects of the proper type (not Any).

[source,scala]¶

cast(to: String): Column cast(to: DataType): Column

cast uses spark-sql-CatalystSqlParser.md[CatalystSqlParser] to parse the data type from its canonical string representation.

==== [[cast-example]] cast Example

[source, scala]¶

scala> val df = Seq((0f, "hello")).toDF("label", "text") df: org.apache.spark.sql.DataFrame = [label: float, text: string]

scala> df.printSchema root |-- label: float (nullable = false) |-- text: string (nullable = true)

// without cast import org.apache.spark.sql.Row scala> df.select("label").map { case Row(label) => label.getClass.getName }.show(false) +---------------+ |value | +---------------+ |java.lang.Float| +---------------+

// with cast import org.apache.spark.sql.types.DoubleType scala> df.select(col("label").cast(DoubleType)).map { case Row(label) => label.getClass.getName }.show(false) +----------------+ |value | +----------------+ |java.lang.Double| +----------------+

=== [[generateAlias]] generateAlias Method

[source, scala]¶

generateAlias(e: Expression): String¶

generateAlias...FIXME

generateAlias is used when:

Column is requested to <>
RelationalGroupedDataset is requested to alias

=== [[named]] named Method

[source, scala]¶

named: NamedExpression¶

named...FIXME

named is used when the following operators are used:

Last update: 2021-04-10