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https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/AVRO-160?page=com.atlassian.jira.plugin.system.issuetabpanels:comment-tabpanel&focusedCommentId=12805297#action_12805297
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Philip Zeyliger commented on AVRO-160:
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> Isn't that more of a different encoder/decoder implementation than a codec?

Yep, you're right, it would be a different encoder implementation.

It's true that codecs already are having to implement boundary knowledge, so 
we'd get more re-use if we put the length in.  I find that reasonably 
compelling... we've certainly oscillated back and forth here quite a bit.

-- Philip

> file format should be friendly to streaming
> -------------------------------------------
>
>                 Key: AVRO-160
>                 URL: https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/AVRO-160
>             Project: Avro
>          Issue Type: Improvement
>          Components: spec
>            Reporter: Doug Cutting
>            Assignee: Doug Cutting
>             Fix For: 1.3.0
>
>         Attachments: AVRO-160-python.patch, AVRO-160.patch, AVRO-160.patch, 
> AVRO-160.patch, AVRO-160.patch
>
>
> It should be possible to stream through an Avro data file without seeking to 
> the end.
> Currently the interpretation is that schemas written to the file apply to all 
> entries before them.  If this were changed so that they instead apply to all 
> entries that follow, and the initial schema is written at the start of the 
> file, then streaming could be supported.
> Note that the only change permitted to a schema as a file is written is to, 
> if it is a union, to add new branches at the end of that union.  If it is not 
> a union, no changes may be made.  So it is still the case that the final 
> schema in a file can read every entry in the file and thus may be used to 
> randomly access the file.

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