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https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/AVRO-3988?page=com.atlassian.jira.plugin.system.issuetabpanels:comment-tabpanel&focusedCommentId=17853927#comment-17853927
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Oscar Westra van Holthe - Kind commented on AVRO-3988:
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I like the idea of using aliases for enum symbols as well.
Whether consolidating values is a good idea is something that is debatable, but
I think a foregone conclusion: using an enum default already allows
consolidating all (purposefully) omitted values into one. Also, semantically
speaking, using an enum default or an alias to consolidate values is different:
a default value is essentially a value for "unknown", whereas an alias carries
another meaning.
> Allow enum value aliasing
> -------------------------
>
> Key: AVRO-3988
> URL: https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/AVRO-3988
> Project: Apache Avro
> Issue Type: Improvement
> Reporter: Omer van Kloeten
> Priority: Minor
>
> When providing an enum in a schema, it's an incompatible change to rename any
> of its values. However, Avro can offer compatibility using aliases.
> Let's take the example from the docs:
> {
> "type": "enum",
> "name": "Suit",
> "symbols" : ["SPADES", "HEARTS", "DIAMONDS", "CLUBS"]
> }
> I want to change the name "CLUBS" to "CLOVERS". I can do that using the
> syntax:
> {
> {{ "type": "enum",}}
> {{ "name": "Suit",}}
> {{ "symbols" : ["SPADES", "HEARTS", "DIAMONDS", "CLOVERS"],}}
> {{ "aliases": {}}
> {{ "CLOVERS": [ "CLUBS" ]}}
> }
> }
> This change of name can be accommodated by the reader schema.
> Another thing this opens up is the ability to consolidate values. For
> instance, again based on the example schema (first one in this ticket):
> {
> {{ "type": "enum",}}
> {{ "name": "Suit",}}
> {{ "symbols" : ["SPADES", "HEARTS", "CLOVERS"],}}
> {{ "aliases": {}}
> {{{} "{}}}{{{}SPADES{}}}{{{}": [ "{}}}{{{}DIAMONDS{}}}{{{}" ]{}}}
> }
> {{}}}
> The above says that any DIAMONDS should be converted by the reader schema to
> SPADES.
>
> (sorry about the formatting, I just can't get it right for some reason)
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