delta-io/delta

[Feature Request] Skip creating FilteredColumnarBatch in ActiveAddFilesIterator if there is no active AddFiles in the batch

Open

#4941 opened on Jul 17, 2025

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 (1 comment) (0 reactions) (0 assignees)Scala (8,807 stars) (2,100 forks)batch import
enhancementgood first issue

Description

Feature request

Which Delta project/connector is this regarding?

  • Spark
  • Standalone
  • Flink
  • Kernel
  • Other (fill in here)

Overview

Today, a FilteredColumnarBatch with no Active AddFiles will be returned as the result of Scan::getScanFiles (also PaginatedScan::getScanFiles() ). We want to skip creating FilteredColumnarBatch in ActiveAddFilesIterator if there is no active AddFiles in the batch.

Motivation

Further details

Willingness to contribute

The Delta Lake Community encourages new feature contributions. Would you or another member of your organization be willing to contribute an implementation of this feature?

  • Yes. I can contribute this feature independently.
  • Yes. I would be willing to contribute this feature with guidance from the Delta Lake community.
  • No. I cannot contribute this feature at this time.

Contributor guide

Tech stack
rust
Domain
databasebackend
Issue type
feature
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
2
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
under 1 hour
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
fresh
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
mostly clear
Prerequisites
familiarity with Delta Kernel codebaseunderstanding of Scan API
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
40
Research direction
Investigate the ActiveAddFilesIterator class in the Kernel module. The goal is to add a check before creating a FilteredColumnarBatch: if there are no active AddFiles in the current batch, skip creating the FilteredColumnarBatch and continue to the next batch. Look at how FilteredColumnarBatch is created in ActiveAddFilesIterator and modify the logic accordingly. No linked PR yet.