# Sparse Arrays¶

In this tutorial we will learn how to create, read, and write a simple sparse array in TileDB.

 Program Links quickstart_sparse

## Basic concepts and definitions¶

Sparse array

If the majority of the array cells do not have a value, i.e. many cells have “undefined” or “empty” values, we call the array sparse. We will soon see that in sparse arrays the empty cells are not materialized in physical storage.

Coordinates

The cell coordinates is an ordered tuple where each element is a domain value along some array dimension. The coordinates constitute a unique identifier for each cell. As we shall see, in sparse arrays the coordinates are materialized in physical storage (contrary to the case of dense arrays) and facilitate indexing for quickly locating non-empty cells that fall within some query subarray.

## Creating a sparse array¶

C++

The following snippet creates an empty array schema for a sparse array:

Context ctx;
ArraySchema schema(ctx, TILEDB_SPARSE);


Next, we define a 2D domain where the coordinates can be integer values from 1 to 4 (inclusive) along both dimensions. For now, you can ignore the last argument in the dimension constructor (tile extent).

Domain domain(ctx);


Then, attach the domain to the schema, and configure a few other parameters (cell and tile ordering) that are explained in later tutorials:

schema.set_domain(domain).set_order({{TILEDB_ROW_MAJOR, TILEDB_ROW_MAJOR}});


Finally, create a single attribute named a for the array that will hold a single integer for each cell:

schema.add_attribute(Attribute::create<int>(ctx, "a"));


The only difference in this sparse array versus the dense array tutorial is the use of TILEDB_SPARSE in creating the ArraySchema object. Everything else is the same.

Python

First we define a 2D domain where the coordinates can be integer values from 1 to 4 (inclusive) along both dimensions. For now, you can ignore the tile argument in the dimension constructor (tile extent).

# Don't forget to 'import numpy as np'
ctx = tiledb.Ctx()
dom = tiledb.Domain(ctx,
tiledb.Dim(ctx, name="rows", domain=(1, 4), tile=4, dtype=np.int32),
tiledb.Dim(ctx, name="cols", domain=(1, 4), tile=4, dtype=np.int32))


Next we create the schema object, attaching the domain and a single attribute a that will hold a single integer for each cell:

schema = tiledb.ArraySchema(ctx, domain=dom, sparse=True,
attrs=[tiledb.Attr(ctx, name="a", dtype=np.int32)])


The only difference in this sparse array versus the dense array tutorial is the use of sparse=True in creating the ArraySchema object. Everything else is the same.

Note

The order of the dimensions (as added to the domain) is important later when specifying subarrays. For instance, in the above example, subarray [1,2], [2,4] means slice the first two values in the rows dimension domain, and values 2,3,4 in the cols dimension domain.

All that is left to do is create the empty array on disk so that it can be written to. We specify the name of the array to create, and the schema to use. This command will essentially persist the array schema we just created on disk.

C++

std::string array_name("quickstart_sparse");
Array::create(array_name, schema);


Python

array_name = "quickstart_sparse"
tiledb.SparseArray.create(array_name, schema)


## Writing to the array¶

We will populate the array by writing some values to its cells, specifically 1, 2, and 3 at cells (1,1), (2,4) and (2,3), respectively. Notice that, contrary to the dense case, here we specify the exact indices where the values will be written, i.e., we provide the cell coordinates.

C++

To start, prepare the data to be written. Below coords refers to the coordinates, whereas data to the cell values on attribute a. Notice also that there is a one-to-one correspondence between a coordinates pair and an attribute value (i.e., cell value 1 corresponds to (1,1), 2 to (2,4) and 3 to (2,3)).

std::vector<int> coords = {1, 1, 2, 4, 2, 3};
std::vector<int> data = {1, 2, 3};


Next, open the array for writing, and create a query object:

Context ctx;
Array array(ctx, array_name, TILEDB_WRITE);
Query query(ctx, array, TILEDB_WRITE);


Then, set up the query. We set the buffers for attribute a and coordinates, and also set the layout of the cells in the buffer to “unordered”. Although the cell layout is covered thoroughly in later tutorials, here what you should know is that you are telling TileDB that the cell values and coordinates in your buffers do not follow a particular order (so that TileDB can do its magic to sort and index those cells appropriately).

query.set_layout(TILEDB_UNORDERED)
.set_buffer("a", data);
.set_coordinates(coords);


Finally, submit the query and close the array.

query.submit();
array.close();


Python

To start, prepare the data to be written.

data = np.array(([1, 2, 3]))


Next, prepare the coordinates of the cells to be written. Below, I refers to coordinates in the rows dimension and J to coordinates in the cols dimension. Notice also that there is a one-to-one correspondence between a coordinates pair and an attribute value (i.e., cell value 1 corresponds to (1,1), 2 to (2,4) and 3 to (2,3)).

I, J = [1, 2, 2], [1, 4, 3]


Finally, open the array for writing and write the data to the array.

ctx = tiledb.Ctx()
with tiledb.SparseArray(ctx, array_name, mode='w') as A:
A[I, J] = data


The array data is now stored on disk. The resulting array is depicted in the figure below.

We will next explain how to read the cell values in subarray [1,2], [2,4], i.e., in the blue rectangle shown in the figure above. The result values should be 3 2, reading in row-major order.

C++

Reading happens in much the same way as writing, except we must provide buffers sufficient to hold the data being read. First, open the array for reading:

Context ctx;


Next, specify the subarray in terms of (min, max) values on each dimension. One of the most challenging issues is estimating how large the result of a read query on a sparse array is, so that you know how much space to allocate for your buffers, and how to parse the result (this was not an issue in the dense case). For now, just notice that function max_buffer_elements facilitates allocating appropriate space that will certainly hold the result of the specified subarray in buffers data and coords. Memory allocation for reads is covered thoroughly in later tutorials.

const std::vector<int> subarray = {1, 2, 2, 4};
auto max_el = array.max_buffer_elements(subarray);
std::vector<int> data(max_el["a"].second);
std::vector<int> coords(max_el[TILEDB_COORDS].second);


Then, we set up and submit a query object, and close the array, similarly to writes.

Query query(ctx, array);
query.set_subarray(subarray)
.set_layout(TILEDB_ROW_MAJOR)
.set_buffer("a", data);
.set_coordinates(coords);
query.submit();
array.close();


Now data holds the result non-empty cell values on attribute a, with their corresponding coordinates being stored in coords (there is always a one-to-one correspondence).

Python

Reading happens in much the same way as writing, simply specifying a different mode when opening the array:

ctx = tiledb.Ctx()
with tiledb.SparseArray(ctx, array_name, mode='r') as A:
# Slice only rows 1, 2 and cols 2, 3, 4.
data = A[1:3, 2:5]


Now data["a"] holds the result non-empty cell values on attribute a, with their corresponding coordinates being stored in data["coords"] (there is always a one-to-one correspondence). Again by default the Python API issues the read query in row-major layout.

The row-major layout here means that the cells will be returned in row-major order within the subarray [1,2], [2,4] (more information on cell layouts is covered in later tutorials).

If you compile and run this tutorial example as shown below, you should see the following output:

C++

$g++ -std=c++11 quickstart_sparse.cc -o quickstart_sparse -ltiledb$ ./quickstart_sparse
Cell (2, 3) has data 3
Cell (2, 4) has data 2


Python

$python quickstart_sparse.py Cell (2, 3) has data 3 Cell (2, 4) has data 2  ## On-disk structure¶ A TileDB array is stored on disk as a directory with the name given at the time of array creation. If we look into the array on disk after it has been written to, we will see something like the following $ ls -l my_array/
total 8
drwx------  5 tyler  staff  170 Jun 12 10:32 __a71ac7b88bd84bd8897d156397eef603_1528813977859
-rwx------  1 tyler  staff  164 Jun 12 10:32 __array_schema.tdb
-rwx------  1 tyler  staff    0 Jun 12 10:32 __lock.tdb


The array directory and files __array_schema.tdb and __lock.tdb were written upon array creation, whereas subdirectory __a71ac7b88bd84bd8897d156397eef603_1528813977859 was created after array writting. This subdirectory, called fragment, contains the written cell values for attribute a in file a.tdb and the corresponding coordinates in a separate file __coords.tdb, along with associated metadata:

\$ ls -l my_array/__a71ac7b88bd84bd8897d156397eef603_1528813977859/
total 24
-rwx------  1 tyler  staff  112 Jun 12 10:32 __coords.tdb
-rwx------  1 tyler  staff  124 Jun 12 10:32 __fragment_metadata.tdb
-rwx------  1 tyler  staff    4 Jun 12 10:32 a1.tdb


The TileDB array hierarchy on disk and more details about fragments are discussed in later tutorials.