AvroTurf

AvroTurf is a library that makes it easier to encode and decode data using the Apache Avro serialization format. It adds a layer on top of the official Avro gem which makes it easier to integrate Avro into your application:

Provides an idiomatic Ruby interface.
Allows referencing schemas defined in another file.

Installation

Add this line to your application's Gemfile:

gem 'avro_turf'

And then execute:

$ bundle

Or install it yourself as:

$ gem install avro_turf

Usage

Using AvroTurf is quite simple:

# Schemas will be looked up from the specified directory.
avro = AvroTurf.new(schemas_path: "app/schemas/")

# Decode some data using a named schema. The schema file should exist in the
# schemas directory with the file name `<name>.avsc`.
avro.decode(encoded_data, schema_name: "person")

# Encode some data using the named schema.
avro.encode({ "name" => "Jane", "age" => 28 }, schema_name: "person")

Inter-schema references

Unlike the official Avro library, AvroTurf allows schemas to reference each other. As an example:

// person.avsc
{
  "name": "person",
  "type": "record",
  "fields": [
    {
      "name": "full_name",
      "type": "string"
    },
    {
      "name": "address",
      "type": "address"
    }
  ]
}

// address.avsc
{
  "name": "address",
  "type": "record",
  "fields": [
    {
      "name": "street",
      "type": "string"
    },
    {
      "name": "city",
      "type": "string"
    }
  ]
}

In the example above, the person schema references the address schema, even though the latter is defined in another file. This makes it possible to share types across schemas, e.g.

// person_list.avsc
{
  "name": "person_list",
  "type": {
    "type": "array",
    "items": "person"
  }
}

There's no reason to copy-paste the person schema into the person_list schema, as you can reference it directly.

This feature helps avoid subtle errors when the same type is represented using slightly different schemas.

Using a Schema Registry

By default, AvroTurf will encode data in the Avro data file format. This means that the schema used to encode the data is prepended to the output. If you want to decrease the size of the output, e.g. when storing data in a log such as Apache Kafka or in a database, you can use the AvroTurf::Messaging API. This top-level API requires the use of Schema Registry, a service which allows registering and fetching Avro schemas.

The Messaging API will automatically register schemas used for encoding data, and will fetch the corresponding schema when decoding. Instead of including the full schema in the output, only a schema id generated by the registry is included. Registering the same schema twice is idempotent, so no coordination is needed.

NOTE: The Messaging format is not compatible with the Avro data file API.

The Messaging API is not included by default, so you must require 'avro_turf/messaging' explicitly if you want to use it.

Using the Messaging API is simple once you have set up a Schema Registry service:

require 'avro_turf/messaging'

# You need to pass the URL of your Schema Registry.
avro = AvroTurf::Messaging.new(registry_url: "http://my-registry:8081/")

# The API for encoding and decoding data is similar to the default one. Encoding
# data has the side effect of registering the schema. This only happens the first
# time a schema is used.
data = avro.encode({ "title" => "hello, world" }, schema_name: "greeting")

# When decoding, the schema will be fetched from the registry and cached. Subsequent
# instances of the same schema id will be served by the cache.
avro.decode(data) #=> { "title" => "hello, world" }

In addition to encoding and decoding data, you can check whether a schema is compatible with a subject in the registry using the Compatibility API

require 'avro_turf/messaging'

schema = <<-JSON
{
  "name": "person",
  "type": "record",
  "fields": [
    {
      "name": "full_name",
      "type": "string"
    },
    {
      "name": "address",
      "type": "address"
    }
  ]
}
JSON

avro = AvroTurf::Messaging.new(registry_url: "http://my-registry:8081/")

# Returns true if the schema is compatible, false otherwise.
avro.compatible?("person", schema)

Testing Support

AvroTurf includes a FakeSchemaRegistryServer that can be used in tests. The fake schema registry server depends on Sinatra but it is not listed as a runtime dependency for AvroTurf. Sinatra must be added to your Gemfile or gemspec in order to use the fake server.

Example using RSpec: