Data Types and Schemas

Factory Functions

These should be used to create Arrow data types and schemas.

null()	Create instance of null type
bool_()	Create instance of boolean type
int8()	Create instance of signed int8 type
int16()	Create instance of signed int16 type
int32()	Create instance of signed int32 type
int64()	Create instance of signed int64 type
uint8()	Create instance of unsigned int8 type
uint16()	Create instance of unsigned uint16 type
uint32()	Create instance of unsigned uint32 type
uint64()	Create instance of unsigned uint64 type
float16()	Create half-precision floating point type
float32()	Create single-precision floating point type
float64()	Create double-precision floating point type
time32(unit)	Create instance of 32-bit time (time of day) type with unit resolution
time64(unit)	Create instance of 64-bit time (time of day) type with unit resolution
timestamp(unit[, tz])	Create instance of timestamp type with resolution and optional time zone
date32()	Create instance of 32-bit date (days since UNIX epoch 1970-01-01)
date64()	Create instance of 64-bit date (milliseconds since UNIX epoch 1970-01-01)
binary(int length=-1)	Create variable-length binary type
string()	Create UTF8 variable-length string type
utf8()	Alias for string()
decimal128(int precision, int scale=0)	Create decimal type with precision and scale and 128bit width
list_(value_type)	Create ListType instance from child data type or field
struct(fields)	Create StructType instance from fields
dictionary(DataType index_type, …)	Dictionary (categorical, or simply encoded) type
field(name, type, bool nullable=True[, metadata])	Create a pyarrow.Field instance
schema(fields[, metadata])	Construct pyarrow.Schema from collection of fields
from_numpy_dtype(dtype)	Convert NumPy dtype to pyarrow.DataType

Type Classes

Do not instantiate these classes directly. Instead, call one of the factory functions above.

DataType()	Base class of all Arrow data types.
DictionaryType	Concrete class for dictionary data types.
ListType	Concrete class for list data types.
StructType	Concrete class for struct data types.
UnionType	Concrete class for struct data types.
TimestampType	Concrete class for timestamp data types.
Time32Type	Concrete class for time32 data types.
Time64Type	Concrete class for time64 data types.
FixedSizeBinaryType	Concrete class for fixed-size binary data types.
Decimal128Type	Concrete class for decimal128 data types.
Field()	A named field, with a data type, nullability, and optional metadata.
Schema()

Type Checking

These functions are predicates to check whether a DataType instance represents a given data type (such as int32) or general category (such as “is a signed integer”).

is_boolean(t)	Return True if value is an instance of a boolean type
is_integer(t)	Return True if value is an instance of any integer type
is_signed_integer(t)	Return True if value is an instance of any signed integer type
is_unsigned_integer(t)	Return True if value is an instance of any unsigned integer type
is_int8(t)	Return True if value is an instance of an int8 type
is_int16(t)	Return True if value is an instance of an int16 type
is_int32(t)	Return True if value is an instance of an int32 type
is_int64(t)	Return True if value is an instance of an int64 type
is_uint8(t)	Return True if value is an instance of an uint8 type
is_uint16(t)	Return True if value is an instance of an uint16 type
is_uint32(t)	Return True if value is an instance of an uint32 type
is_uint64(t)	Return True if value is an instance of an uint64 type
is_floating(t)	Return True if value is an instance of a floating point numeric type
is_float16(t)	Return True if value is an instance of an float16 (half-precision) type
is_float32(t)	Return True if value is an instance of an float32 (single precision) type
is_float64(t)	Return True if value is an instance of an float64 (double precision) type
is_decimal(t)	Return True if value is an instance of a decimal type
is_list(t)	Return True if value is an instance of a list type
is_struct(t)	Return True if value is an instance of a struct type
is_union(t)	Return True if value is an instance of a union type
is_nested(t)	Return True if value is an instance of a nested type
is_temporal(t)	Return True if value is an instance of a temporal (date, time, timestamp) type
is_timestamp(t)	Return True if value is an instance of a timestamp type
is_date(t)	Return True if value is an instance of a date type
is_date32(t)	Return True if value is an instance of a date32 (days) type
is_date64(t)	Return True if value is an instance of a date64 (milliseconds) type
is_time(t)	Return True if value is an instance of a time type
is_time32(t)	Return True if value is an instance of a time32 type
is_time64(t)	Return True if value is an instance of a time64 type
is_null(t)	Return True if value is an instance of a null type
is_binary(t)	Return True if value is an instance of a variable-length binary type
is_unicode(t)	Alias for is_string
is_string(t)	Return True if value is an instance of string (utf8 unicode) type
is_fixed_size_binary(t)	Return True if value is an instance of a fixed size binary type
is_map(t)	Return True if value is an instance of a map logical type
is_dictionary(t)	Return True if value is an instance of a dictionary-encoded type