Building connectors for StarRocks involves creating software components that allow other applications to interact with the StarRocks database. While there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach, here’s a general guide to get you started:
1. Choose a Development Approach:
There are two main ways to build StarRocks connectors:
- From Scratch: This offers maximum control but requires a deep understanding of StarRocks’ communication protocols and APIs. You’ll need to handle data serialization, query execution, and error handling.
- Leveraging Existing Connectors: StarRocks already has a Kafka connector available GitHub - StarRocks/starrocks-connector-for-kafka. You can use this as a reference or even extend its functionalities for your specific needs.
2. Understand StarRocks Communication:
StarRocks uses a Frontend (FE) and Backend (BE) architecture. The FE acts as the entry point for client applications and communicates with the BE nodes that store the data. Familiarize yourself with StarRocks’ communication protocols like SQL over MySQL wire protocol or Restful APIs to establish communication between your connector and StarRocks.
3. Design the Connector Functionalities:
Define the functionalities your connector will offer. Common functionalities include:
- Establishing connections: Define how applications will connect to StarRocks using your connector.
- Data manipulation: Allow reading, writing, and updating data in StarRocks tables.
- Querying data: Enable applications to send SQL queries to StarRocks and retrieve results.
- Authentication: Implement mechanisms for secure connections using usernames and passwords.
Here is a suggested requirements list:
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Be able to query
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Be able to create table (CREATE TABLE | StarRocks)
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Support primary key table with defaults
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Support duplicate key table with defaults
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Support aggregate key table with defaults
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Be able to insert data
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Support StarRocks stream load
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Support SQL insert values
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No requirements to be performant (eg your connector doesn’t need to be faster than existing SR tools, just integrate / pass through to existing StarRocks API and tools)
4. Development Tools and Libraries:
The choice of tools depends on your chosen approach. If building from scratch, consider using libraries like:
- HTTP/HTTPS: For database CRUD connectivity.
- JDBC/ODBC Drivers: For database CRUD connectivity
- HTTP/HTTPS: For database bulk data loading connectivity
In addition, here are some issues you might hit with building your connector with StarRocks
Sling Data ran into these issues
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Issues with lower and upper case tables name Use the low case db/table name for StarRocks target, but the generated CREATE TABLE STATEMENT use the uppper case databasename/table name. · Issue #193 · slingdata-io/sling-cli · GitHub
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Column case sensitivity when load snowflake_to_starrocks, all rows are filled with null value. · Issue #180 · slingdata-io/sling-cli · GitHub
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varchar(x) in StarRocks is in byte, not the usual char.length Local Parquet to StarRocks error · Issue #176 · slingdata-io/sling-cli · GitHub
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Random timout when using stream load. Starrocks: random timeouts when using stream load feature · Issue #159 · slingdata-io/sling-cli · GitHub
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Adding in stream load URI support Starrocks: How do we set the fe_url in ENV variable or Python wrapper? · Issue #151 · slingdata-io/sling-cli · GitHub
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Support primary key and aggregiate key StarRocks. Support primary key tables · Issue #150 · slingdata-io/sling-cli · GitHub
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Supporting sort key and distribution hash key Handle Custom Column Keys on Target Table Creation · Issue #149 · slingdata-io/sling-cli · GitHub
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Cast from varchar to varbinary postgresql to starrocks issue. cast from VARCHAR to VARBINARY failed · Issue #145 · slingdata-io/sling-cli · GitHub
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Enhancing sling to understand starrocks insert overwrite vs insert into Testing mysql and StarRocks. table count (324) != stream count (300024). Records missing. Aborting · Issue #143 · slingdata-io/sling-cli · GitHub
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Have Sling reorder table create so that first column is the sort key StarRocks: Have Sling reorder table create so that first column is the sort key · Issue #194 · slingdata-io/sling-cli · GitHub and StarRocks: JSON issue. Key columns must be the first few columns of the schema and the order of the key columns must be consistent with the order of the schema. · Issue #195 · slingdata-io/sling-cli · GitHub
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source custom SQL can’t be terminated by ; It seems source custom SQL can't be terminated by ; . · Issue #197 · slingdata-io/sling-cli · GitHub
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StarRocks Sink with large parquet file. Client.Timeout exceeded while awaiting headers StarRocks Sink with large parquet file. Client.Timeout exceeded while awaiting headers · Issue #204 · slingdata-io/sling-cli · GitHub
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Sling performance testing for StarRocks Sling performance testing for StarRocks · Issue #201 · slingdata-io/sling-cli · GitHub
5. Testing and Deployment:
- Implement unit tests to ensure your connector functions as expected.
- Develop integration tests to verify how your connector interacts with StarRocks.
- Package your connector for easy deployment and distribution
Additional Resources:
- StarRocks Kafka Connector: GitHub - StarRocks/starrocks-connector-for-kafka
- Consider contributing to existing open-source connectors: GitHub - StarRocks/starrocks-connector-for-kafka
Remember, building connectors can be complex. If you’re new to this area, consider starting by studying the existing Kafka connector as a reference.