fix(arrow/array): handle empty binary values correctly in BinaryBuilder #634
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When all values appended to a BinaryBuilder are empty (zero-length
byte slices), they were incorrectly being treated as NULL values
instead of valid empty slices. This occurred because the underlying
buffer builder returned a buffer created from nil bytes, which caused
slicing operations to return nil.
The fix ensures that when no data buffer is allocated (length = 0),
we create a buffer with an empty slice []byte{} instead of nil,
allowing proper distinction between NULL and empty values.
Fixes apache#625
…s behavior
After fixing BinaryBuilder to properly distinguish between empty byte
slices and NULL values, the test expectation needed to be updated.
Empty byte slices ([]byte{}) now correctly serialize as empty strings ""
rather than null in JSON, which is the correct and expected behavior.
Related to apache#625
lidavidm
approved these changes
Jan 14, 2026
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Rationale for this change
Fixes #625
What changes are included in this PR?
When all values appended to a BinaryBuilder are empty (zero-length byte slices), they were incorrectly being treated as NULL values instead of valid empty slices. This occurred because the underlying buffer builder returned a buffer created from nil bytes, which caused slicing operations to return nil.
The fix ensures that when no data buffer is allocated (length = 0), we create a buffer with an empty slice []byte{} instead of nil, allowing proper distinction between NULL and empty values.
Are these changes tested?
Yes a test is added.
Are there any user-facing changes?
Just fixing the behavior.