Handle case where_LIST type is empty

sdk/python/feast/feature.py

@@ -39,6 +39,8 @@ def __init__(
         self._name = name
         if not isinstance(dtype, ValueType):
             raise ValueError("dtype is not a valid ValueType")
+        if dtype is ValueType.UNKNOWN:
+            raise ValueError(f"dtype cannont be {dtype}")
         self._dtype = dtype
         if labels is None:
             self._labels = dict()

sdk/python/feast/online_response.py

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
+from collections import defaultdict
 from typing import Any, Dict, List, cast
 
 import pandas as pd
@@ -25,7 +26,7 @@
 from feast.type_map import (
     _python_value_to_proto_value,
     feast_value_type_to_python_type,
-    python_type_to_feast_value_type,
+    python_values_to_feast_value_type,
 )
 
 
@@ -94,25 +95,30 @@ def _infer_online_entity_rows(
     entity_rows_dicts = cast(List[Dict[str, Any]], entity_rows)
     entity_row_list = []
     entity_type_map = dict()
+    entity_value_map = defaultdict(list)
+
+    # Flatten keys-value dicts into lists for type inference
+    for entity in entity_rows_dicts:
+        for key, value in entity.items():
+            if not isinstance(value, Value):
+                entity_value_map[key].append(value)
+
+    # Loop over all entities to infer dtype first in case of empty lists or nulls
+    for key, values in entity_value_map.items():
+        entity_type_map[key] = python_values_to_feast_value_type(key, values)
 
     for entity in entity_rows_dicts:
         fields = {}
         for key, value in entity.items():
-            # Allow for feast.types.Value
+            if key not in entity_type_map:
+                raise ValueError(
+                    f"field {key} cannot have all null values for type inference."
+                )
+
             if isinstance(value, Value):
                 proto_value = value
             else:
-                # Infer the specific type for this row
-                current_dtype = python_type_to_feast_value_type(name=key, value=value)
-
-                if key not in entity_type_map:
-                    entity_type_map[key] = current_dtype
-                else:
-                    if current_dtype != entity_type_map[key]:
-                        raise TypeError(
-                            f"Input entity {key} has mixed types, {current_dtype} and {entity_type_map[key]}. That is not allowed. "
-                        )
-                proto_value = _python_value_to_proto_value(current_dtype, value)
+                proto_value = _python_value_to_proto_value(entity_type_map[key], value)
             fields[key] = proto_value
         entity_row_list.append(GetOnlineFeaturesRequestV2.EntityRow(fields=fields))
     return entity_row_list

sdk/python/feast/type_map.py

@@ -48,23 +48,28 @@ def feast_value_type_to_python_type(field_value_proto: ProtoValue) -> Any:
     field_value_dict = MessageToDict(field_value_proto)
 
     for k, v in field_value_dict.items():
+        if "List" in k:
+            val = v.get("val", [])
+        else:
+            val = v
+
         if k == "int64Val":
-            return int(v)
+            return int(val)
         if k == "bytesVal":
-            return bytes(v)
+            return bytes(val)
         if (k == "int64ListVal") or (k == "int32ListVal"):
-            return [int(item) for item in v["val"]]
+            return [int(item) for item in val]
         if (k == "floatListVal") or (k == "doubleListVal"):
-            return [float(item) for item in v["val"]]
+            return [float(item) for item in val]
         if k == "stringListVal":
-            return [str(item) for item in v["val"]]
+            return [str(item) for item in val]
         if k == "bytesListVal":
-            return [bytes(item) for item in v["val"]]
+            return [bytes(item) for item in val]
         if k == "boolListVal":
-            return [bool(item) for item in v["val"]]
+            return [bool(item) for item in val]
 
         if k in ["int32Val", "floatVal", "doubleVal", "stringVal", "boolVal"]:
-            return v
+            return val
         else:
             raise TypeError(
                 f"Casting to Python native type for type {k} failed. "
@@ -144,9 +149,9 @@ def python_type_to_feast_value_type(
             common_item_value_type = None
             for item in list_items:
                 if isinstance(item, ProtoValue):
-                    current_item_value_type = _proto_str_to_value_type(
-                        str(item.WhichOneof("val"))
-                    )
+                    current_item_value_type: Optional[
+                        ValueType
+                    ] = _proto_str_to_value_type(str(item.WhichOneof("val")))
                 else:
                     # Get the type from the current item, only one level deep
                     current_item_value_type = python_type_to_feast_value_type(
@@ -164,9 +169,7 @@ def python_type_to_feast_value_type(
                     )
                 common_item_value_type = current_item_value_type
             if common_item_value_type is None:
-                raise ValueError(
-                    f"field {name} cannot have null values for type inference."
-                )
+                return ValueType.UNKNOWN
             return ValueType[common_item_value_type.name + "_LIST"]
         else:
             assert value
@@ -180,6 +183,28 @@ def python_type_to_feast_value_type(
     return type_map[value.dtype.__str__()]
 
 
+def python_values_to_feast_value_type(name: str, values: Any, recurse: bool = True):
+    inferred_dtype = ValueType.UNKNOWN
+    for row in values:
+        current_dtype = python_type_to_feast_value_type(
+            name, value=row, recurse=recurse
+        )
+
+        if inferred_dtype is ValueType.UNKNOWN:
+            inferred_dtype = current_dtype
+        else:
+            if current_dtype != inferred_dtype:
+                raise TypeError(
+                    f"Input entity {name} has mixed types, {current_dtype} and {inferred_dtype}. That is not allowed. "
+                )
+    if inferred_dtype is ValueType.UNKNOWN:
+        raise ValueError(
+            f"field {name} cannot have all null values for type inference."
+        )
+
+    return inferred_dtype
+
+
 def _type_err(item, dtype):
     raise ValueError(f'Value "{item}" is of type {type(item)} not of type {dtype}')
 
@@ -277,11 +302,16 @@ def _python_value_to_proto_value(feast_value_type, value) -> ProtoValue:
 def python_value_to_proto_value(
     value: Any, feature_type: ValueType = None
 ) -> ProtoValue:
-    value_type = (
-        python_type_to_feast_value_type("", value)
-        if value is not None
-        else feature_type
-    )
+    value_type = feature_type
+    if value is not None:
+        if isinstance(value, (list, np.ndarray)):
+            value_type = (
+                feature_type
+                if len(value) == 0
+                else python_type_to_feast_value_type("", value)
+            )
+        else:
+            value_type = python_type_to_feast_value_type("", value)
     return _python_value_to_proto_value(value_type, value)
 
 

sdk/python/tests/data/data_creator.py

@@ -11,12 +11,15 @@ def create_dataset(
     entity_type: ValueType = ValueType.INT32,
     feature_dtype: str = None,
     feature_is_list: bool = False,
+    list_is_empty: bool = False,
 ) -> pd.DataFrame:
     now = datetime.now().replace(microsecond=0, second=0, minute=0)
     ts = pd.Timestamp(now).round("ms")
     data = {
         "driver_id": get_entities_for_value_type(entity_type),
-        "value": get_feature_values_for_dtype(feature_dtype, feature_is_list),
+        "value": get_feature_values_for_dtype(
+            feature_dtype, feature_is_list, list_is_empty
+        ),
         "ts_1": [
             ts - timedelta(hours=4),
             ts,
@@ -44,7 +47,7 @@ def get_entities_for_value_type(value_type: ValueType) -> List:
     return value_type_map[value_type]
 
 
-def get_feature_values_for_dtype(dtype: str, is_list: bool) -> List:
+def get_feature_values_for_dtype(dtype: str, is_list: bool, is_empty: bool) -> List:
     if dtype is None:
         return [0.1, None, 0.3, 4, 5]
     # TODO(adchia): for int columns, consider having a better error when dealing with None values (pandas int dfs can't
@@ -57,8 +60,10 @@ def get_feature_values_for_dtype(dtype: str, is_list: bool) -> List:
         "bool": [True, None, False, True, False],
     }
     non_list_val = dtype_map[dtype]
-    # Duplicate the value once if this is a list
     if is_list:
+        if is_empty:
+            # Need at least one non-empty element for type inference
+            return [[] for n in non_list_val[:-1]] + [non_list_val[-1:]]
         return [[n, n] if n is not None else None for n in non_list_val]
     else:
         return non_list_val