[jira] [Created] (AVRO-3975) "displayname" schema attribute

["Clemens Vasters (Jira)" <ji...@apache.org>]

Clemens Vasters created AVRO-3975:
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             Summary: "displayname" schema attribute
                 Key: AVRO-3975
                 URL: https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/AVRO-3975
             Project: Apache Avro
          Issue Type: New Feature
          Components: spec
    Affects Versions: 1.11.3
            Reporter: Clemens Vasters


https://avro.apache.org/docs/1.11.1/specification/#names

The "name" attribute's permitted set of characters is, rightfully, constrained such that it will cleanly map to most programming languages. 

In data systems, especially in end-user-facing platforms, users ask for structural elements of their data to be named in their own language and that requires characters outside of the permissible set. Those user-given names choices should be preservable in the schema even if the technical "name" is produced from the user-defined name such that it conforms to the restrictions. 

I therefore propose a formal "displayname" attribute to be defined for all schema constructs that have names, which accepts an arbitrary UTF-8 string. The constraint on that attribute is that the displayname MUST follow the same relative uniqueness constraints as "name". 

The presence of the "displayname" would have no wire-impact.

I understand that this can be introduced as custom metadata extension, but I believe this is a common issue. We are more aware of internationalization issues now than when such naming constraints were conceived.    



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