Chapter 4. Table API
Although most Accumulo client code will consist of reading and writing data as we have outlined in Chapter 3, many administrative functions are also available via the client API. Accumulo requires very little setup before an application can write data. Unlike relational databases and even some other NoSQL databases, Accumulo does not require any upfront declaration about the structure of the data to be stored in tables. Row IDs and columns do not have to be specified before data is written, nor does information about the lengths or types of values. The bare minimum required to begin writing and reading data is simply to provide a name when creating a new table.
However, the Accumulo API does provide a wide array of features for configuring and tuning tables and for controlling cluster actions. We outline those features in this chapter. Most of these operations can also be carried out via shell commands. We list the API methods here and the shell commands in “Table Operations”.
Basic Table Operations
Accumulo provides an API for creating, renaming, and deleting tables. This API can be used to manage the construction and lifecycle of tables entirely within an application.
Permission to perform various table operations—such as creating, reading, writing, altering, and deleting tables—is controlled on a per-user basis. More information on these permissions can be found in “Table Permissions”.
Creating Tables
Tables can be created via the TableOperations object: ...