nzpy-extended 0.3.0

IBM Netezza python driver - extended fork

nzpy_extended: High-performance IBM Netezza driver for Python

nzpy_extended is a hard fork of IBM nzpy — enriched with new features, major performance improvements via a C extension, and expanded platform support.

Key differences from upstream nzpy

Feature	nzpy (IBM)	nzpy_extended
Row parsing performance (mixed types)	~10 000 rows/s	~63 000 rows/s (no C ext) → ~93 000 rows/s (+ C ext)
Supported Python	3.5+	3.12, 3.13, 3.14
Platform wheels	❌ None	✅ Linux x64, macOS ARM, Windows x64 (pre-built)
Async support	❌	✅ Fully async API
Sync API (DB-API 2.0)	✅	✅ Full feature parity with async

Windows 11

Data type	official nzpy	nzpy_extended (no C ext)	nzpy_extended (+ C ext)	vs. ODBC
INTEGER	~18 k rows/s	~196 k rows/s	~256 k rows/s	≈ ODBC (~239 k)
NUMERIC	~10 k rows/s	~75 k rows/s	~97 k rows/s	≈ ODBC (~90 k)
STRING	~18 k rows/s	~75 k rows/s	~79 k rows/s	≈ ODBC (~69 k)
DATETIME	~18 k rows/s	~135 k rows/s	~255 k rows/s	≈ ODBC (~249 k)
BOOLEAN	~23 k rows/s	~243 k rows/s	~401 k rows/s	≈ ODBC (~359 k)
Mixed	~4 900 rows/s	~36 k rows/s	~45 k rows/s	≈ ODBC (~44 k)

WSL2 (Linux x86_64)

Data type	official nzpy	nzpy_extended (no C ext)	nzpy_extended (+ C ext)	vs. ODBC
INTEGER	~21 k rows/s	~203 k rows/s	~640 k rows/s	~92 k rows/s
NUMERIC	~11 k rows/s	~79 k rows/s	~150 k rows/s	~63 k rows/s
STRING	~22 k rows/s	~71 k rows/s	~160 k rows/s	~80 k rows/s
DATETIME	~21 k rows/s	~126 k rows/s	~407 k rows/s	~111 k rows/s
BOOLEAN	~25 k rows/s	~186 k rows/s	~418 k rows/s	~192 k rows/s
Mixed	~5.4 k rows/s	~33 k rows/s	~49 k rows/s	~20 k rows/s

Note: WSL2 results were obtained on the same Netezza server as Windows 11 (192.168.0.144) — the higher throughput reflects Linux network stack efficiency. ODBC results use a ctypes-based ANSI-ODBC fallback (because pyodbc's Unicode API is incompatible with the Netezza ODBC driver on Linux). This wrapper fetches every cell individually via SQLGetData, so ODBC numbers on WSL2 are understated vs. native pyodbc on Windows (which uses SQLBindCol batch fetching). The real ODBC-vs-native gap on Linux is likely smaller.

macOS ARM64 (Apple M4)

Benchmarks run on a Mac mini (Apple M4, 16 GB RAM) — same Netezza server at 192.168.0.144. 100 k rows per query.

Data type	official nzpy	nzpy_extended (no C ext)	nzpy_extended (+ C ext)
INTEGER	~44 k rows/s	~356 k rows/s	~726 k rows/s
NUMERIC	~22 k rows/s	~122 k rows/s	~195 k rows/s
STRING	~39 k rows/s	~143 k rows/s	~183 k rows/s
DATETIME	~42 k rows/s	~253 k rows/s	~683 k rows/s
BOOLEAN	~53 k rows/s	~449 k rows/s	~786 k rows/s
Mixed	~10 k rows/s	~63 k rows/s	~93 k rows/s

The C extension accelerates integer, decimal, datetime, and boolean parsing by avoiding Python object allocations per field and struct.unpack overhead. String parsing is primarily network-bound, so the C extension offers minimal benefit there.

If the compiled extension is not available (unsupported platform or Python version), the driver gracefully falls back to pure Python with identical semantics.

Installation

pip install nzpy_extended

Pre-built wheels are provided for:

Platform	Architecture	Python
Linux	x86_64 (manylinux)	3.12 / 3.13 / 3.14
macOS	ARM64 (Apple Silicon)	3.12 / 3.13 / 3.14
Windows	x86_64	3.12 / 3.13 / 3.14

For other platforms or Python versions, pip install will compile the C extension from source (requires a C compiler: GCC, Clang, or MSVC). On systems without a compiler the install will fail — use a supported platform or version.

Quick Start

Sync — scripts, ETL, Jupyter, Django

import nzpy_extended.sync as nzpy

conn = nzpy.connect(
    user="admin", password="password",
    host="netezza-host", database="mydb",
)

# --- Basic query ---
with conn.cursor() as cur:
    cur.execute("SELECT 1")
    print(cur.fetchone())  # [1]

# --- One-shot convenience (pyodbc pattern) ---
row = conn.execute("SELECT version()").fetchone()
print(row[0])

# --- Parameter binding ---
cur.execute("SELECT id, name FROM users WHERE active = ?", (1,))
for row in cur:
    print(row)

# --- Cursor iteration (batched, arraysize=100) ---
cur.execute("SELECT * FROM large_table")
for row in cur:            # fetches 100 rows per round-trip
    process(row)

# --- Method chaining (PEP 249) ---
rows = cur.execute("SELECT 1, 2, 3").fetchall()

# --- Explicit transaction control ---
conn.autocommit = False
cur.execute("INSERT INTO users (name) VALUES ('Alice')")
cur.execute("INSERT INTO users (name) VALUES ('Bob')")
conn.commit()               # or conn.rollback()
conn.autocommit = True

# --- Transaction context manager ---
with conn.transaction():
    cur.execute("INSERT INTO users (name) VALUES ('Charlie')")
    # auto-commits on success, auto-rollbacks on exception

# --- Timeout (pyodbc-compatible properties) ---
conn.timeout = 5.0          # default for all new cursors
cur = conn.cursor()         # inherits timeout=5.0
cur.execute("SELECT ...")   # raises OperationalError after 5s

cur.timeout = 10.0          # per-cursor override
cur.execute("SELECT ...", timeout=3.0)  # per-execute override wins

# --- Stored procedures ---
result = cur.callproc("sp_add_numbers", [10, 20])
rows = cur.fetchall()

# --- Server notices (RAISE NOTICE) ---
for msg in cur.messages:
    print("Notice:", msg)

# --- PEP 249 rownumber ---
cur.execute("SELECT * FROM t")
print(cur.rownumber)  # 0
cur.fetchone()
print(cur.rownumber)  # 1

# --- Column metadata ---
desc = cur.description       # 7-tuple after execute()
schema = cur.get_schema_table()  # rich metadata as list[dict]

# --- Cancel / interrupt ---
conn.cancel()                # stops running query, session survives
cur.interrupt()              # alias

# --- Connection state ---
print(conn.closed)           # False
conn.close()
print(conn.closed)           # True

Async — FastAPI, asyncio

import asyncio
import nzpy_extended as nzpy

async def main():
    async with await nzpy.connect(
        user="admin", password="password",
        host="netezza-host", database="mydb",
    ) as conn:
        # --- Basic query ---
        async with conn.cursor() as cur:
            await cur.execute("SELECT id, name FROM users WHERE active = ?", (1,))
            return await cur.fetchall()

        # --- One-shot convenience ---
        row = await (await conn.execute("SELECT version()")).fetchone()

        # --- Async iteration (streaming) ---
        cur = conn.cursor()
        await cur.execute("SELECT * FROM large_table")
        async for row in cur:
            process(row)

        # --- Timeout ---
        await cur.execute("SELECT pg_sleep(999)", timeout=3.0)
        # raises OperationalError after 3s

        # --- Stored procedures ---
        result = await cur.callproc("sp_add_numbers", [10, 20])

        # --- Notices ---
        for msg in cur.messages:
            print("Notice:", msg)

asyncio.run(main())

FastAPI with connection pool

from fastapi import FastAPI, Depends
import nzpy_extended as nzpy
import nzpy_extended.fastapi as nzpy_fastapi

pool = nzpy.NzPool(
    min_size=2, max_size=10,
    host="netezza-host", database="mydb",
    user="admin", password="password",
)

app = FastAPI(lifespan=nzpy_fastapi.lifespan(pool))

@app.get("/users")
async def get_users(conn=Depends(nzpy_fastapi.get_connection)):
    async with conn.cursor() as cur:
        await cur.execute("SELECT * FROM users LIMIT 100")
        return await cur.fetchall()

Sync connection pool

import nzpy_extended.sync as nzpy
from nzpy_extended import SyncPool

pool = SyncPool(
    min_size=2, max_size=10,
    host="netezza-host", database="mydb",
    user="admin", password="password",
)
with pool.connection() as conn:
    conn.execute("SELECT 1").fetchone()
pool.close_all()

Bulk data loading via external table protocol

load_data() inserts rows from a Python iterable into a Netezza table using the native external table protocol (REMOTESOURCE 'python'). It supports optional automatic table creation.

# --- Sync ---
import nzpy_extended.sync as nzpy
conn = nzpy.connect(...)
count = conn.load_data("my_table", [(1, "Alice"), (2, "Bob")])

# --- Async ---
import nzpy_extended as nzpy
count = await nzpy.load_data(conn, "my_table", [(1, "Alice"), (2, "Bob")])

# --- Auto-infer types from data ---
rows = [(1, "Alice", 100.50), (2, "Bob", 200.75)]
count = conn.load_data("my_table", rows)
# Creates: col1 SMALLINT, col2 VARCHAR(255), col3 NUMERIC

# --- Explicit columns ---
count = conn.load_data(
    table_name="products",
    rows=[(101, "Widget", 9.99)],
    columns=[("id", "INT"), ("name", "VARCHAR(200)"), ("price", "NUMERIC(10,2)")],
)

# --- Generator for large datasets ---
def generate_rows(n):
    for i in range(n):
        yield (i, f"item_{i}")
count = conn.load_data("my_table", rows=generate_rows(50000))

Parameters:

Parameter	Default	Description
conn / table_name / rows	(required)	Connection, target table, row iterable
columns	None	[(name, nz_type), ...] or None for auto-infer from data
delimiter	'|'	Field delimiter
encoding	'LATIN9'	Text encoding ('UTF8' for NVARCHAR)
create_if_missing	True	Auto-create table if not exists
temporary	False	Create TEMP TABLE
distribute_on_random	True	Add DISTRIBUTE ON RANDOM
logdir	temp dir	Netezza log directory
escape_char	'\\'	Escape character for delimiter within values

Auto-infer column types: When columns is None and create_if_missing=True, the driver reads the first row and maps Python types to Netezza DDL: int → SMALLINT/INT/BIGINT, float → FLOAT, str → VARCHAR(255), Decimal → NUMERIC(p,s), bool → BOOLEAN, date → DATE, datetime → TIMESTAMP, bytes → BYTEA. Column names default to col1, col2, etc.

Metadata API (catalog introspection)

The conn.meta object provides async access to Netezza system catalog views — tables, columns, views, procedures, distribution keys, storage stats, sessions, and more. All queries run against the current database; connect to SYSTEM for system-wide objects.

import nzpy_extended as nzpy

async def main():
    conn = await nzpy.connect(user="admin", password="password",
                              host="netezza-host", database="mydb")

    # --- Schemas & databases ---
    schemas = await conn.meta.get_schemas()       # ["ADMIN", "INFORMATION_SCHEMA", ...]
    dbs     = await conn.meta.get_databases()     # ["JUST_DATA", "SYSTEM", ...]
    db_name = await conn.meta.get_current_database()   # "JUST_DATA"

    # --- Tables ---
    tables = await conn.meta.get_tables(schema="ADMIN")
    # [{"schema": "ADMIN", "table_name": "DIMDATE", "owner": "ADMIN",
    #   "objtype": "TABLE", "objid": 123456, "row_count": 500000}, ...]

    tables = await conn.meta.get_tables(
        schema="ADMIN", table_pattern="DIM%", include_system=False,
    )

    # --- Views (includes view definition SQL) ---
    views = await conn.meta.get_views(schema="ADMIN")
    # [{"schema": "ADMIN", "view_name": "V_SALES", "owner": "ADMIN",
    #   "objid": 789012, "definition": "CREATE VIEW V_SALES AS SELECT ..."}, ...]

    # --- Columns ---
    cols = await conn.meta.get_columns("DIMDATE", schema="ADMIN")
    # [{"column_name": "DATEKEY", "ordinal": 1,
    #   "data_type": "DATE", "nullable": "N"}, ...]

    # Dot-notation also works:
    cols = await conn.meta.get_columns("ADMIN.DIMDATE")

    # --- Distribution key ---
    dk = await conn.meta.get_distribution_key("FACT_SALES", schema="ADMIN")
    # ["CUSTOMER_ID"]  or [] for RANDOM distribution

    # --- Table sizes ---
    sizes = await conn.meta.get_table_sizes(schema="ADMIN")
    # [{"schema": "ADMIN", "table_name": "FACT_SALES",
    #   "used_bytes": 500000000, "allocated_bytes": 600000000,
    #   "size_mb": 476, "skew": 1.2}, ...]

    # --- Stored procedures ---
    procs = await conn.meta.get_procedures(schema="ADMIN")
    # [{"schema": "ADMIN", "proc_name": "SP_LOAD_DATA",
    #   "owner": "ADMIN", "signature": "SP_LOAD_DATA(VARCHAR(256))",
    #   "returns": "INTEGER", "source": "CREATE PROCEDURE ..."}, ...]

    # --- Sequences & synonyms ---
    seqs = await conn.meta.get_sequences(schema="ADMIN")
    syns = await conn.meta.get_synonyms(schema="ADMIN")

    # --- Sessions ---
    sessions = await conn.meta.get_sessions()
    # [{"session_id": 123, "username": "ADMIN", "database_name": "JUST_DATA",
    #   "conntime": datetime(...), "priority": 0, "status": "active"}, ...]

    # --- Users & groups ---
    users  = await conn.meta.get_users()
    groups = await conn.meta.get_groups()

    # --- Query history (requires history collection enabled) ---
    history = await conn.meta.get_query_history(limit=50, username="ADMIN")

    # --- Search across tables, views, procedures ---
    results = await conn.meta.search_objects("SALES%", schema="ADMIN")
    # [{"object_type": "TABLE", "schema": "ADMIN",
    #   "object_name": "FACT_SALES", "owner": "ADMIN", "objid": 123}, ...]

asyncio.run(main())

Method	Returns	Notes
get_schemas()	list[str]	All schemas in current database
get_databases()	list[str]	All databases visible to user
get_current_database()	str	Current database name
get_current_schema()	str	Current schema (search path)
get_tables(schema, pattern, include_system)	list[dict]	Tables: schema, table_name, owner, objtype, objid, row_count
get_views(schema, pattern)	list[dict]	Views: schema, view_name, owner, objid, definition (SQL!)
get_columns(table, schema)	list[dict]	Columns: column_name, ordinal, data_type, nullable, objid
get_distribution_key(table, schema)	list[str]	Distribution column names (empty = RANDOM)
get_table_sizes(schema, pattern)	list[dict]	Sizes: used_bytes, allocated_bytes, size_mb, skew
get_procedures(schema, pattern)	list[dict]	Procs: schema, proc_name, owner, signature, returns, source
get_sequences(schema)	list[dict]	Sequences: schema, seq_name, owner, objid
get_synonyms(schema)	list[dict]	Synonyms: schema, synonym_name, ref_database, ref_schema, referenced_object
get_sessions()	list[dict]	Active sessions: session_id, username, database_name, conntime, priority
get_users()	list[dict]	Users: username, objid
get_groups()	list[dict]	Groups: groupname, objid
get_query_history(limit, user)	list[dict]	History: session_id, username, query_text, submit_time, result_rows
search_objects(pattern, schema)	list[dict]	Unified search: object_type (TABLE/VIEW/PROCEDURE), schema, object_name

API Reference

Feature	Async	Sync	Notes
connect()	nzpy.connect(...)	nzpy.sync.connect(...)
cursor()	conn.cursor()	conn.cursor()	Returns Cursor / SyncCursor
execute(sql, params)	await cur.execute(...)	cur.execute(...)	PEP 249, returns cursor
executemany(sql, seq)	await cur.executemany(...)	cur.executemany(...)	Partial failure preserves rowcount
callproc(name, params)	await cur.callproc(...)	cur.callproc(...)	CALL proc_name(args)
fetchone()	await cur.fetchone()	cur.fetchone()	Returns row or None
fetchmany(n)	await cur.fetchmany(n)	cur.fetchmany(n)	Default arraysize=100
fetchall()	await cur.fetchall()	cur.fetchall()
nextset()	await cur.nextset()	cur.nextset()
description	cur.description	cur.description	7-tuple, available after execute
rowcount	cur.rowcount	cur.rowcount	Rows affected
rownumber	cur.rownumber	cur.rownumber	PEP 249, 0-based index
messages	cur.messages	cur.messages	Server notices
arraysize	cur.arraysize	cur.arraysize	Default 100
get_schema_table()	cur.get_schema_table()	cur.get_schema_table()	Rich metadata
conn.execute(sql)	await conn.execute(...)	conn.execute(...)	One-shot convenience
conn.timeout	—	conn.timeout = N	Default timeout for cursors
cur.timeout	—	cur.timeout = N	Per-cursor timeout
autocommit	conn.autocommit	conn.autocommit	Get/set, default True
closed	—	conn.closed	Read-only
commit() / rollback()	await conn.commit()	conn.commit()
cancel()	await conn.cancel()	conn.cancel()	Session survives
transaction()	—	conn.transaction()	Context manager
load_data()	await nzpy.load_data(...)	nzpy.sync.load_data(...)	Bulk insert via external table
conn.load_data()	await conn.load_data(...)	conn.load_data(...)	Method form
conn.meta.get_tables()	await conn.meta.get_tables(...)	—	Catalog metadata (async only)
NzPool / SyncPool	nzpy.NzPool(...)	nzpy.SyncPool(...)	Connection pooling

Documentation

• docs/ folder in the repository:
  • timeout_and_cancel.md — Timeout and cancel mechanisms
  • sync_api.md — Full sync API reference
  • pep249_compliance.md — PEP 249 compliance table
  • pool.md — Connection pool documentation
  • load_data.md — Bulk data loading
  • metadata_api.md — Catalog introspection API
• GitHub Wiki
• Issue tracker

Requirements

• Python ≥ 3.12
• CPython (PyPy not supported for C extension, pure-Python fallback only)

Testing

Running the test suite

Tests require a running Netezza instance. Set the connection environment variables:

export NZ_DEV_HOST=your_netezza_host
export NZ_DEV_PORT=5480
export NZ_DEV_DB=JUST_DATA
export NZ_DEV_USER=admin
export NZ_DEV_PASSWORD=password

Run all tests:

pytest tests/ -v

C Extension / Pure Python parity

The C extension and pure-Python fallback must produce identical results for all data types. Parity tests verify this in two ways:

Unit tests (tests/test_c_python_parity_unit.py) — compare individual C parser functions against Python reference implementations byte-by-byte. No database required.

pytest tests/test_c_python_parity_unit.py -v

Integration tests (tests/test_c_python_parity_integration.py) — run real SQL queries through both code paths and verify results match. Requires a database.

pytest tests/test_c_python_parity_integration.py -v

Verification script — runs both test suites in C-extension and pure-Python modes side-by-side:

python tools/verify_c_python_parity.py

Disabling C extension at runtime:

Set the environment variable NZPY_EXTENDED_NO_CEXT=1 to force pure-Python mode even when the compiled extension is available. Useful for debugging or verifying fallback correctness.

NZPY_EXTENDED_NO_CEXT=1 pip install nzpy_extended
# or at runtime:
NZPY_EXTENDED_NO_CEXT=1 python -c "import nzpy_extended.core; print(nzpy_extended.core._HAVE_C_EXT)"  # False

Reproducing benchmark results

The per-type benchmark table above is generated by tools/examples/performance_test.py.

Prerequisites

• A running Netezza instance with a table named JUST_DATA..FACTPRODUCTINVENTORY (or adjust SOURCE_TABLE in the script)
• Python ≥ 3.12
• Install the required packages:

pip install nzpy_extended

The official IBM driver is also tested for comparison (pip install nzpy).

Optional (for ODBC comparison):

• pip install pyodbc — with NetezzaSQL ODBC driver installed (rows labeled pyodbc)
• Set NZ_ODBC_DRIVER if your ODBC driver uses a different name (default: NetezzaSQL). On Linux/WSL2 the name is defined in /etc/odbcinst.ini, e.g.:

  export NZ_ODBC_DRIVER=NetezzaSQL  # Linux/WSL2
  

• Linux/WSL2: pyodbc's Unicode API is incompatible with the Netezza ODBC driver. The benchmark auto-detects this and falls back to a ctypes-based ANSI-ODBC wrapper. No additional configuration needed.

Steps

1. Set connection environment variables:

set NZ_HOST=your_netezza_host     # Windows
set NZ_PORT=5480
set NZ_USER=admin
set NZ_PASSWORD=password
set NZ_DATABASE=JUST_DATA

# or on Linux/macOS:
export NZ_HOST=your_netezza_host
export NZ_PORT=5480
export NZ_USER=admin
export NZ_PASSWORD=password
export NZ_DATABASE=JUST_DATA

All variables have defaults — only NZ_HOST is required if your setup differs from the defaults.

ODBC driver name can be set separately:

export NZ_ODBC_DRIVER=NetezzaSQL  # Linux/macOS — defaults to "NetezzaSQL"

2. Run the benchmark:

python tools/examples/performance_test.py

3. Adjust row count (default: 100 000):

set NZ_ROWS=100000     # Windows
export NZ_ROWS=100000  # Linux/macOS

What the script does

1. Connects using each driver: official_nzpy (always), pyodbc (via ANSI-ODBC ctypes fallback on Linux), nzpy_extended (async + sync, with and without C extension).
2. Runs six query categories: integer_types, numeric_types, string_types, datetime_types, boolean_types, and all_types (mixed).
3. Prints per-query timing, a compact DRIVER × TYPE comparison table (matching the README layout), and visual bar charts.

Saving results to a TXT file

Use the --output / -o flag or the NZ_OUTPUT environment variable:

python tools/examples/performance_test.py -o benchmark_results.txt

# or via env var:
set NZ_OUTPUT=benchmark_results.txt
python tools/examples/performance_test.py

Force pure-Python mode

set NZPY_EXTENDED_NO_CEXT=1
python tools/examples/performance_test.py

Pytest benchmark (alternative)

A simpler pytest-based benchmark is also available (10 k rows, nzpy_extended only):

pytest tests/test_benchmark.py -v -m benchmark

License

Apache License 2.0 — see LICENSE.