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Robin Kooyman edited this page Nov 10, 2026
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lance-nd stores N-dimensional Arrow arrays in a Lance table, one nd record batch per row. Use it from Rust, or from Python with xarray datasets. The README gives a short start.
These pages apply to Rust and to Python.
| Page | Contents |
|---|---|
| Table layout | The nd-arrow data model, the columns of a table, schema evolution, rows and chunks. |
| Object stores | S3, Google Cloud Storage and Azure, and the S3 tests. |
The lance-nd crate. The API documentation is
on docs.rs.
| Page | Contents |
|---|---|
| Writing | The write functions, NdWriter, errors, fragments, casting, widen and column encoding. |
| Reading and filters | Stats, pruning and the three filter APIs. |
| Delete, compact and versions | Delete rows, compact fragments, free disk space and restore versions. |
The lance_nd package on PyPI.
| Page | Contents |
|---|---|
| Python | Install, a short example and the chapters. |
| Getting started | Your first table in a few minutes. |
| Create a table | A new table, stats, compression, overwrite and fragment size. |
| Add datasets | Append datasets, many files, errors, new variables, type casts and dask chunks. |
| Read datasets | Scan, select variables, filter on attributes and values, prune with stats. |
| Delete datasets | Delete one dataset or many datasets with one filter. |
| Replace datasets | Delete the old datasets and add the new datasets. |
| Compact a table | Merge small fragments and remove deleted rows. |
| Versions and disk space | Read earlier versions, undo a change and free disk space. |
| Maintain a collection | A routine for a collection that gets new files each day. |
| API reference | Each function, option, error and encoding rule. |
- FORMAT.md for the lance-nd table.
- The nd-arrow FORMAT.md for the nd-arrow encoding.
Concepts
Rust
Python