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Fast-Forward to Iceberg

A day of a production line, generated at factor=0.0 and appended to an Apache Iceberg table through an Iceberg REST catalog. Each tab shows the example written one way: with the declarative API, with the low-level API, or as a YAML blueprint. Ways to write a simulation compares the three.

ParquetStorageEgress writes files and leaves registering them as a table to you. This connector appends into an Iceberg table instead, so one run ends with something another engine can query.

This example demonstrates how to run a simulation in fast-forward mode using the declarative Standard API (SimulationContext) and commit the output straight into an Apache Iceberg table using the IcebergStorageEgress connector.

Each flush of the buffer is one Iceberg commit. Every commit writes a manifest, a manifest list and a new metadata.json, so query planning degrades as snapshots accumulate. That is why this example gives the provider a large batch_size of its own: a day of events lands in four snapshots.

Quick Start

The catalog is infrastructure, so unlike the Parquet example this one needs a container. odctl comes from uv tool install "odctl>=0.5.1" or pip install "odctl>=0.5.1". The catalog profile brings up the Iceberg REST catalog backed by Postgres, and SeaweedFS for the data files.

curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jaehyeon-kim/dynamic-des/main/examples/declarative/iceberg_example.py
# 1. Spin up the Iceberg REST catalog with odctl
odctl up catalog

# 2. Run the simulation, with uv
uv run --no-project --with "dynamic-des[iceberg]" iceberg_example.py

#    ...or with pip, after `pip install "dynamic-des[iceberg]"`
python iceberg_example.py

# 3. Clean up the infrastructure when finished
odctl down catalog --volumes

ICEBERG_URI, ICEBERG_WAREHOUSE, ICEBERG_NAMESPACE, S3_ENDPOINT, S3_ACCESS_KEY, S3_SECRET_KEY and S3_REGION override the catalog and credentials.

Running it twice appends to the same table rather than replacing it, which is what an Iceberg table is for. Use odctl down catalog --volumes to start from nothing.

Full Source Code

This script simulates a manufacturing line over a 1-day period. It routes lifecycle events into one Iceberg table, drops telemetry, and pins the schema so the event time is a real timestamp rather than the string inference would give.

Scripts live in the examples/ folder of the repository, and the label on the block below is this one's path there.

examples/declarative/iceberg_example.py
"""
Lakehouse Data Generation Example.

The Iceberg twin of `declarative/parquet_example.py`. The same fast-forward engine,
but each flush of the buffer becomes one Iceberg commit rather than one Parquet file,
so the run ends with a table another engine can query instead of a folder someone
still has to register.

Every commit writes a manifest, a manifest list and a new `metadata.json`, so the
buffer is sized to produce a handful of snapshots rather than hundreds. That is what
`batch_size` on `add_egress` is for.

Requires the odctl `catalog` profile: `odctl up catalog`.
"""

import logging
import os
from datetime import datetime, timedelta

import pyarrow as pa

from dynamic_des import IcebergStorageEgress, SimulationContext

# Logging is configured here rather than in a wrapper, because this script is run
# directly. Without it the run produces no output at all.
logging.basicConfig(
    level=logging.INFO,
    format="%(asctime)s [%(levelname)s] %(name)s: %(message)s",
    datefmt="%H:%M:%S",
)

logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)

NAMESPACE = os.getenv("ICEBERG_NAMESPACE", "simulation")
EVENTS_TABLE = f"{NAMESPACE}.events"

# Pinned rather than inferred. Inference reads the ISO timestamp the environment
# writes as a string, which is not what a consumer of an event table expects.
EVENTS_SCHEMA = pa.schema(
    [
        ("sim_ts", pa.float64()),
        ("timestamp", pa.timestamp("us")),
        ("key", pa.string()),
        ("path_id", pa.string()),
        ("status", pa.string()),
    ]
)


def create_table_router(events_table: str):
    """
    Router Factory: Generates a router returning `namespace.table`, and reshapes
    each event into the pinned schema.
    """

    def table_router(data: dict) -> str | None:
        if data.get("path_id") == "system.simulation.lag_seconds":
            return None

        if data.get("stream_type") != "event":
            return None

        # FLATTEN EVENT INTO THE PINNED COLUMNS
        nested_value = data.pop("value", None)
        if isinstance(nested_value, dict):
            data.update(nested_value)

        # A pinned timestamp column takes a datetime. PyArrow rejects the ISO string
        # the environment writes, so the conversion belongs here.
        data["timestamp"] = datetime.fromisoformat(data["timestamp"])

        return events_table

    return table_router


# ==========================================
# 1. CATALOG CONFIGURATION
# ==========================================
# RestCatalog fetches the catalog configuration as it is constructed, so building
# the client below contacts the catalog when this module is imported. Creating the
# namespace waits longer: the connector does that on its first batch, inside the run.
def build_catalog():
    """Connects to the Iceberg REST catalog from the odctl `catalog` profile."""
    from pyiceberg.catalog.rest import RestCatalog

    return RestCatalog(
        "odctl",
        **{
            "uri": os.getenv("ICEBERG_URI", "http://localhost:8181"),
            "warehouse": os.getenv("ICEBERG_WAREHOUSE", "s3://warehouse/"),
            "s3.endpoint": os.getenv("S3_ENDPOINT", "http://localhost:8333"),
            "s3.access-key-id": os.getenv("S3_ACCESS_KEY", "user"),
            "s3.secret-access-key": os.getenv("S3_SECRET_KEY", "password"),
            "s3.region": os.getenv("S3_REGION", "us-east-1"),
        },
    )


router = create_table_router(EVENTS_TABLE)

# The day of backdating this example exists to demonstrate. It sits at module scope
# because the builder below needs it, and the builder has to stay at module scope for
# the decorators further down to attach to it.
LOGICAL_START_TIME = datetime.now() - timedelta(days=1)

# ==========================================
# 2. Declarative Infrastructure Builder
# ==========================================
app = (
    SimulationContext(
        sim_id="Line_A",
        factor=0.0,
        random_seed=42,
        logical_start_time=LOGICAL_START_TIME,
    )
    .add_egress(
        IcebergStorageEgress(
            catalog=build_catalog(),
            table_router=router,
            schemas={EVENTS_TABLE: EVENTS_SCHEMA},
        ),
        # One commit per flush. Sized so a day of events lands in a few snapshots.
        batch_size=200_000,
    )
    .add_resource("lathe", current_cap=4, max_cap=10)
    .add_service("milling", dist="normal", mean=2.0, std=0.2)
    .add_arrival("standard", dist="exponential", rate=2.0)
)


# ==========================================
# 3. Simulation Logic
# ==========================================
@app.task(service_id="milling", resource_id="lathe")
def process_part(task_id: int, context):
    """
    Returns the exact flat dictionary expected by the table router
    to represent the 'finished' state of the lifecycle.
    """
    return {"path_id": "Line_A.service.milling", "status": "finished"}


@app.arrival_loop("standard")
def arrival_generator(context):
    task_id = 0
    while True:
        yield context.wait_for_arrival("standard")
        context.spawn(process_part(task_id, context))
        task_id += 1


# ==========================================
# 4. Execution
# ==========================================
def run():
    """Generates 1 day of factory data instantly, into an Iceberg table."""
    logger.info(
        "Generating historical data mimicking start from "
        f"{LOGICAL_START_TIME.strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')}"
    )
    logger.info("Fast-forwarding (factor=0.0)...")

    # The clock detaches and executes 1 day of operations instantaneously
    app.run(until="1 day")

    table = build_catalog().load_table(EVENTS_TABLE)
    logger.info(
        f"Wrote {table.scan().to_arrow().num_rows} rows to '{EVENTS_TABLE}' "
        f"in {len(table.metadata.snapshots)} snapshots at {table.location()}"
    )


if __name__ == "__main__":
    run()

ParquetStorageEgress writes files and leaves registering them as a table to you. This connector appends into an Iceberg table instead, so one run ends with something another engine can query.

This example demonstrates how to run a simulation in fast-forward mode using the low-level Imperative API (DynamicRealtimeEnvironment) and commit the output straight into an Apache Iceberg table using the IcebergStorageEgress connector.

Each flush of the buffer is one Iceberg commit. Every commit writes a manifest, a manifest list and a new metadata.json, so query planning degrades as snapshots accumulate. That is why this example gives the provider a large batch_size of its own: a day of events lands in four snapshots.

Quick Start

The catalog is infrastructure, so unlike the Parquet example this one needs a container. odctl comes from uv tool install "odctl>=0.5.1" or pip install "odctl>=0.5.1". The catalog profile brings up the Iceberg REST catalog backed by Postgres, and SeaweedFS for the data files.

curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jaehyeon-kim/dynamic-des/main/examples/imperative/iceberg_example.py
# 1. Spin up the Iceberg REST catalog with odctl
odctl up catalog

# 2. Run the simulation, with uv
uv run --no-project --with "dynamic-des[iceberg]" iceberg_example.py

#    ...or with pip, after `pip install "dynamic-des[iceberg]"`
python iceberg_example.py

# 3. Clean up the infrastructure when finished
odctl down catalog --volumes

ICEBERG_URI, ICEBERG_WAREHOUSE, ICEBERG_NAMESPACE, S3_ENDPOINT, S3_ACCESS_KEY, S3_SECRET_KEY and S3_REGION override the catalog and credentials.

Running it twice appends to the same table rather than replacing it, which is what an Iceberg table is for. Use odctl down catalog --volumes to start from nothing.

Full Source Code

This script simulates a manufacturing line over a 1-day period. It routes lifecycle events into one Iceberg table, drops telemetry, and pins the schema so the event time is a real timestamp rather than the string inference would give.

Scripts live in the examples/ folder of the repository, and the label on the block below is this one's path there.

examples/imperative/iceberg_example.py
"""Lakehouse data generation, imperative API.

The low-level twin of `declarative/iceberg_example.py`. It wires
`DynamicRealtimeEnvironment`, the registry and the connectors by hand rather than
through the builder, which shows what `SimulationContext` does for you.

`factor=0.0` detaches the clock from real time, so a day of history is generated as
fast as the machine allows and committed into an Iceberg table. Each flush of the
buffer is one commit, so `batch_sizes` is what keeps the snapshot count down.

Requires the odctl `catalog` profile: `odctl up catalog`.
"""

import logging
import os
from datetime import datetime, timedelta

import numpy as np
import pyarrow as pa

from dynamic_des import (
    CapacityConfig,
    DistributionConfig,
    DynamicRealtimeEnvironment,
    DynamicResource,
    IcebergStorageEgress,
    Sampler,
    SimParameter,
)
from dynamic_des.utils import time_to_seconds

logging.basicConfig(
    level=logging.INFO, format="%(levelname)s [%(asctime)s] %(message)s"
)
logger = logging.getLogger("iceberg_example")

NAMESPACE = os.getenv("ICEBERG_NAMESPACE", "simulation")
EVENTS_TABLE = f"{NAMESPACE}.events"

# Pinned rather than inferred. Inference reads the ISO timestamp the environment
# writes as a string, which is not what a consumer of an event table expects.
EVENTS_SCHEMA = pa.schema(
    [
        ("sim_ts", pa.float64()),
        ("timestamp", pa.timestamp("us")),
        ("key", pa.string()),
        ("path_id", pa.string()),
        ("status", pa.string()),
    ]
)


def build_catalog():
    """Connects to the Iceberg REST catalog from the odctl `catalog` profile."""
    from pyiceberg.catalog.rest import RestCatalog

    return RestCatalog(
        "odctl",
        **{
            "uri": os.getenv("ICEBERG_URI", "http://localhost:8181"),
            "warehouse": os.getenv("ICEBERG_WAREHOUSE", "s3://warehouse/"),
            "s3.endpoint": os.getenv("S3_ENDPOINT", "http://localhost:8333"),
            "s3.access-key-id": os.getenv("S3_ACCESS_KEY", "user"),
            "s3.secret-access-key": os.getenv("S3_SECRET_KEY", "password"),
            "s3.region": os.getenv("S3_REGION", "us-east-1"),
        },
    )


def create_table_router(events_table: str):
    """
    Router Factory: Generates a router returning `namespace.table`, and reshapes
    each event into the pinned schema.
    """

    def table_router(data: dict) -> str | None:
        if data.get("path_id") == "system.simulation.lag_seconds":
            return None

        if data.get("stream_type") != "event":
            return None

        # FLATTEN EVENT INTO THE PINNED COLUMNS
        nested_value = data.pop("value", None)
        if isinstance(nested_value, dict):
            data.update(nested_value)

        # A pinned timestamp column takes a datetime. PyArrow rejects the ISO string
        # the environment writes, so the conversion belongs here.
        data["timestamp"] = datetime.fromisoformat(data["timestamp"])

        return events_table

    return table_router


def run():
    # ---------------------------------------------------------
    # 1. SIMULATION SETUP
    # ---------------------------------------------------------
    line_a_params = SimParameter(
        sim_id="Line_A",
        arrival={"standard": DistributionConfig(dist="exponential", rate=2.0)},
        service={"milling": DistributionConfig(dist="normal", mean=2.0, std=0.2)},
        resources={"lathe": CapacityConfig(current_cap=4, max_cap=10)},
    )

    start_time = datetime.now() - timedelta(days=1)
    env = DynamicRealtimeEnvironment(factor=0.0, logical_start_time=start_time)
    env.registry.register_sim_parameter(line_a_params)

    egress = IcebergStorageEgress(
        catalog=build_catalog(),
        table_router=create_table_router(EVENTS_TABLE),
        schemas={EVENTS_TABLE: EVENTS_SCHEMA},
    )

    # One commit per flush, so a day of events lands in a handful of snapshots.
    env.setup_egress([egress], batch_sizes=[200_000], flush_interval=86400)

    res = DynamicResource(env, "Line_A", "lathe")
    sampler = Sampler(rng=np.random.default_rng(42))

    def arrival_process(env: DynamicRealtimeEnvironment, res: DynamicResource):
        arrival_cfg = env.registry.get_config("Line_A.arrival.standard")
        service_path = "Line_A.service.milling"
        task_id = 0

        while True:
            yield env.timeout(sampler.sample(arrival_cfg))
            env.process(work_task(env, task_id, res, service_path))
            task_id += 1

    def work_task(
        env: DynamicRealtimeEnvironment,
        task_id: int,
        res: DynamicResource,
        path_id: str,
    ):
        task_key = f"task-{task_id}"
        env.publish_event(task_key, {"path_id": path_id, "status": "queued"})

        with res.request() as req:
            yield req
            current_service_cfg = env.registry.get_config(path_id)
            env.publish_event(task_key, {"path_id": path_id, "status": "started"})
            yield env.timeout(sampler.sample(current_service_cfg))
            env.publish_event(task_key, {"path_id": path_id, "status": "finished"})

    env.process(arrival_process(env, res))

    run_duration_str = "1 day"
    run_duration_sec = time_to_seconds(run_duration_str)

    logger.info(
        f"Generating historical data from {start_time.strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')}"
    )
    logger.info("Fast-forwarding (factor=0.0)...")

    try:
        env.run(until=run_duration_sec)
    finally:
        env.teardown()

    table = build_catalog().load_table(EVENTS_TABLE)
    logger.info(
        f"Wrote {table.scan().to_arrow().num_rows} rows to '{EVENTS_TABLE}' "
        f"in {len(table.metadata.snapshots)} snapshots at {table.location()}"
    )


if __name__ == "__main__":
    run()

This example builds the simulation of the declarative example in the Declarative tab from a YAML blueprint, with no Python. A day of factory data is generated at factor: 0.0, and each flush of the buffer becomes one Iceberg commit.

Quick Start

Download the blueprint, then run it.

curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jaehyeon-kim/dynamic-des/main/examples/yaml/iceberg.yaml

With uv

# 1. Install odctl, which runs the containers
uv tool install "odctl>=0.5.1"

# 2. Start the Iceberg REST catalog
odctl up catalog

# 3. Run the blueprint
uv run --no-project --with "dynamic-des[iceberg]" ddes run iceberg.yaml

# 4. Clean up the infrastructure when finished
odctl down catalog --volumes

With pip

# 1. Install the package with the iceberg extra, and odctl for the containers
pip install "dynamic-des[iceberg]" "odctl>=0.5.1"

# 2. Start the Iceberg REST catalog
odctl up catalog

# 3. Run the blueprint
ddes run iceberg.yaml

# 4. Clean up the infrastructure when finished
odctl down catalog --volumes

What It Does

The run appends a day of lifecycle events to the simulation.events table and ends on its own. batch_size: 200000 on the egress makes each flush one commit, so the day lands in a few snapshots. Without a router, each event is written to default_table as one flat row, and telemetry is left out.

The catalog is contacted on the first write, not when the blueprint is loaded, so a blueprint with a wrong catalog address still loads and fails when the first batch is written.

ICEBERG_URI, ICEBERG_WAREHOUSE, S3_ENDPOINT, S3_ACCESS_KEY, S3_SECRET_KEY and S3_REGION override the catalog and credentials.

Full Source Code

catalog is a mapping of PyIceberg catalog properties, passed to PyIceberg's load_catalog. schemas names a type for each column, so timestamp is created as a timestamp rather than inferred as a string, and the ISO time each record carries is converted before the write.

Files live in the examples/yaml/ folder of the repository, and the label on each block below is its path there.

examples/yaml/iceberg.yaml
# Lakehouse data generation in YAML.
#
# The YAML version of examples/declarative/iceberg_example.py. A day of factory
# data is generated at factor 0, and each flush of the buffer becomes one Iceberg
# commit. Without a router, each event is written to default_table as one flat row
# and telemetry is left out. The catalog is contacted on the first write.
#
# Needs the odctl catalog profile: odctl up catalog. ICEBERG_URI, ICEBERG_WAREHOUSE,
# S3_ENDPOINT, S3_ACCESS_KEY and S3_SECRET_KEY override the catalog and credentials.
# Run it with: ddes run examples/yaml/iceberg.yaml

simulation:
  sim_id: Line_A
  factor: 0.0
  random_seed: 42
  # A day before now, so the records are stamped as history.
  logical_start_time: -1d

egress:
  - type: Iceberg
    config:
      # PyIceberg catalog properties, passed to load_catalog.
      catalog:
        name: odctl
        type: rest
        uri: ${ICEBERG_URI:-http://localhost:8181}
        warehouse: ${ICEBERG_WAREHOUSE:-s3://warehouse/}
        s3.endpoint: ${S3_ENDPOINT:-http://localhost:8333}
        s3.access-key-id: ${S3_ACCESS_KEY:-user}
        s3.secret-access-key: ${S3_SECRET_KEY:-password}
        s3.region: ${S3_REGION:-us-east-1}
      default_table: simulation.events
      # Pinned rather than inferred, so timestamp is a timestamp, not a string.
      schemas:
        simulation.events:
          sim_ts: double
          timestamp: timestamp
          key: string
          path_id: string
          status: string
    # One commit per flush, sized so a day of events lands in a few snapshots.
    batch_size: 200000

resources:
  lathe: {current_cap: 4, max_cap: 10}

services:
  milling: {dist: normal, mean: 2.0, std: 0.2}

arrivals:
  standard: {dist: exponential, rate: 2.0, spawn: process_part}

tasks:
  process_part:
    service: milling
    resource: lathe
    payload: {path_id: Line_A.service.milling, status: finished}

run:
  until: 1 day