Configuring garbage collection

This page provides examples of how to set and update garbage-collection policies when you use Cloud Bigtable client libraries or the cbtcommand-line tool. Before you read this page, you should be familiar with garbage collection.

Before you use the cbt tool, follow the setup instructions, including the steps to create a .cbtrc file.

Viewing current garbage-collection policies

You can look up the current garbage collection policies for a given table by running the following command, substituting a valid table ID for TABLE_ID:

    cbt ls TABLE_ID

The console displays a list of the table's column families along with each column family's garbage-collection policy.

Garbage collecting based on age

The following code samples show how to set the maximum age for data in a column family.

cbt

This example creates a column family named cf1, then sets the maximum age for data in the column family to five days. This tells the garbage collector to remove all data with timestamps older than five days in all columns in this column family.

cbt createfamily your-table cf1
cbt setgcpolicy your-table cf1 maxage=5d

Go

bigtable/garbagecollection/create_family_gc_max_age.go 
import (
	"context"
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"time"

	"cloud.google.com/go/bigtable"
)

func createFamilyGCMaxAge(w io.Writer, projectID, instanceID string, tableName string) error {
	// projectID := "my-project-id"
	// instanceID := "my-instance-id"
	// tableName := "my-table-name"

	ctx := context.Background()

	adminClient, err := bigtable.NewAdminClient(ctx, projectID, instanceID)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("bigtable.NewAdminClient: %v", err)
	}

	columnFamilyName := "cf1"
	if err := adminClient.CreateColumnFamily(ctx, tableName, columnFamilyName); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("CreateColumnFamily(%s): %v", columnFamilyName, err)
	}

	// Set a garbage collection policy of 5 days.
	maxAge := time.Hour * 24 * 5
	policy := bigtable.MaxAgePolicy(maxAge)
	if err := adminClient.SetGCPolicy(ctx, tableName, columnFamilyName, policy); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("SetGCPolicy(%s): %v", policy, err)
	}

	fmt.Fprintf(w, "created column family %s with policy: %v\n", columnFamilyName, policy)
	return nil
}

HBase

This code sample is coming soon.

Java

samples/snippets/src/main/java/com/m/examples/bigtable/TableAdminExample.java 
// Creates a column family with GC policy : maximum age
// where age = current time minus cell timestamp

// Defines the GC rule to retain data with max age of 5 days.
DurationRule maxAgeRule = GCRULES.maxAge(5, TimeUnit.DAYS);

// Creates column family with given GC rule.
try {
  // ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest can be used both for adding and modifying families, here it is
  // being used to add a family
  ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest columnFamiliesRequest =
      ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest.of(tableId).addFamily(COLUMN_FAMILY_1, maxAgeRule);
  adminClient.modifyFamilies(columnFamiliesRequest);
  System.out.println("Created column family: " + COLUMN_FAMILY_1);
} catch (AlreadyExistsException e) {
  System.err.println(
      "Failed to create column family with rule, already exists: " + e.getMessage());
}

Python

samples/tableadmin/tableadmin.py 
    print('Creating column family cf1 with with MaxAge GC Rule...')
    # Create a column family with GC policy : maximum age
    # where age = current time minus cell timestamp

    # Define the GC rule to retain data with max age of 5 days
    max_age_rule = column_family.MaxAgeGCRule(datetime.timedelta(days=5))

    column_family1 = table.column_family('cf1', max_age_rule)
    column_family1.create()
    print('Created column family cf1 with MaxAge GC Rule.')

C#

bigtable/api/TableAdminExample/TableAdmin.cs 
// Create a column family with GC policy : maximum age
// where age = current time minus cell timestamp
// Initialize request argument(s).
// Define the GC rule to retain data with max age of 5 days
GcRule MaxAgeRule = new GcRule { MaxAge = Duration.FromTimeSpan(TimeSpan.FromDays(5.0)) };

// Column family to create
ColumnFamily columnFamily = new ColumnFamily { GcRule = MaxAgeRule };

TableName tableName = new TableName(projectId, instanceId, tableId);

// Modification to create column family
ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest.Types.Modification modification = new ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest.Types.Modification
{
    Create = columnFamily,
    Id = "cf1"
};

ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest request = new ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest
{
    TableName = tableName,
    Modifications = { modification }
};
try
{
    // Make the request
    Table response = bigtableTableAdminClient.ModifyColumnFamilies(request);
    Console.WriteLine("Created column family");
    // Print table information.
    GetTable(tableId);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Error creating column family {ex.Message}");
}

C++

google/cloud/bigtable/examples/table_admin_snippets.cc 
namespace cbt = google::cloud::bigtable;
using google::cloud::StatusOr;
[](cbt::TableAdmin admin, std::string const& table_id,
   std::string const& family_name) {
  StatusOr<google::bigtable::admin::v2::Table> schema =
      admin.ModifyColumnFamilies(
          table_id,
          {cbt::ColumnFamilyModification::Create(
              family_name, cbt::GcRule::MaxAge(std::chrono::hours(5 * 24)))});

  if (!schema) throw std::runtime_error(schema.status().message());
  std::cout << "Schema modified to: " << schema->DebugString() << "\n";
}

Node.js

samples/tableadmin.js 
// Create a column family with GC policy : maximum age
// where age = current time minus cell timestamp

// Define the GC rule to retain data with max age of 5 days
const maxAgeRule = {
  rule: {
    age: {
      // Value must be atleast 1 millisecond
      seconds: 60 * 60 * 24 * 5,
      nanos: 0,
    },
  },
};

let [family] = await table.createFamily('cf1', maxAgeRule);
console.log(`Created column family ${family.id}`);

PHP

bigtable/src/create_family_gc_max_age.php 
use Google\Cloud\Bigtable\Admin\V2\ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest\Modification;
use Google\Cloud\Bigtable\Admin\V2\BigtableTableAdminClient;
use Google\Cloud\Bigtable\Admin\V2\ColumnFamily;
use Google\Cloud\Bigtable\Admin\V2\GcRule;
use Google\Protobuf\Duration;

/** Uncomment and populate these variables in your code */
// $project_id = 'The Google project ID';
// $instance_id = 'The Bigtable instance ID';
// $table_id = 'The Bigtable table ID';

$tableAdminClient = new BigtableTableAdminClient();

$tableName = $tableAdminClient->tableName($project_id, $instance_id, $table_id);


print('Creating column family cf1 with MaxAge GC Rule...' . PHP_EOL);
// Create a column family with GC policy : maximum age
// where age = current time minus cell timestamp

$columnFamily1 = new ColumnFamily();
$duration = new Duration();
$duration->setSeconds(3600 * 24 * 5);
$MaxAgeRule = (new GcRule)->setMaxAge($duration);
$columnFamily1->setGcRule($MaxAgeRule);

$columnModification = new Modification();
$columnModification->setId('cf1');
$columnModification->setCreate($columnFamily1);
$tableAdminClient->modifyColumnFamilies($tableName, [$columnModification]);
print('Created column family cf1 with MaxAge GC Rule.' . PHP_EOL);

Ruby

bigtable/tableadmin.rb 
# Create a column family with GC policy : maximum age
# where age = current time minus cell timestamp
# NOTE: Age value must be atleast 1 millisecond
max_age_rule = Google::Cloud::Bigtable::GcRule.max_age 60 * 60 * 24 * 5
column_families = table.column_families do |cfs|
  cfs.add "cf1", gc_rule: max_age_rule
end
family = column_families["cf1"]

Garbage collecting based on number of versions

The following code samples show how to create a column family with a garbage-collection policy that states the number of versions to keep.

cbt

This example creates a column family named cf2, then sets the number of versions to keep in the column family to two. This tells the garbage collector to remove all but the two most recent cells in all columns in this column family.

cbt createfamily your-table cf2
cbt setgcpolicy your-table cf2 maxversions=2

This example sets a policy to remove all cells except the newest one.

cbt setgcpolicy your-table cf2 maxversions=1

Go

bigtable/garbagecollection/create_family_gc_max_versions.go 
import (
	"context"
	"fmt"
	"io"

	"cloud.google.com/go/bigtable"
)

func createFamilyGCMaxVersions(w io.Writer, projectID, instanceID string, tableName string) error {
	// projectID := "my-project-id"
	// instanceID := "my-instance-id"
	// tableName := "my-table-name"

	ctx := context.Background()

	adminClient, err := bigtable.NewAdminClient(ctx, projectID, instanceID)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("bigtable.NewAdminClient: %v", err)
	}

	columnFamilyName := "cf2"
	if err := adminClient.CreateColumnFamily(ctx, tableName, columnFamilyName); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("CreateColumnFamily(%s): %v", columnFamilyName, err)
	}

	// Set a garbage collection policy of 2 versions.
	policy := bigtable.MaxVersionsPolicy(2)
	if err := adminClient.SetGCPolicy(ctx, tableName, columnFamilyName, policy); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("SetGCPolicy(%s): %v", policy, err)
	}

	fmt.Fprintf(w, "created column family %s with policy: %v\n", columnFamilyName, policy)
	return nil
}

HBase

This code sample is coming soon.

Java

samples/snippets/src/main/java/com/m/examples/bigtable/TableAdminExample.java 
// Creates a column family with GC policy : most recent N versions
// where 1 = most recent version

// Defines the GC policy to retain only the most recent 2 versions.
VersionRule versionRule = GCRULES.maxVersions(2);

// Creates column family with given GC rule.
try {
  // ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest can be used both for adding and modifying families, here it is
  // being used to add a family
  ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest columnFamiliesRequest =
      ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest.of(tableId).addFamily(COLUMN_FAMILY_2, versionRule);
  adminClient.modifyFamilies(columnFamiliesRequest);
  System.out.println("Created column family: " + COLUMN_FAMILY_2);
} catch (AlreadyExistsException e) {
  System.err.println(
      "Failed to create column family with rule, already exists: " + e.getMessage());
}

Python

samples/tableadmin/tableadmin.py 
    print('Creating column family cf2 with max versions GC rule...')
    # Create a column family with GC policy : most recent N versions
    # where 1 = most recent version

    # Define the GC policy to retain only the most recent 2 versions
    max_versions_rule = column_family.MaxVersionsGCRule(2)

    column_family2 = table.column_family('cf2', max_versions_rule)
    column_family2.create()
    print('Created column family cf2 with Max Versions GC Rule.')

C#

bigtable/api/TableAdminExample/TableAdmin.cs 
// Create a column family with GC policy : most recent N versions
// where 1 = most recent version
// Initialize request argument(s).
// Define the GC policy to retain only the most recent 2 versions
GcRule maxVersionsRule = new GcRule { MaxNumVersions = 2 };

// Column family to create
ColumnFamily columnFamily = new ColumnFamily { GcRule = maxVersionsRule };

TableName tableName = new TableName(projectId, instanceId, tableId);

// Modification to create column family
ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest.Types.Modification modification = new ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest.Types.Modification
{
    Create = columnFamily,
    Id = "cf2"
};

ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest request = new ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest
{
    TableName = tableName,
    Modifications = { modification }
};
try
{
    // Make the request
    Table response = bigtableTableAdminClient.ModifyColumnFamilies(request);
    Console.WriteLine("Created column family");
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Error creating column family {ex.Message}");
}

C++

google/cloud/bigtable/examples/table_admin_snippets.cc 
namespace cbt = google::cloud::bigtable;
using google::cloud::StatusOr;
[](cbt::TableAdmin admin, std::string const& table_id,
   std::string const& family_name) {
  StatusOr<google::bigtable::admin::v2::Table> schema =
      admin.ModifyColumnFamilies(
          table_id, {cbt::ColumnFamilyModification::Create(
                        family_name, cbt::GcRule::MaxNumVersions(2))});

  if (!schema) throw std::runtime_error(schema.status().message());
  std::cout << "Schema modified to: " << schema->DebugString() << "\n";
}

Node.js

samples/tableadmin.js 
// Create a column family with GC policy : most recent N versions
// where 1 = most recent version

// Define the GC policy to retain only the most recent 2 versions
const maxVersionsRule = {
  rule: {
    versions: 2,
  },
};

// Create a column family with given GC rule
[family] = await table.createFamily('cf2', maxVersionsRule);
console.log(`Created column family ${family.id}`);

PHP

bigtable/src/create_family_gc_max_versions.php 

use Google\Cloud\Bigtable\Admin\V2\ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest\Modification;
use Google\Cloud\Bigtable\Admin\V2\BigtableTableAdminClient;
use Google\Cloud\Bigtable\Admin\V2\ColumnFamily;
use Google\Cloud\Bigtable\Admin\V2\GcRule;

/** Uncomment and populate these variables in your code */
// $project_id = 'The Google project ID';
// $instance_id = 'The Bigtable instance ID';
// $table_id = 'The Bigtable table ID';

$tableAdminClient = new BigtableTableAdminClient();

$tableName = $tableAdminClient->tableName($project_id, $instance_id, $table_id);


print('Creating column family cf2 with max versions GC rule...' . PHP_EOL);
$columnFamily2 = new ColumnFamily();
$maxVersionRule = (new GcRule)->setMaxNumVersions(2);
$columnFamily2->setGCRule($maxVersionRule);

$columnModification = new Modification();
$columnModification->setId('cf2');
$columnModification->setCreate($columnFamily2);
$tableAdminClient->modifyColumnFamilies($tableName, [$columnModification]);

print('Created column family cf2 with Max Versions GC Rule.' . PHP_EOL);

Ruby

bigtable/tableadmin.rb 
# Create a column family with GC policy : most recent N versions
# where 1 = most recent version
max_versions_rule = Google::Cloud::Bigtable::GcRule.max_versions 2
column_families = table.column_families do |cfs|
  cfs.add "cf2", gc_rule: max_versions_rule
end
family = column_families["cf2"]

Garbage collecting based on multiple criteria

The following code samples demonstrate how to create a column family with an intersection garbage-collection policy.

cbt

This example creates a column family named cf4, then sets a garbage collection policy that removes cells that are older than five days and older than the two most recent cells for all columns in the column family. Cells must meet both criteria to be removed.

cbt createfamily your-table cf4
cbt setgcpolicy your-table cf4 maxage=5d and maxversions=2

This example sets a policy that removes all cells more than 14 days old except the newest one.

cbt setgcpolicy your-table cf4 maxage=14d and maxversion=1

Go

bigtable/garbagecollection/create_family_gc_intersect.go 
import (
	"context"
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"time"

	"cloud.google.com/go/bigtable"
)

func createFamilyGCIntersect(w io.Writer, projectID, instanceID string, tableName string) error {
	// projectID := "my-project-id"
	// instanceID := "my-instance-id"
	// tableName := "my-table-name"

	ctx := context.Background()

	adminClient, err := bigtable.NewAdminClient(ctx, projectID, instanceID)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("bigtable.NewAdminClient: %v", err)
	}

	columnFamilyName := "cf4"
	if err := adminClient.CreateColumnFamily(ctx, tableName, columnFamilyName); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("CreateColumnFamily(%s): %v", columnFamilyName, err)
	}

	// GC rule: Drop cells older than 5 days AND older than the most recent 2 versions
	maxAge := time.Hour * 24 * 5
	maxAgePolicy := bigtable.MaxAgePolicy(maxAge)
	policy := bigtable.IntersectionPolicy(bigtable.MaxVersionsPolicy(2), maxAgePolicy)
	if err := adminClient.SetGCPolicy(ctx, tableName, columnFamilyName, policy); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("SetGCPolicy(%s): %v", policy, err)
	}

	fmt.Fprintf(w, "created column family %s with policy: %v\n", columnFamilyName, policy)
	return nil
}

HBase

This code sample is coming soon.

Java

samples/snippets/src/main/java/com/m/examples/bigtable/TableAdminExample.java 
// Creates a column family with GC policy to drop data that matches all conditions.

// Defines a GC rule to drop cells older than 5 days AND older than the most recent 2 versions.
DurationRule maxAgeRule = GCRULES.maxAge(5, TimeUnit.DAYS);
VersionRule versionRule = GCRULES.maxVersions(2);
IntersectionRule intersectionRule = GCRULES.intersection().rule(maxAgeRule).rule(versionRule);

// Creates column family with given GC rule.
try {
  // ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest can be used both for adding and modifying families, here it is
  // being used to add a family
  ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest columnFamiliesRequest =
      ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest.of(tableId).addFamily(COLUMN_FAMILY_4, intersectionRule);
  adminClient.modifyFamilies(columnFamiliesRequest);
  System.out.println("Created column family: " + COLUMN_FAMILY_4);
} catch (AlreadyExistsException e) {
  System.err.println(
      "Failed to create column family with rule, already exists: " + e.getMessage());
}

Python

samples/tableadmin/tableadmin.py 
    print('Creating column family cf4 with Intersection GC rule...')
    # Create a column family with GC policy to drop data that matches
    # all conditions
    # GC rule: Drop cells older than 5 days AND older than the most
    # recent 2 versions
    intersection_rule = column_family.GCRuleIntersection([
        column_family.MaxAgeGCRule(datetime.timedelta(days=5)),
        column_family.MaxVersionsGCRule(2)])

    column_family4 = table.column_family('cf4', intersection_rule)
    column_family4.create()
    print('Created column family cf4 with Intersection GC rule.')

C#

bigtable/api/TableAdminExample/TableAdmin.cs 
// Create a column family with GC policy to drop data that matches all conditions.
// Initialize request argument(s).
// GC rule: Drop cells older than 5 days AND older than the most recent 2 versions.
GcRule.Types.Intersection intersectionRule = new GcRule.Types.Intersection
{
    Rules =
    {
        new GcRule { MaxNumVersions = 2 },
        new GcRule { MaxAge = Duration.FromTimeSpan(TimeSpan.FromDays(5)) }
    }
};
GcRule gcRule = new GcRule { Intersection = intersectionRule };

// Column family to create
ColumnFamily columnFamily = new ColumnFamily { GcRule = gcRule };

TableName tableName = new TableName(projectId, instanceId, tableId);

// Modification to create column family
ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest.Types.Modification modification = new ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest.Types.Modification
{
    Create = columnFamily,
    Id = "cf4"
};

ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest request = new ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest
{
    TableName = tableName,
    Modifications = { modification }
};
try
{
    // Make the request
    Table response = bigtableTableAdminClient.ModifyColumnFamilies(request);
    Console.WriteLine("Created column family");
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Error creating column family {ex.Message}");
}

C++

google/cloud/bigtable/examples/table_admin_snippets.cc 
namespace cbt = google::cloud::bigtable;
using google::cloud::StatusOr;
[](cbt::TableAdmin admin, std::string const& table_id,
   std::string const& family_name) {
  StatusOr<google::bigtable::admin::v2::Table> schema =
      admin.ModifyColumnFamilies(
          table_id,
          {cbt::ColumnFamilyModification::Create(
              family_name,
              cbt::GcRule::Intersection(
                  cbt::GcRule::MaxNumVersions(1),
                  cbt::GcRule::MaxAge(5 * std::chrono::hours(24))))});

  if (!schema) throw std::runtime_error(schema.status().message());
  std::cout << "Schema modified to: " << schema->DebugString() << "\n";
}

Node.js

samples/tableadmin.js 
// Create a column family with GC policy to drop data that matches all conditions

// GC rule: Drop cells older than 5 days AND older than the most recent 2 versions
const intersectionRule = {
  rule: {
    versions: 2,
    age: {
      seconds: 60 * 60 * 24 * 5,
      nanos: 0,
    },
    intersection: true,
  },
};
[family] = await table.createFamily('cf4', intersectionRule);
console.log(`Created column family ${family.id}`);

PHP

bigtable/src/create_family_gc_intersection.php 
use Google\Cloud\Bigtable\Admin\V2\GcRule\Intersection as GcRuleIntersection;
use Google\Cloud\Bigtable\Admin\V2\ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest\Modification;
use Google\Cloud\Bigtable\Admin\V2\BigtableTableAdminClient;
use Google\Cloud\Bigtable\Admin\V2\ColumnFamily;
use Google\Cloud\Bigtable\Admin\V2\GcRule;
use Google\Protobuf\Duration;

/** Uncomment and populate these variables in your code */
// $project_id = 'The Google project ID';
// $instance_id = 'The Bigtable instance ID';
// $table_id = 'The Bigtable table ID';

$tableAdminClient = new BigtableTableAdminClient();

$tableName = $tableAdminClient->tableName($project_id, $instance_id, $table_id);

print('Creating column family cf4 with Intersection GC rule...' . PHP_EOL);
$columnFamily4 = new ColumnFamily();

$intersection_rule = new GcRuleIntersection();
$intersection_array = [
    (new GcRule)->setMaxAge((new Duration())->setSeconds(3600 * 24 * 5)),
    (new GcRule)->setMaxNumVersions(2)
];
$intersection_rule->setRules($intersection_array);

$intersection = new GcRule();
$intersection->setIntersection($intersection_rule);

$columnFamily4->setGCRule($intersection);

$columnModification = new Modification();
$columnModification->setId('cf4');
$columnModification->setCreate($columnFamily4);
$tableAdminClient->modifyColumnFamilies($tableName, [$columnModification]);

print('Created column family cf4 with Union GC rule' . PHP_EOL);

Ruby

bigtable/tableadmin.rb 
# Create a column family with GC policy to drop data that matches at least
# one condition
max_age_rule = Google::Cloud::Bigtable::GcRule.max_age 60 * 60 * 24 * 5
max_versions_rule = Google::Cloud::Bigtable::GcRule.max_versions 2
intersection_gc_rule = Google::Cloud::Bigtable::GcRule.intersection max_age_rule, max_versions_rule
column_families = table.column_families do |cfs|
  cfs.add "cf4", gc_rule: intersection_gc_rule
end
family = column_families["cf4"]

The following code samples show how to create a column family that has a union garbage-collection policy.

cbt

This example creates a column family named cf3, then sets a garbage collection policy that removes cells that are more than five days old or are older than the two most recent cells. Cells must meet either conditions to be removed.

cbt createfamily your-table cf3
cbt setgcpolicy your-table cf3 maxage=5d or maxversions=2

This example sets a policy that removes all cell values except the newest one, but removes even the newest cell if it is more than one second old.

cbt setgcpolicy your-table cf3 maxversions=1 or maxage=1s

Go

bigtable/garbagecollection/create_family_gc_union.go 
import (
	"context"
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"time"

	"cloud.google.com/go/bigtable"
)

func createFamilyGCUnion(w io.Writer, projectID, instanceID string, tableName string) error {
	// projectID := "my-project-id"
	// instanceID := "my-instance-id"
	// tableName := "my-table-name"

	ctx := context.Background()

	adminClient, err := bigtable.NewAdminClient(ctx, projectID, instanceID)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("bigtable.NewAdminClient: %v", err)
	}

	columnFamilyName := "cf3"
	if err := adminClient.CreateColumnFamily(ctx, tableName, columnFamilyName); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("CreateColumnFamily(%s): %v", columnFamilyName, err)
	}

	// Define a GC rule to drop cells older than 5 days or not the most recent version
	maxAge := time.Hour * 24 * 5
	maxAgePolicy := bigtable.MaxAgePolicy(maxAge)
	policy := bigtable.UnionPolicy(bigtable.MaxVersionsPolicy(2), maxAgePolicy)
	if err := adminClient.SetGCPolicy(ctx, tableName, columnFamilyName, policy); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("SetGCPolicy(%s): %v", policy, err)
	}

	fmt.Fprintf(w, "created column family %s with policy: %v\n", columnFamilyName, policy)
	return nil
}

HBase

This code sample is coming soon.

Java

samples/snippets/src/main/java/com/m/examples/bigtable/TableAdminExample.java 
// Creates a column family with GC policy to drop data that matches at least one condition.

// Defines a list of GC rules to drop cells older than 5 days OR not the most recent
// version.
UnionRule unionRule =
    GCRULES.union().rule(GCRULES.maxAge(5, TimeUnit.DAYS)).rule(GCRULES.maxVersions(1));

// Creates column family with given GC rule.
try {
  // ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest can be used both for adding and modifying families, here it is
  // being used to add a family
  ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest columnFamiliesRequest =
      ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest.of(tableId).addFamily(COLUMN_FAMILY_3, unionRule);
  adminClient.modifyFamilies(columnFamiliesRequest);
  System.out.println("Created column family: " + COLUMN_FAMILY_3);
} catch (AlreadyExistsException e) {
  System.err.println(
      "Failed to create column family with rule, already exists: " + e.getMessage());
}

Python

samples/tableadmin/tableadmin.py 
    print('Creating column family cf3 with union GC rule...')
    # Create a column family with GC policy to drop data that matches
    # at least one condition.
    # Define a GC rule to drop cells older than 5 days or not the
    # most recent version
    union_rule = column_family.GCRuleUnion([
        column_family.MaxAgeGCRule(datetime.timedelta(days=5)),
        column_family.MaxVersionsGCRule(2)])

    column_family3 = table.column_family('cf3', union_rule)
    column_family3.create()
    print('Created column family cf3 with Union GC rule')

C#

bigtable/api/TableAdminExample/TableAdmin.cs 
// Create a column family with GC policy to drop data that matches at least one condition.
// Initialize request argument(s).
// Define a GC rule to drop cells older than 5 days or not the most recent version.
GcRule.Types.Union unionRule = new GcRule.Types.Union
{
    Rules =
    {
        new GcRule { MaxNumVersions = 1 },
        new GcRule { MaxAge = Duration.FromTimeSpan(TimeSpan.FromDays(5)) }
    }
};
GcRule gcRule = new GcRule { Union = unionRule };

// Column family to create
ColumnFamily columnFamily = new ColumnFamily { GcRule = gcRule };

TableName tableName = new TableName(projectId, instanceId, tableId);

// Modification to create column family
ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest.Types.Modification modification = new ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest.Types.Modification
{
    Create = columnFamily,
    Id = "cf3"
};

ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest request = new ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest
{
    TableName = tableName,
    Modifications = { modification }
};
try
{
    // Make the request
    Table response = bigtableTableAdminClient.ModifyColumnFamilies(request);
    Console.WriteLine("Created column family");
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Error creating column family {ex.Message}");
}

C++

google/cloud/bigtable/examples/table_admin_snippets.cc 
namespace cbt = google::cloud::bigtable;
using google::cloud::StatusOr;
[](cbt::TableAdmin admin, std::string const& table_id,
   std::string const& family_name) {
  StatusOr<google::bigtable::admin::v2::Table> schema =
      admin.ModifyColumnFamilies(
          table_id,
          {cbt::ColumnFamilyModification::Create(
              family_name,
              cbt::GcRule::Union(
                  cbt::GcRule::MaxNumVersions(1),
                  cbt::GcRule::MaxAge(5 * std::chrono::hours(24))))});

  if (!schema) throw std::runtime_error(schema.status().message());
  std::cout << "Schema modified to: " << schema->DebugString() << "\n";
}

Node.js

samples/tableadmin.js 
// Create a column family with GC policy to drop data that matches at least one condition.

// Define a GC rule to drop cells older than 5 days or not the most recent version
const unionRule = {
  rule: {
    versions: 1,
    age: {
      seconds: 60 * 60 * 24 * 5,
      nanos: 0,
    },
    union: true,
  },
};

[family] = await table.createFamily('cf3', unionRule);
console.log(`Created column family ${family.id}`);

PHP

bigtable/src/create_family_gc_union.php 

use Google\Cloud\Bigtable\Admin\V2\ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest\Modification;
use Google\Cloud\Bigtable\Admin\V2\GcRule\Union as GcRuleUnion;
use Google\Cloud\Bigtable\Admin\V2\BigtableTableAdminClient;
use Google\Cloud\Bigtable\Admin\V2\ColumnFamily;
use Google\Cloud\Bigtable\Admin\V2\GcRule;
use Google\Protobuf\Duration;

/** Uncomment and populate these variables in your code */
// $project_id = 'The Google project ID';
// $instance_id = 'The Bigtable instance ID';
// $table_id = 'The Bigtable table ID';
// $location_id = 'The Bigtable region ID';

$tableAdminClient = new BigtableTableAdminClient();

$tableName = $tableAdminClient->tableName($project_id, $instance_id, $table_id);


print('Creating column family cf3 with union GC rule...' . PHP_EOL);
// Create a column family with GC policy to drop data that matches
// at least one condition.
// Define a GC rule to drop cells older than 5 days or not the
// most recent version


$columnFamily3 = new ColumnFamily();

$rule_union = new GcRuleUnion();
$rule_union_array = [
    (new GcRule)->setMaxNumVersions(2),
    (new GcRule)->setMaxAge((new Duration())->setSeconds(3600 * 24 * 5))
];
$rule_union->setRules($rule_union_array);
$union = new GcRule();
$union->setUnion($rule_union);

$columnFamily3->setGCRule($union);

$columnModification = new Modification();
$columnModification->setId('cf3');
$columnModification->setCreate($columnFamily3);
$tableAdminClient->modifyColumnFamilies($tableName, [$columnModification]);

print('Created column family cf3 with Union GC rule.' . PHP_EOL);

Ruby

bigtable/tableadmin.rb 
# Create a column family with GC policy to drop data that matches at least
# one condition
max_age_rule = Google::Cloud::Bigtable::GcRule.max_age 60 * 60 * 24 * 5
max_versions_rule = Google::Cloud::Bigtable::GcRule.max_versions 2
union_gc_rule = Google::Cloud::Bigtable::GcRule.union max_age_rule, max_versions_rule
column_families = table.column_families do |cfs|
  cfs.add "cf3", gc_rule: union_gc_rule
end
family = column_families["cf3"]

The following code samples show how to create a column family that has a nested garbage-collection policy. A nested garbage-collection policy has a combination of union and intersection rules.

cbt

This example creates a column family named cf5, then sets a garbage collection policy that removes cells in the column family that meet either of the following conditions:

  • Older than the ten most recent cells
  • More than one minute old and older than the two most recent cells

In other words, this policy keeps the two newest cells even if they are more than one minute old, or keeps the ten newest cells as long as they are less than one minute old.

cbt createfamily your-table cf5
cbt setgcpolicy your-table cf5 "(maxage=1m and maxversions=2) or
maxversions=10"

Go

bigtable/garbagecollection/create_family_gc_nested.go 
import (
	"context"
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"time"

	"cloud.google.com/go/bigtable"
)

func createFamilyGCNested(w io.Writer, projectID, instanceID string, tableName string) error {
	// projectID := "my-project-id"
	// instanceID := "my-instance-id"
	// tableName := "my-table-name"

	ctx := context.Background()

	adminClient, err := bigtable.NewAdminClient(ctx, projectID, instanceID)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("bigtable.NewAdminClient: %v", err)
	}

	columnFamilyName := "cf5"
	if err := adminClient.CreateColumnFamily(ctx, tableName, columnFamilyName); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("CreateColumnFamily(%s): %v", columnFamilyName, err)
	}

	// Create a nested GC rule:
	// Drop cells that are either older than the 10 recent versions
	// OR
	// Drop cells that are older than a month AND older than the 2 recent versions
	maxAge := time.Hour * 24 * 5
	maxAgePolicy := bigtable.MaxAgePolicy(maxAge)
	policy := bigtable.UnionPolicy(
		bigtable.MaxVersionsPolicy(10),
		bigtable.IntersectionPolicy(
			bigtable.MaxVersionsPolicy(2),
			maxAgePolicy))
	if err := adminClient.SetGCPolicy(ctx, tableName, columnFamilyName, policy); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("SetGCPolicy(%s): %v", policy, err)
	}

	fmt.Fprintf(w, "created column family %s with policy: %v\n", columnFamilyName, policy)
	return nil
}

HBase

This code sample is coming soon.

Java

samples/snippets/src/main/java/com/m/examples/bigtable/TableAdminExample.java 
// Creates a nested GC rule:
// Drop cells that are either older than the 10 recent versions
// OR
// Drop cells that are older than a month AND older than the 2 recent versions
VersionRule versionRule1 = GCRULES.maxVersions(10);
VersionRule versionRule2 = GCRULES.maxVersions(2);
DurationRule maxAgeRule = GCRULES.maxAge(30, TimeUnit.DAYS);
IntersectionRule intersectionRule = GCRULES.intersection().rule(maxAgeRule).rule(versionRule2);
UnionRule unionRule = GCRULES.union().rule(intersectionRule).rule(versionRule1);

// Creates column family with given GC rule.
try {
  // ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest can be used both for adding and modifying families, here it is
  // being used to add a family
  ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest columnFamiliesRequest =
      ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest.of(tableId).addFamily(COLUMN_FAMILY_5, unionRule);
  adminClient.modifyFamilies(columnFamiliesRequest);
  System.out.println("Created column family: " + COLUMN_FAMILY_5);
} catch (AlreadyExistsException e) {
  System.err.println(
      "Failed to create column family with rule, already exists: " + e.getMessage());
}

Python

samples/tableadmin/tableadmin.py 
    print('Creating column family cf5 with a Nested GC rule...')
    # Create a column family with nested GC policies.
    # Create a nested GC rule:
    # Drop cells that are either older than the 10 recent versions
    # OR
    # Drop cells that are older than a month AND older than the
    # 2 recent versions
    rule1 = column_family.MaxVersionsGCRule(10)
    rule2 = column_family.GCRuleIntersection([
        column_family.MaxAgeGCRule(datetime.timedelta(days=30)),
        column_family.MaxVersionsGCRule(2)])

    nested_rule = column_family.GCRuleUnion([rule1, rule2])

    column_family5 = table.column_family('cf5', nested_rule)
    column_family5.create()
    print('Created column family cf5 with a Nested GC rule.')

C#

bigtable/api/TableAdminExample/TableAdmin.cs 
// Create a nested GC rule:
// Drop cells that are either older than the 10 recent versions
// OR
// Drop cells that are older than 5 days AND older than the 2 recent versions.
// Initialize request argument(s).
GcRule.Types.Intersection intersectionRule = new GcRule.Types.Intersection
{
    Rules =
    {
        new GcRule { MaxNumVersions = 2 },
        new GcRule { MaxAge = Duration.FromTimeSpan(TimeSpan.FromDays(5)) }
    }
};

GcRule.Types.Union nestedRule = new GcRule.Types.Union
{
    Rules =
    {
        new GcRule { MaxNumVersions = 10 },
        new GcRule { Intersection = intersectionRule }
    }
};

GcRule gcRule = new GcRule { Union = nestedRule };

// Column family to create
ColumnFamily columnFamily = new ColumnFamily { GcRule = gcRule };

TableName tableName = new TableName(projectId, instanceId, tableId);

// Modification to create column family
ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest.Types.Modification modification = new ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest.Types.Modification
{
    Create = columnFamily,
    Id = "cf5"
};

ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest request = new ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest
{
    TableName = tableName,
    Modifications = { modification }
};
try
{
    // Make the request
    Table response = bigtableTableAdminClient.ModifyColumnFamilies(request);
    Console.WriteLine("Created column family");
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Error creating column family {ex.Message}");
}

C++

google/cloud/bigtable/examples/table_admin_snippets.cc 
namespace cbt = google::cloud::bigtable;
using google::cloud::StatusOr;
[](cbt::TableAdmin admin, std::string const& table_id,
   std::string const& family_name) {
  StatusOr<google::bigtable::admin::v2::Table> schema =
      admin.ModifyColumnFamilies(
          table_id,
          {cbt::ColumnFamilyModification::Create(
              family_name,
              cbt::GcRule::Union(
                  cbt::GcRule::MaxNumVersions(10),
                  cbt::GcRule::Intersection(
                      cbt::GcRule::MaxNumVersions(1),
                      cbt::GcRule::MaxAge(5 * std::chrono::hours(24)))))});

  if (!schema) throw std::runtime_error(schema.status().message());
  std::cout << "Schema modified to: " << schema->DebugString() << "\n";
}

Node.js

samples/tableadmin.js 
// Create a nested GC rule:
// Drop cells that are either older than the 10 recent versions
// OR
// Drop cells that are older than a month AND older than the 2 recent versions
const nestedRule = {
  union: true,
  versions: 10,
  rule: {
    versions: 2,
    age: {
      // one month
      seconds: 60 * 60 * 24 * 30,
      nanos: 0,
    },
  },
};

[family] = await table.createFamily('cf5', nestedRule);
console.log(`Created column family ${family.id}`);

PHP

bigtable/src/create_family_gc_nested.php 

use Google\Cloud\Bigtable\Admin\V2\GcRule\Intersection as GcRuleIntersection;
use Google\Cloud\Bigtable\Admin\V2\ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest\Modification;
use Google\Cloud\Bigtable\Admin\V2\GcRule\Union as GcRuleUnion;
use Google\Cloud\Bigtable\Admin\V2\BigtableTableAdminClient;
use Google\Cloud\Bigtable\Admin\V2\ColumnFamily;
use Google\Cloud\Bigtable\Admin\V2\GcRule;
use Google\Protobuf\Duration;

/** Uncomment and populate these variables in your code */
// $project_id = 'The Google project ID';
// $instance_id = 'The Bigtable instance ID';
// $table_id = 'The Bigtable table ID';

$tableAdminClient = new BigtableTableAdminClient();

$tableName = $tableAdminClient->tableName($project_id, $instance_id, $table_id);


print('Creating column family cf5 with a Nested GC rule...' . PHP_EOL);
// Create a column family with nested GC policies.
// Create a nested GC rule:
// Drop cells that are either older than the 10 recent versions
// OR
// Drop cells that are older than a month AND older than the
// 2 recent versions
$columnFamily5 = new ColumnFamily();
$rule1 = (new GcRule)->setMaxNumVersions(10);

$rule2Intersection = new GcRuleIntersection();
$rule2Duration1 = new Duration();
$rule2Duration1->setSeconds(3600 * 24 * 30);
$rule2Array = [
    (new GcRule)->setMaxAge($rule2Duration1),
    (new GcRule)->setMaxNumVersions(2)
];
$rule2Intersection->setRules($rule2Array);
$rule2 = new GcRule();
$rule2->setIntersection($rule2Intersection);

$nested_rule = new GcRuleUnion();
$nested_rule->setRules([
    $rule1,
    $rule2
]);
$nested_rule = (new GcRule())->setUnion($nested_rule);

$columnFamily5->setGCRule($nested_rule);

$columnModification = new Modification();
$columnModification->setId('cf5');
$columnModification->setCreate($columnFamily5);
$tableAdminClient->modifyColumnFamilies($tableName, [$columnModification]);

print('Created column family cf5 with a Nested GC rule.' . PHP_EOL);

Ruby

bigtable/tableadmin.rb 
# Create a nested GC rule:
# Drop cells that are either older than the 10 recent versions
# OR
# Drop cells that are older than a month AND older than the 2 recent versions
max_versions_rule1 = Google::Cloud::Bigtable::GcRule.max_versions 10
max_age_rule = Google::Cloud::Bigtable::GcRule.max_age 60 * 60 * 24 * 5
max_versions_rule2 = Google::Cloud::Bigtable::GcRule.max_versions 2
intersection_gc_rule = Google::Cloud::Bigtable::GcRule.intersection max_age_rule, max_versions_rule2
nested_gc_rule = Google::Cloud::Bigtable::GcRule.union max_versions_rule1, intersection_gc_rule

Updating a garbage-collection policy

The following code samples show how to modify an existing garbage-collection policy.

cbt

cbt setgcpolicy your-table cf1 maxage=1d

Go

This code sample is coming soon.

HBase

This code sample is coming soon.

Java

samples/snippets/src/main/java/com/m/examples/bigtable/TableAdminExample.java 
// Updates the column family metadata to update the GC rule.
// Updates a column family GC rule.
VersionRule versionRule = GCRULES.maxVersions(1);
try {
  // ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest can be used both for adding and modifying families, here it is
  // being used to modify a family
  // Updates column family with given GC rule.
  ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest updateRequest =
      ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest.of(tableId).updateFamily(COLUMN_FAMILY_1, versionRule);
  adminClient.modifyFamilies(updateRequest);
  System.out.printf("Column family %s GC rule updated%n", COLUMN_FAMILY_1);
} catch (NotFoundException e) {
  System.err.println("Failed to modify a non-existent column family: " + e.getMessage());
}

Python

samples/tableadmin/tableadmin.py 
print('Updating column family cf1 GC rule...')
# Update the column family cf1 to update the GC rule
column_family1 = table.column_family(
    'cf1',
    column_family.MaxVersionsGCRule(1))
column_family1.update()
print('Updated column family cf1 GC rule\n')

C#

bigtable/api/TableAdminExample/TableAdmin.cs 
// Update the column family metadata to update the GC rule.
// Initialize request argument(s).
// Updated column family GC rule.
GcRule maxVersionsRule = new GcRule { MaxNumVersions = 1 };

// Column family to create
ColumnFamily columnFamily = new ColumnFamily { GcRule = maxVersionsRule };

TableName tableName = new TableName(projectId, instanceId, tableId);

// Modification to update column family
ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest.Types.Modification modification = new ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest.Types.Modification
{
    Update = columnFamily,
    Id = "cf1"
};

ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest request = new ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest
{
    TableName = tableName,
    Modifications = { modification }
};
try
{
    // Make the request
    Table response = bigtableTableAdminClient.ModifyColumnFamilies(request);
    Console.WriteLine("Updated column family");
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Error updating column family {ex.Message}");
}

C++

google/cloud/bigtable/examples/table_admin_snippets.cc 
namespace cbt = google::cloud::bigtable;
using google::cloud::StatusOr;
[](cbt::TableAdmin admin, std::string const& table_id,
   std::string const& family_name) {
  StatusOr<google::bigtable::admin::v2::Table> schema =
      admin.ModifyColumnFamilies(
          table_id, {cbt::ColumnFamilyModification::Update(
                        family_name, cbt::GcRule::MaxNumVersions(1))});

  if (!schema) throw std::runtime_error(schema.status().message());
  std::cout << "Schema modified to: " << schema->DebugString() << "\n";
}

Node.js

samples/tableadmin.js 
// Update the column family metadata to update the GC rule

// Create a reference to the column family
family = table.family('cf1');

// Update a column family GC rule
const updatedMetadata = {
  rule: {
    versions: 1,
  },
};

const [apiResponse] = await family.setMetadata(updatedMetadata);
console.log(`Updated GC rule: ${JSON.stringify(apiResponse)}`);

PHP

bigtable/src/update_gc_rule.php 

use Google\Cloud\Bigtable\Admin\V2\ModifyColumnFamiliesRequest\Modification;
use Google\Cloud\Bigtable\Admin\V2\BigtableTableAdminClient;
use Google\Cloud\Bigtable\Admin\V2\ColumnFamily;
use Google\Cloud\Bigtable\Admin\V2\GcRule;

/** Uncomment and populate these variables in your code */
// $project_id = 'The Google project ID';
// $instance_id = 'The Bigtable instance ID';
// $table_id = 'The Bigtable table ID';

$tableAdminClient = new BigtableTableAdminClient();

$tableName = $tableAdminClient->tableName($project_id, $instance_id, $table_id);

$columnFamily1 = new ColumnFamily();
print('Updating column family cf3 GC rule...' . PHP_EOL);
$columnFamily1->setGcRule((new GcRule)->setMaxNumVersions(1));
// Update the column family cf1 to update the GC rule
$columnModification = new Modification();
$columnModification->setId('cf3');
$columnModification->setUpdate($columnFamily1);
$tableAdminClient->modifyColumnFamilies($tableName, [$columnModification]);

print('Print column family cf3 GC rule after update...' . PHP_EOL);
printf('Column Family: cf3');
printf('%s' . PHP_EOL, $columnFamily1->serializeToJsonString());

Ruby

bigtable/tableadmin.rb 
gc_rule = Google::Cloud::Bigtable::GcRule.max_versions 1
column_families = table.column_families do |cfs|
  cfs.update "cf1", gc_rule: gc_rule
end
p column_families["cf1"]

What's next