[HBASE-8197] Cannot distinguish between HBase default config value and client overridden config value

• Type: Bug
• Status: Closed
• Priority: Minor
• Resolution: Not A Problem
• Affects Version/s: 0.94.6
• Component/s: Usability
• Assignee: Unassigned
• Reporter: James Taylor
• Created: 26/Mar/13 05:08
• Updated: 16/Jun/22 16:44
• Resolved: 16/Jun/22 16:44

Description

By HBase setting default values in hbase-default.xml, it makes it difficult for a platform to know if a value has been overridden by the client. For example, Phoenix has a default value it would like to use for hbase.client.scanner.caching. I'd like to be able to call config.setIfUnset option to use our default value if a client hasn't already provided their own. Since HBase sets this in hbase-default.xml to 1, I can't differentiate between the client have a value in their hbase-sites.xml as 1 versus the default value we're getting from HBase.

Wouldn't it be better if HBase had constants defined in a Java interface that would be used by HBase as the default value if none other is provided, like this:

config.getInt("hbase.client.scanner.caching", HBaseDefault.CLIENT_SCANNER_CACHING);