[ARROW-11478] [R] Consider ways to make arrow.skip_nul option more user-friendly

• Type: Improvement
• Status: Resolved
• Priority: Minor
• Resolution: Fixed
• Affects Version/s: 3.0.0
• Fix Version/s: 4.0.0
• Component/s: R
• Labels: pull-request-available
• External issue URL: https://github.com/apache/arrow/issues/27361
• Assignee: Neal Richardson
• Reporter: Ian Cook
• Created: 03/Feb/21 01:48
• Updated: 11/Jan/23 08:20
• Resolved: 06/Apr/21 19:18

Description

In Arrow 3.0.0, the arrow.skip_nul option effectively defaults to FALSE for consistency with base::readLines and base::scan.

If the user keeps this default option value, then conversion of string data containing embedded nuls causes an error with a message like:

embedded nul in string: '\0' 

If the user sets the option to TRUE, then no error occurs, but this warning is issued:

Stripping '\0' (nul) from character vector 

Consider whether we should:

1. Keep this all as it is
2. Change the default option value to TRUE
3. Keep the default option value as it is, but catch the error and re-throw it with a more actionable message that tells the user how to set the option

Issue Links

• is related to: ARROW-11682 [R] Regression from 2.0.0 -> 3.0.0: Null character in string prevents dataset from loading
• relates to: ARROW-6582 [R] Arrow to R fails with embedded nuls in strings
• links to: GitHub Pull Request #9899