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get_latest_partition_timestamp

get_latest_partition_timestamp(fully_qualified_table)

Description

Return the maximum of the partition column of fully_qualified_table

Usage

Call or Deploy get_latest_partition_timestamp ?
Call get_latest_partition_timestamp directly

The easiest way to use bigfunctions

  • get_latest_partition_timestamp function is deployed in 39 public datasets for all of the 39 BigQuery regions.
  • It can be called by anyone. Just copy / paste examples below in your BigQuery console. It just works!
  • (You need to use the dataset in the same region as your datasets otherwise you may have a function not found error)

Public BigFunctions Datasets

Region Dataset
eu bigfunctions.eu
us bigfunctions.us
europe-west1 bigfunctions.europe_west1
asia-east1 bigfunctions.asia_east1
... ...
Deploy get_latest_partition_timestamp in your project

Why deploy?

  • You may prefer to deploy get_latest_partition_timestamp in your own project to build and manage your own catalog of functions.
  • This is particularly useful if you want to create private functions (for example calling your internal APIs).
  • Get started by reading the framework page

Deployment

get_latest_partition_timestamp function can be deployed with:

pip install bigfunctions
bigfun get get_latest_partition_timestamp
bigfun deploy get_latest_partition_timestamp

Examples

call bigfunctions.eu.get_latest_partition_timestamp("my_project.my_dataset.my_table");
select * from bigfunction_result;

call bigfunctions.us.get_latest_partition_timestamp("my_project.my_dataset.my_table");
select * from bigfunction_result;

call bigfunctions.europe_west1.get_latest_partition_timestamp("my_project.my_dataset.my_table");
select * from bigfunction_result;


+----------------------------+
| latest_partition_timestamp |
+----------------------------+
|         2023-01-10         |
+----------------------------+

Use cases

Let's say you have a BigQuery table called my_project.my_dataset.event_logs that is partitioned by day on a column named event_date. You want to find the date of the most recent events logged in that table. You can use get_latest_partition_timestamp for this:

SELECT * FROM bigfunctions.us.get_latest_partition_timestamp('my_project.my_dataset.event_logs');
SELECT * FROM bigfunction_result; -- To see the result

This will return a table with one row and one column, latest_partition_timestamp, containing the latest date for which a partition exists.

Other Use Cases:

  • Data ingestion pipelines: Determine if new data has arrived since the last pipeline run. You can compare the latest partition timestamp with the timestamp of the last processed data.
  • Report generation: Automatically filter reports to include only the most recent data. For example, a daily report could use this function to determine the date to filter on.
  • Monitoring: Track the recency of data in different tables. Regularly call this function on key tables and alert if the latest partition timestamp is older than expected.
  • Data quality checks: Verify that partitions are being created as expected. For instance, if you expect daily partitions, you can check if the latest partition timestamp is within the last 24 hours.

Important Considerations:

  • Partitioning Column: The table must be partitioned, and the function will return the maximum value of the partitioning column.
  • Data Type: The partitioning column's data type will determine the returned timestamp format. If the partitioning column is DATE, the function will return a date. If it's TIMESTAMP, it will return a timestamp.
  • Empty Partitions: The function returns the latest partition regardless of whether that partition contains data. An empty partition will still be considered the latest.
  • Region: Remember to use the correct BigFunctions dataset for your region (e.g., bigfunctions.us for US, bigfunctions.eu for EU). See the documentation for the full list of regions.
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  • report a bug so that it can be improved.
  • or open the discussion with the community on Slack.

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