Metadata

SigilYX can inspect YXDB files without reading any row data. This is useful for understanding file structure, validating schemas, or building data catalogs.

Field Metadata

import sigilyx as yx

fields = yx.read_yxdb_fields("data.yxdb")

for f in fields:
    print(f"{f.name:20s}  {f.field_type:15s}  size={f.size}")

Each field object has the following attributes:

Attribute	Type	Description
name	str	Column name
field_type	str	YXDB type name (e.g., "V_WString", "Int64")
size	int	Width for fixed-size types, max length for variable types
scale	int	Decimal places (only for FixedDecimal)

Record Count

Get the total number of records without reading any data:

n = yx.record_count("data.yxdb")
print(f"{n:,} records")

This reads only the file header (512 bytes).

Use Cases

Schema comparison

import sigilyx as yx

def get_schema(path):
    return {f.name: f.field_type for f in yx.read_yxdb_fields(path)}

schema_a = get_schema("file_a.yxdb")
schema_b = get_schema("file_b.yxdb")

added = set(schema_b) - set(schema_a)
removed = set(schema_a) - set(schema_b)
changed = {k for k in schema_a if k in schema_b and schema_a[k] != schema_b[k]}

print(f"Added: {added}")
print(f"Removed: {removed}")
print(f"Type changed: {changed}")

File inventory

import sigilyx as yx
from pathlib import Path

for yxdb in Path("data/").glob("**/*.yxdb"):
    n = yx.record_count(str(yxdb))
    fields = yx.read_yxdb_fields(str(yxdb))
    print(f"{yxdb.name:30s}  {n:>10,} rows  {len(fields):>3} cols")

Validate before processing

import sigilyx as yx

fields = yx.read_yxdb_fields("upload.yxdb")
field_names = {f.name for f in fields}

required = {"customer_id", "order_date", "amount"}
missing = required - field_names

if missing:
    raise ValueError(f"Missing required columns: {missing}")