GH-41656: [MATLAB] Add C Data Interface format import/export functionality for arrow.array.Array

[kevingurney]

Rationale for this change

Now that #41653 and #41654 have been addressed, we should add MATLAB APIs for importing/exporting arrow.array.Array objects using the C Data Interface format.

This pull request adds two new APIs for importing and exporting arrow.array.Array objects using the C Data Interface format.

Example

>> expected = arrow.array([1, 2, 3]) 

expected = 

  Float64Array with 3 elements and 0 null values:

    1 | 2 | 3

>> cArray = arrow.c.Array()

cArray = 

  Array with properties:

    Address: 140341875084944

>> cSchema = arrow.c.Schema()

cSchema = 

  Schema with properties:

    Address: 140341880022320

% Export the Array to C Data Interface Format
>> expected.export(cArray.Address, cSchema.Address)

% Import the Array from C Data Interface Format
>> actual = arrow.array.Array.import(cArray, cSchema)

actual = 

  Float64Array with 3 elements and 0 null values:

    1 | 2 | 3

% The Array is the same after round-tripping to C Data Interface format
>> isequal(actual, expected)

ans =

  logical

   1

What changes are included in this PR?

1. Added new arrow.array.Array.export(cArrowArrayAddress, cArrowSchemaAddress) method for exporting Array objects to C Data Interface format.
2. Added new static arrow.array.Array.import(cArray, cSchema) method for importing Arrays from C Data Interface format.
3. Added new internal arrow.c.internal.ArrayImporter class for importing Array objects from C Data Interface format.

Are these changes tested?

Yes.

1. Added new test file matlab/test/arrow/c/tRoundTrip.m with basic round-trip tests for importing/exporting Array objects using the C Data Interface format.

Are there any user-facing changes?

Yes.

1. There are now two new user-facing APIs added to the arrow.array.Array class. These are arrow.array.Array.export(cArrowArrayAddress, cArrowSchemaAddress) and arrow.array.Array.import(cArray, cSchema). These APIs can be used to import/export Array objects using the C Data Interface format.

Future Directions

1. Add integration tests for sharing data between MATLAB/mlarrow and Python/pyarrow running in the same process using the MATLAB interface to Python.
2. Add support for exporting/importing arrow.tabular.RecordBatch objects using the C Data Interface format.
3. Add support for the Arrow C stream interface format.

Notes

1. Thanks @sgilmore10 for your help with this pull request!

• GitHub Issue: [MATLAB] Add C Data Interface format import/export functionality for arrow.array.Array #41656

[sgilmore10]

Just a few comments. But looks good to me!

[kou]

+1

[kevingurney]

+1

[conbench-apache-arrow]

After merging your PR, Conbench analyzed the 5 benchmarking runs that have been run so far on merge-commit 5809daf.

There were no benchmark performance regressions. 🎉

The full Conbench report has more details. It also includes information about 3 possible false positives for unstable benchmarks that are known to sometimes produce them.