chore: Deprecate value type

examples/java-demo/feature_repo/driver_repo.py

@@ -7,14 +7,14 @@
 from google.protobuf.duration_pb2 import Duration
 from feast.field import Field
 
-from feast import Entity, Feature, BatchFeatureView, FileSource, ValueType
+from feast import Entity, Feature, BatchFeatureView, FileSource
 
 driver_hourly_stats = FileSource(
     path="data/driver_stats_with_string.parquet",
     timestamp_field="event_timestamp",
     created_timestamp_column="created",
 )
-driver = Entity(name="driver_id", value_type=ValueType.INT64, description="driver id",)
+driver = Entity(name="driver_id", description="driver id",)
 driver_hourly_stats_view = BatchFeatureView(
     name="driver_hourly_stats",
     entities=["driver_id"],

go/embedded/online_features.go

@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ func (s *OnlineFeatureService) GetEntityTypesMap(featureRefs []string) (map[stri
 		}
 		for _, entityName := range view.Entities {
 			entity := entitiesByName[entityName]
-			joinKeyTypes[entity.JoinKey] = int32(entity.ValueType.Number())
+			joinKeyTypes[entity.JoinKey] = int32(view.GetEntityType(entity.JoinKey).Number())
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ func (s *OnlineFeatureService) GetEntityTypesMapByFeatureService(featureServiceN
 		}
 		for _, entityName := range view.Entities {
 			entity := entitiesByName[entityName]
-			joinKeyTypes[entity.JoinKey] = int32(entity.ValueType.Number())
+			joinKeyTypes[entity.JoinKey] = int32(view.GetEntityType(entity.JoinKey).Number())
 		}
 	}
 

go/internal/feast/featurestore.go

@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ func (fs *FeatureStore) GetOnlineFeatures(
 	if entitylessCase {
 		dummyEntityColumn := &prototypes.RepeatedValue{Val: make([]*prototypes.Value, numRows)}
 		for index := 0; index < numRows; index++ {
-			dummyEntityColumn.Val[index] = &model.DUMMY_ENTITY
+			dummyEntityColumn.Val[index] = &model.DUMMY_ENTITY_VALUE
 		}
 		joinKeyToEntityValues[model.DUMMY_ENTITY_ID] = dummyEntityColumn
 	}

go/internal/feast/model/entity.go

@@ -2,18 +2,16 @@ package model
 
 import (
 	"github.com/feast-dev/feast/go/protos/feast/core"
-	"github.com/feast-dev/feast/go/protos/feast/types"
 )
 
 type Entity struct {
-	Name      string
-	ValueType types.ValueType_Enum
-	JoinKey   string
+	Name    string
+	JoinKey string
 }
 
 func NewEntityFromProto(proto *core.Entity) *Entity {
-	return &Entity{Name: proto.Spec.Name,
-		ValueType: proto.Spec.ValueType,
-		JoinKey:   proto.Spec.JoinKey,
+	return &Entity{
+		Name:    proto.Spec.Name,
+		JoinKey: proto.Spec.JoinKey,
 	}
 }

go/internal/feast/model/featureview.go

@@ -13,12 +13,13 @@ const (
 	DUMMY_ENTITY_VAL  = ""
 )
 
-var DUMMY_ENTITY types.Value = types.Value{Val: &types.Value_StringVal{StringVal: DUMMY_ENTITY_VAL}}
+var DUMMY_ENTITY_VALUE types.Value = types.Value{Val: &types.Value_StringVal{StringVal: DUMMY_ENTITY_VAL}}
 
 type FeatureView struct {
-	Base     *BaseFeatureView
-	Ttl      *durationpb.Duration
-	Entities []string
+	Base          *BaseFeatureView
+	Ttl           *durationpb.Duration
+	Entities      []string
+	EntityColumns []*Feature
 }
 
 func NewFeatureViewFromProto(proto *core.FeatureView) *FeatureView {
@@ -30,23 +31,37 @@ func NewFeatureViewFromProto(proto *core.FeatureView) *FeatureView {
 	} else {
 		featureView.Entities = proto.Spec.Entities
 	}
+	entityColumns := make([]*Feature, len(proto.Spec.EntityColumns))
+	for i, entityColumn := range proto.Spec.EntityColumns {
+		entityColumns[i] = NewFeatureFromProto(entityColumn)
+	}
+	featureView.EntityColumns = entityColumns
 	return featureView
 }
 
-func (fs *FeatureView) NewFeatureViewFromBase(base *BaseFeatureView) *FeatureView {
-	ttl := durationpb.Duration{Seconds: fs.Ttl.Seconds, Nanos: fs.Ttl.Nanos}
+func (fv *FeatureView) NewFeatureViewFromBase(base *BaseFeatureView) *FeatureView {
+	ttl := durationpb.Duration{Seconds: fv.Ttl.Seconds, Nanos: fv.Ttl.Nanos}
 	featureView := &FeatureView{Base: base,
 		Ttl:      &ttl,
-		Entities: fs.Entities,
+		Entities: fv.Entities,
 	}
 	return featureView
 }
 
-func (fs *FeatureView) HasEntity(lookup string) bool {
-	for _, entityName := range fs.Entities {
+func (fv *FeatureView) HasEntity(lookup string) bool {
+	for _, entityName := range fv.Entities {
 		if entityName == lookup {
 			return true
 		}
 	}
 	return false
 }
+
+func (fv *FeatureView) GetEntityType(lookup string) types.ValueType_Enum {
+	for _, entityColumn := range fv.EntityColumns {
+		if entityColumn.Name == lookup {
+			return entityColumn.Dtype
+		}
+	}
+	return types.ValueType_INVALID
+}

go/internal/feast/server/logging/featureserviceschema.go

@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ func generateSchema(featureService *model.FeatureService, entityMap map[string]*
 				}
 
 				joinKeysSet[joinKey] = nil
-				entityJoinKeyToType[joinKey] = entity.ValueType
+				entityJoinKeyToType[joinKey] = fv.GetEntityType(entity.JoinKey)
 			}
 		} else if odFv, ok := odFvMap[featureViewName]; ok {
 			for _, f := range featureProjection.Features {

go/internal/feast/server/logging/featureserviceschema_test.go

@@ -145,8 +145,12 @@ func InitializeFeatureRepoVariablesForTest() (*model.FeatureService, []*model.En
 		[]*model.Feature{f1, f2},
 		projection1,
 	)
-	featureView1 := test.CreateFeatureView(baseFeatureView1, nil, []string{"driver_id"})
-	entity1 := test.CreateNewEntity("driver_id", types.ValueType_INT64, "driver_id")
+	entity1 := test.CreateNewEntity("driver_id", "driver_id")
+	entitycolumn1 := test.CreateNewFeature(
+		"driver_id",
+		types.ValueType_INT64,
+	)
+	featureView1 := test.CreateFeatureView(baseFeatureView1, nil, []string{"driver_id"}, []*model.Feature{entitycolumn1})
 	f3 := test.CreateNewFeature(
 		"int32",
 		types.ValueType_INT32,
@@ -166,7 +170,7 @@ func InitializeFeatureRepoVariablesForTest() (*model.FeatureService, []*model.En
 		[]*model.Feature{f3, f4},
 		projection2,
 	)
-	featureView2 := test.CreateFeatureView(baseFeatureView2, nil, []string{"driver_id"})
+	featureView2 := test.CreateFeatureView(baseFeatureView2, nil, []string{"driver_id"}, []*model.Feature{entitycolumn1})
 
 	f5 := test.CreateNewFeature(
 		"odfv_f1",

go/internal/test/go_integration_test_utils.go

@@ -201,11 +201,10 @@ func CreateBaseFeatureView(name string, features []*model.Feature, projection *m
 	}
 }
 
-func CreateNewEntity(name string, valueType types.ValueType_Enum, joinKey string) *model.Entity {
+func CreateNewEntity(name string, joinKey string) *model.Entity {
 	return &model.Entity{
-		Name:      name,
-		ValueType: valueType,
-		JoinKey:   joinKey,
+		Name:    name,
+		JoinKey: joinKey,
 	}
 }
 
@@ -233,10 +232,11 @@ func CreateNewFeatureViewProjection(name string, nameAlias string, features []*m
 	}
 }
 
-func CreateFeatureView(base *model.BaseFeatureView, ttl *durationpb.Duration, entities []string) *model.FeatureView {
+func CreateFeatureView(base *model.BaseFeatureView, ttl *durationpb.Duration, entities []string, entityColumns []*model.Feature) *model.FeatureView {
 	return &model.FeatureView{
-		Base:     base,
-		Ttl:      ttl,
-		Entities: entities,
+		Base:          base,
+		Ttl:           ttl,
+		Entities:      entities,
+		EntityColumns: entityColumns,
 	}
 }

protos/feast/core/FeatureView.proto

@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ message FeatureView {
     FeatureViewMeta meta = 2;
 }
 
-// Next available id: 12
+// Next available id: 13
 // TODO(adchia): refactor common fields from this and ODFV into separate metadata proto
 message FeatureViewSpec {
     // Name of the feature view. Must be unique. Not updated.
@@ -44,13 +44,15 @@ message FeatureViewSpec {
     // Name of Feast project that this feature view belongs to.
     string project = 2;
 
-    // List names of entities to associate with the Features defined in this 
-    // Feature View. Not updatable.
+    // List of names of entities associated with this feature view.
     repeated string entities = 3;
 
-    // List of specifications for each field defined as part of this feature view.
+    // List of specifications for each feature defined as part of this feature view.
     repeated FeatureSpecV2 features = 4;
 
+    // List of specifications for each entity defined as part of this feature view.
+    repeated FeatureSpecV2 entity_columns = 12;
+
     // Description of the feature view.
     string description = 10;
 

sdk/python/feast/entity.py

@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ class Entity:
 
     Attributes:
         name: The unique name of the entity.
-        value_type: The type of the entity, such as string or float.
+        value_type (deprecated): The type of the entity, such as string or float.
         join_key: A property that uniquely identifies different entities within the
             collection. The join_key property is typically used for joining entities
             with their associated features. If not specified, defaults to the name.
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ def __init__(
         self,
         *args,
         name: Optional[str] = None,
-        value_type: ValueType = ValueType.UNKNOWN,
+        value_type: Optional[ValueType] = None,
         description: str = "",
         join_key: Optional[str] = None,
         tags: Optional[Dict[str, str]] = None,
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ def __init__(
 
         Args:
             name: The unique name of the entity.
-            value_type: The type of the entity, such as string or float.
+            value_type (deprecated): The type of the entity, such as string or float.
             description: A human-readable description.
             join_key (deprecated): A property that uniquely identifies different entities within the
                 collection. The join_key property is typically used for joining entities
@@ -104,8 +104,23 @@ def __init__(
         if not self.name:
             raise ValueError("Name needs to be specified")
 
-        self.value_type = value_type
+        if value_type:
+            warnings.warn(
+                (
+                    "The `value_type` parameter is being deprecated. Instead, the type of an entity "
+                    "should be specified as a Field in the schema of a feature view. Feast 0.22 and "
+                    "onwards will not support the `value_type` parameter. The `entities` parameter of "
+                    "feature views should also be changed to a List[Entity] instead of a List[str]; if "
+                    "this is not done, entity columns will be mistakenly interpreted as feature columns."
+                ),
+                DeprecationWarning,
+            )
+        self.value_type = value_type or ValueType.UNKNOWN
 
+        # For now, both the `join_key` and `join_keys` attributes are set correctly,
+        # so both are usable.
+        # TODO(felixwang9817): Remove the usage of `join_key` throughout the codebase
+        # when the usage of `join_key` as a parameter is removed.
         if join_key:
             warnings.warn(
                 (
@@ -125,6 +140,8 @@ def __init__(
             self.join_key = join_keys[0]
         else:
             self.join_key = join_key if join_key else self.name
+        if not self.join_keys:
+            self.join_keys = [self.join_key]
         self.description = description
         self.tags = tags if tags is not None else {}
         self.owner = owner
@@ -153,6 +170,9 @@ def __eq__(self, other):
     def __str__(self):
         return str(MessageToJson(self.to_proto()))
 
+    def __lt__(self, other):
+        return self.name < other.name
+
     def is_valid(self):
         """
         Validates the state of this entity locally.
@@ -179,7 +199,6 @@ def from_proto(cls, entity_proto: EntityProto):
         """
         entity = cls(
             name=entity_proto.spec.name,
-            value_type=ValueType(entity_proto.spec.value_type),
             join_key=entity_proto.spec.join_key,
             description=entity_proto.spec.description,
             tags=entity_proto.spec.tags,
@@ -210,7 +229,6 @@ def to_proto(self) -> EntityProto:
 
         spec = EntitySpecProto(
             name=self.name,
-            value_type=self.value_type.value,
             join_key=self.join_key,
             description=self.description,
             tags=self.tags,

sdk/python/feast/feature_logging.py

@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@
 from feast.protos.feast.core.FeatureService_pb2 import (
     LoggingConfig as LoggingConfigProto,
 )
-from feast.types import from_value_type
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from feast import FeatureService
@@ -87,9 +86,14 @@ def get_schema(self, registry: "Registry") -> pa.Schema:
                     join_key = projection.join_key_map.get(
                         entity.join_key, entity.join_key
                     )
-                    fields[join_key] = FEAST_TYPE_TO_ARROW_TYPE[
-                        from_value_type(entity.value_type)
-                    ]
+                    entity_columns = list(
+                        filter(
+                            lambda x: x.name == join_key, feature_view.entity_columns
+                        )
+                    )
+                    assert len(entity_columns) == 1
+                    entity_column = entity_columns[0]
+                    fields[join_key] = FEAST_TYPE_TO_ARROW_TYPE[entity_column.dtype]
 
         # system columns
         fields[REQUEST_ID_FIELD] = pa.string()