docs: reorganize docs to highlight tools and drivers by amoeba · Pull Request #4525 · apache/arrow-adbc

amoeba · 2026-07-14T23:19:23Z

This is a major reorganization and rethinking of the ADBC docs to catch them up with what's happening across the ADBC ecosystem.

The key changes are:

New, simpler landing page focusing on the core questions users will have (what drivers are available, how do I connect with one, how do I write a new driver)
New sidebar structure that starts by grouping pages into one of two major categories: Connecting or Writing Drivers
New Drivers page that covers the third-party driver ecosystem which has grown quite a lot. Includes talking about dbc, the ADBC Driver Foundry, third-party drivers offered by Columnar
New Tools & Integrations page covering the cool ecosystem stuff like pandas/polars/R/etc
Now uses the term "Client Library" over Driver Manager in many places as this is conceptually more simple. No packages were renamed so the term Driver Manager is still valid and used in the docs.
Language-specific docs now more consistently load drivers by manifest rather than driver-specific packages.
New page on Writing Drivers
New page on Connection Profiles
A small but updated C# page
Updated Glossary

Closes #4233

lidavidm · 2026-07-14T23:50:10Z

+Installing Drivers
+==================
+
+You'll need to install an ADBC driver for the database you want to connect to. The easiest way is using `dbc <https://docs.columnar.tech/dbc>`_:


We should make it clear that this is a third party, and perhaps mention that drivers developed by us are still distributed on PyPI, with other drivers distributed by the third party

lidavidm · 2026-07-15T00:32:35Z

+Installing Drivers
+==================
+
+You'll need to install an ADBC driver for the database you want to connect to. The easiest way is using `dbc <https://docs.columnar.tech/dbc>`_:


Since this is repeated a lot, is there a way we can put this in a separate file and include it wherever we use it?

I said this elsewhere but now all quickstarts should be following this kind of pattern,

Installing Drivers ------------------ See Installing Drivers for instructions on installing ADBC drivers for the database you want to connect to. For the example below, you could install dbc and run dbc install postgresql.

lidavidm · 2026-07-15T00:33:46Z

 ==========

-Here we'll briefly tour basic features of ADBC with the PostgreSQL driver for Java.
+Here we'll briefly tour basic features of ADBC with Java using the PostgreSQL driver.


The current example does appear to use the JDBC adapter; maybe it should be switched to use the JNI adapter?

Done in f7b12cd.

Co-authored-by: David Li <li.davidm96@gmail.com>

amoeba · 2026-07-17T01:37:09Z

+
+----
+
+dplyr


Good catch. Added in 7db4ac6

amoeba · 2026-07-17T02:15:45Z

+///    # Install dbc
+///    curl -fsSL https://dbc.sh | sh


Hrm... I know the recipe needs this. Could we avoid telling users how to install dbc by moving this into cpp_recipe.sh and just showing running dbc install sqlite?

Also, this is the incorrect install command. Should be:

curl -LsSf https://dbc.columnar.tech/install.sh | sh

But it's probably better to just say:

See the `dbc documentation <https://docs.columnar.tech/dbc>`_ for how to install dbc.

Yep. This should be gone now. Anywhere we need to tell users to install a driver with dbc should use this language:

Installing Drivers ------------------ See :ref:`driver-table-install` for instructions on installing ADBC drivers for the database you want to connect to. For the example below, you could install `dbc <https://docs.columnar.tech/dbc>`__ and run ``dbc install postgresql``.

and we can easily tweak it everywhere if we want something different.

@amoeba how's this? cea2d11

Oh, sorry, I can revert my commit. But I'm confused; how is it gone if I'm still seeing it here?

Oh, I think your fixes missed the C++ one.

Maybe it's better to keep it my way just for the C++ one, since --level user is needed to avoid installing the driver in the conda environment.

amoeba · 2026-07-17T03:48:46Z

ianmcook · 2026-07-17T04:39:55Z

+The easiest way to get it is with `dbc <https://docs.columnar.tech/dbc/>`__,
+which installs prebuilt driver binaries from Columnar's `ADBC driver registry
+<https://dbc-cdn.columnar.tech>`__:


Since this is a JavaScript example and it already requires npm, any objections to suggesting this here?

npm install -g @columnar-tech/dbc

ianmcook · 2026-07-17T04:41:02Z

+See :ref:`driver-table-install` for instructions on installing ADBC drivers for
+the database you want to connect to. For the example below, you could install
+`dbc <https://docs.columnar.tech/dbc>`__ and run ``dbc install sqlite``.


Since this is a Python example and it already requires pip, any objections to suggesting this here?

pipx install dbc

amoeba added 9 commits July 14, 2026 16:20

wip: overhaul

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fill things in more, still very wip

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amoeba force-pushed the docs/docs-rework branch from cdc7bec to b287363 Compare July 14, 2026 23:20

amoeba added 2 commits July 14, 2026 17:13

sync

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Update adbc_misc.py

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lidavidm reviewed Jul 15, 2026

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amoeba and others added 2 commits July 14, 2026 17:58

Update docs/source/driver/authoring.rst

72a26cf

Co-authored-by: David Li <li.davidm96@gmail.com>

Update docs/source/driver/authoring.rst

3afc8cc

Co-authored-by: David Li <li.davidm96@gmail.com>

lidavidm reviewed Jul 15, 2026

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Comment thread docs/source/index.rst Outdated

Comment thread docs/source/connection_profiles.rst

Comment thread docs/source/driver/authoring.rst Outdated

ianmcook and others added 13 commits July 15, 2026 01:27

Add unified table version of drivers page

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Improve alt3 subheading

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Minor alt3 improvement

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Improvements to index page

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sync

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Update docs/source/driver/authoring.rst

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Co-authored-by: David Li <li.davidm96@gmail.com>

sync

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wording

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remove slop

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Simplify and correct client libraries page

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Minor improvements to explanations

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Improve JavaScript quickstart

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ianmcook and others added 2 commits July 16, 2026 21:19

Mention tools on client libraries page

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revisit most sections of integrations.rst

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amoeba commented Jul 17, 2026

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amoeba added 15 commits July 16, 2026 19:21

update language about cdn

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update python quickstart

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update ruby activerecord

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refactor python recipes for driver manfiests

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Update native-unix.yml

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update r for driver manager

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Fix ruby example

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rework rust quickstart

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rework rust driver manager page

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redo how all quickstarts reference installing drivers

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add svgs in _static to rat exclude

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Delete TODO

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alpha order tools page

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fix bug in jni.rst

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rewrite quickstart.rst to use jni

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amoeba added 2 commits July 16, 2026 20:52

fix dbi link

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re-do c# docs

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amoeba marked this pull request as ready for review July 17, 2026 04:12

amoeba requested review from kou and zeroshade as code owners July 17, 2026 04:12

amoeba requested a review from CurtHagenlocher July 17, 2026 04:12

amoeba and others added 3 commits July 16, 2026 21:17

run ruff

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install sqlite driver in docs_build.sh

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Improve dbc install docs in C++ quickstart

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ianmcook reviewed Jul 17, 2026

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		----

		dplyr

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amoeba commented Jul 17, 2026

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amoeba commented Jul 14, 2026 •

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