Use qcodes.dataset.get_db_overview when available#462
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The fast SQL database-overview implementation has been upstreamed to QCoDeS. Prefer `qcodes.dataset.get_db_overview` when the installed QCoDeS version exposes it, and fall back to the local implementation for older versions. The local implementation is generalized to match the upstreamed API: it now accepts an optional existing connection and an `extra_columns` argument for reading ad-hoc metadata columns, replacing the hard-coded `inspectr_tag` handling. `inspectr` requests the `inspectr_tag` column explicitly. Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
Mirror the review changes made to the upstreamed QCoDeS implementation: make conn/start_run_id/extra_columns keyword-only, catch sqlite3.Error instead of bare Exception, and drop the misleading result_counter fallback (it is the run ordinal, not a data-point count) in favour of reporting 0 when unknown. Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
astafan8
commented
Jul 3, 2026
astafan8
commented
Jul 3, 2026
Make plottr's fallback implementation an exact copy of the upstreamed QCoDeS `get_db_overview` (same signature, docstring and body), documenting that snapshots are not read and that the record count may be less precise than DataSet.number_of_results. Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
Address review feedback on the plottr PR: - Move the local get_db_overview implementation into a new private module plottr/data/_qcodes_db_overview.py (an exact copy of the upstream QCoDeS implementation), and reduce plottr/data/qcodes_db_overview.py to just the logic that imports get_db_overview/RunOverviewDict from qcodes when available and falls back to the vendored copy otherwise (now at the top of the module). - Import the private QCoDeS SQLite helpers (conn_from_dbpath_or_conn, is_column_in_table) lazily inside get_db_overview rather than at module import time, since they are private QCoDeS API. Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
jenshnielsen
approved these changes
Jul 3, 2026
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Summary
The fast SQL database-overview implementation used by
inspectr(
plottr.data.qcodes_db_overview.get_db_overview) has been upstreamed toQCoDeS (see companion PR microsoft/Qcodes#8266).
This PR makes plottr prefer the QCoDeS implementation when it is available,
falling back to the local implementation for older QCoDeS versions that do not
yet expose
qcodes.dataset.get_db_overview.Changes
plottr/data/qcodes_db_overview.pyfrom qcodes.dataset import get_db_overview; onImportError(older QCoDeS) keep the local implementation.connin addition topath_to_db;extra_columnsargument to pull ad-hoc metadata columns (e.g.inspectr_tag) into each overview entry, replacing the previouslyhard-coded
inspectr_taghandling;sys.version_inforead-only guard (plottr requires Pythonplottr/apps/inspectr.pyLoadDBProcess.loadDBnow callsget_db_overview(self.path, extra_columns=['inspectr_tag'])so theinspectr_tagcolumn is included regardless of which implementation isused.
Behaviour
The returned overview dict keys are unchanged, so
inspectrbehavesidentically whether the QCoDeS or the local implementation is used. Existing
tests (
test/pytest/test_qcodes_data.py) exercise both the record-countheuristics and the incremental refresh and continue to pass.
Verification
mypy plottr— clean.pytest test/pytest/test_qcodes_data.py— 19 passed (including theinspectrrefresh GUI test).Verified against the currently released QCoDeS (0.58.0, which does not yet
expose
get_db_overview, so the fallback path is exercised) as well as a stubconfirming the upstream path shadows the local implementation when present.
Note
This pull request was created by an agent on behalf of @astafan8.