MutableBuffer::typed_data - shared ref access to the typed slice

arrow/src/buffer/immutable.rs

@@ -181,7 +181,7 @@ impl Buffer {
         unsafe { self.data.ptr().as_ptr().add(self.offset) }
     }
 
-    /// View buffer as typed slice.
+    /// View buffer as a slice of a specific type.
     ///
     /// # Panics
     ///

arrow/src/buffer/mutable.rs

@@ -288,7 +288,7 @@ impl MutableBuffer {
         Buffer::from_bytes(bytes)
     }
 
-    /// View this buffer as a slice of a specific type.
+    /// View this buffer as a mutable slice of a specific type.
     ///
     /// # Panics
     ///
@@ -304,6 +304,21 @@ impl MutableBuffer {
         offsets
     }
 
+    /// View buffer as a immutable slice of a specific type.
+    ///
+    /// # Panics
+    ///
+    /// This function panics if the underlying buffer is not aligned
+    /// correctly for type `T`.
+    pub fn typed_data<T: ArrowNativeType>(&self) -> &[T] {
+        // SAFETY
+        // ArrowNativeType is trivially transmutable, is sealed to prevent potentially incorrect
+        // implementation outside this crate, and this method checks alignment
+        let (prefix, offsets, suffix) = unsafe { self.as_slice().align_to::<T>() };
+        assert!(prefix.is_empty() && suffix.is_empty());
+        offsets
+    }
+
     /// Extends this buffer from a slice of items that can be represented in bytes, increasing its capacity if needed.
     /// # Example
     /// ```