# Controlling AVRO record names and namespaces

When writing output as `AVRO`, Lenses creates schemas for you, automatically generating `AVRO` record names.

In this tutorial we will learn how to override the default record naming strategy.

{% hint style="success" %}
In Lenses SQL you can use a `SET` statement to control the record and namespace name generated for the AVRO schema.
{% endhint %}

## Setting up our input topic  <a href="#setting-up-our-input-topic" id="setting-up-our-input-topic"></a>

We are going to create and populate a topic that we will later use in a couple of SQL Processors.

In SQL Studio, create the topic running the following query:

```sql
CREATE TABLE mytopic(a string, b string, c string) FORMAT (STRING, AVRO);
```

For the purposes of our tutorial, it is enough to insert a single topic:

```sql
INSERT INTO mytopic(a, b, c) VALUES ("a", "b", "c");
```

## Create a simple SQL Processor  <a href="#create-a-simple-sql-processor" id="create-a-simple-sql-processor"></a>

We are now going to create a processor that will show the default behavior of `AVRO` record naming in Lenses.

The processor does not do much, it just reshapes the fields of the original topic, putting some of them in a nested field:

```sql
SET defaults.topic.autocreate=true;

INSERT INTO mytopic_2
SELECT STREAM a as x.a, b as x.y.b, c as x.y.c
FROM mytopic
```

We then start the processor. Lenses will create the new topic `mytopic_2`, and new schema will be created in the Schema Registry, as soon as the first (and only) record is processed.

If we inspect the value schema of `mytopic_2`, we see that this is the one generated:

```json
{
  "type": "record",
  "name": "record1",
  "fields": [
    {
      "name": "x",
      "type": {
        "type": "record",
        "name": "record0",
        "fields": [
          {
            "name": "a",
            "type": "string"
          },
          {
            "name": "y",
            "type": {
              "type": "record",
              "name": "record",
              "fields": [
                {
                  "name": "b",
                  "type": "string"
                },
                {
                  "name": "c",
                  "type": "string"
                }
              ]
            }
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}
```

As we can see, each `record` type has a name (it is mandatory in `AVRO`), and Lenses has generated those names automatically for us (`record`, `record0`, `record1` etc.).

### Set the record name and the namespace of the value schema  <a href="#set-the-record-name-and-the-namespace-of-the-value-schema" id="set-the-record-name-and-the-namespace-of-the-value-schema"></a>

We are now going to see how to override that default behavior.

Let’s create and start the new processor with the following SQL:

```sql
SET defaults.topic.autocreate=true;
SET defaults.topic.value.avro.record="myRecordName";
SET defaults.topic.value.avro.namespace="myNamespace";

INSERT INTO mytopic_3
SELECT STREAM a as x.a, b as x.y.b, c as x.y.c
FROM mytopic
```

Notice how we added the new `SET` statements to the query:

```sql
SET defaults.topic.value.avro.record="myRecordName";
SET defaults.topic.value.avro.namespace="myNamespace";
```

These settings are telling Lenses to set the root record name and namespace to the values specified.

If we now check the value schema for `mytopic_3` we get:

```json
{
  "type": "record",
  "name": "myRecordName",
  "namespace": "myNamespace",
  "fields": [
    {
      "name": "x",
      "type": {
        "type": "record",
        "name": "record0",
        "fields": [
          {
            "name": "a",
            "type": "string"
          },
          {
            "name": "y",
            "type": {
              "type": "record",
              "name": "record",
              "fields": [
                {
                  "name": "b",
                  "type": "string"
                },
                {
                  "name": "c",
                  "type": "string"
                }
              ]
            }
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}
```

As we can see, the root `record` element has now name `myRecordName` and namespace `myNamespace`.

Notice how the settings did not affect nested records.

### Set the record name and the namespace of the key schema  <a href="#set-the-record-name-and-the-namespace-of-the-key-schema" id="set-the-record-name-and-the-namespace-of-the-key-schema"></a>

If the key of the generated topic has `AVRO` format as well, you can use the following analogous settings to control the key record name and namespace:

```sql
SET defaults.topic.key.avro.record="myRecordName";
SET defaults.topic.key.avro.namespace="myNamespace";
```

## More control on the topic affected by the setting  <a href="#more-control-on-the-topic-affected-by-the-setting" id="more-control-on-the-topic-affected-by-the-setting"></a>

A setting like the one we used before for the value schema:

```sql
SET defaults.topic.value.avro.record="myRecordName"
```

will affect all the topics used by the processor.

If you want instead to target a single topic, you can use the topic-specific version:

```sql
SET topic.mytopic_3.value.avro.record="myRecordName"
```

The setting above will override the record name only for topic `mytopic_3`. Other topics will not be affected and will keep using the default naming strategy.


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