[HUDI-3252] Avoid creating empty requestedReplaceCommit in the startCommit method (#4515)

hudi-client/hudi-client-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hudi/client/AbstractHoodieWriteClient.java

@@ -828,8 +828,13 @@ public abstract class AbstractHoodieWriteClient<T extends HoodieRecordPayload, I
     if (config.getFailedWritesCleanPolicy().isLazy()) {
       this.heartbeatClient.start(instantTime);
     }
-    metaClient.getActiveTimeline().createNewInstant(new HoodieInstant(HoodieInstant.State.REQUESTED, actionType,
+
-        instantTime));
+    if (actionType.equals(HoodieTimeline.REPLACE_COMMIT_ACTION)) {
+      metaClient.getActiveTimeline().createRequestedReplaceCommit(instantTime, actionType);
+    } else {
+      metaClient.getActiveTimeline().createNewInstant(new HoodieInstant(HoodieInstant.State.REQUESTED, actionType,
+              instantTime));
+    }
   }
 
   /**

hudi-client/hudi-client-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hudi/client/utils/MetadataConversionUtils.java

@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ public class MetadataConversionUtils {
     return Option.of(HoodieCommitMetadata.fromBytes(inflightContent.get(), HoodieCommitMetadata.class));
   }
 
-  public static Option<HoodieRequestedReplaceMetadata> getRequestedReplaceMetadata(HoodieTableMetaClient metaClient, HoodieInstant instant) throws IOException {
+  private static Option<HoodieRequestedReplaceMetadata> getRequestedReplaceMetadata(HoodieTableMetaClient metaClient, HoodieInstant instant) throws IOException {
     Option<byte[]> requestedContent = metaClient.getActiveTimeline().getInstantDetails(instant);
     if (!requestedContent.isPresent() || requestedContent.get().length == 0) {
       // requested commit files can be empty in some certain cases, e.g. insert_overwrite or insert_overwrite_table.

hudi-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hudi/common/table/timeline/HoodieActiveTimeline.java

@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 
 package org.apache.hudi.common.table.timeline;
 
+import org.apache.hudi.avro.model.HoodieRequestedReplaceMetadata;
 import org.apache.hudi.common.table.HoodieTableMetaClient;
 import org.apache.hudi.common.table.timeline.HoodieInstant.State;
 import org.apache.hudi.common.util.FileIOUtils;
@@ -156,6 +157,18 @@ public class HoodieActiveTimeline extends HoodieDefaultTimeline {
     createFileInMetaPath(instant.getFileName(), Option.empty(), false);
   }
 
+  public void createRequestedReplaceCommit(String instantTime, String actionType) {
+    try {
+      HoodieInstant instant = new HoodieInstant(State.REQUESTED, actionType, instantTime);
+      LOG.info("Creating a new instant " + instant);
+      // Create the request replace file
+      createFileInMetaPath(instant.getFileName(),
+              TimelineMetadataUtils.serializeRequestedReplaceMetadata(new HoodieRequestedReplaceMetadata()), false);
+    } catch (IOException e) {
+      throw new HoodieIOException("Error create requested replace commit ", e);
+    }
+  }
+
   public void saveAsComplete(HoodieInstant instant, Option<byte[]> data) {
     LOG.info("Marking instant complete " + instant);
     ValidationUtils.checkArgument(instant.isInflight(),

hudi-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hudi/common/util/ClusteringUtils.java

@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ public class ClusteringUtils {
    * @return
    * @throws IOException
    */
-  public static Option<HoodieRequestedReplaceMetadata> getRequestedReplaceMetadata(HoodieTableMetaClient metaClient, HoodieInstant pendingReplaceInstant) throws IOException {
+  private static Option<HoodieRequestedReplaceMetadata> getRequestedReplaceMetadata(HoodieTableMetaClient metaClient, HoodieInstant pendingReplaceInstant) throws IOException {
     final HoodieInstant requestedInstant;
     if (!pendingReplaceInstant.isRequested()) {
       // inflight replacecommit files don't have clustering plan.