def write_direct(self,
                     equities=None,
                     equity_symbol_mappings=None,
                     equity_supplementary_mappings=None,
                     futures=None,
                     exchanges=None,
                     root_symbols=None,
                     chunk_size=DEFAULT_CHUNK_SIZE):
        """Write asset metadata to a sqlite database in the format that it is
        stored in the assets db.

        Parameters
        ----------
        equities : pd.DataFrame, optional
            The equity metadata. The columns for this dataframe are:

              symbol : str
                  The ticker symbol for this equity.
              asset_name : str
                  The full name for this asset.
              start_date : datetime
                  The date when this asset was created.
              end_date : datetime, optional
                  The last date we have trade data for this asset.
              first_traded : datetime, optional
                  The first date we have trade data for this asset.
              auto_close_date : datetime, optional
                  The date on which to close any positions in this asset.
              exchange : str
                  The exchange where this asset is traded.

            The index of this dataframe should contain the sids.
        futures : pd.DataFrame, optional
            The future contract metadata. The columns for this dataframe are:

              symbol : str
                  The ticker symbol for this futures contract.
              root_symbol : str
                  The root symbol, or the symbol with the expiration stripped
                  out.
              asset_name : str
                  The full name for this asset.
              start_date : datetime, optional
                  The date when this asset was created.
              end_date : datetime, optional
                  The last date we have trade data for this asset.
              first_traded : datetime, optional
                  The first date we have trade data for this asset.
              exchange : str
                  The exchange where this asset is traded.
              notice_date : datetime
                  The date when the owner of the contract may be forced
                  to take physical delivery of the contract's asset.
              expiration_date : datetime
                  The date when the contract expires.
              auto_close_date : datetime
                  The date when the broker will automatically close any
                  positions in this contract.
              tick_size : float
                  The minimum price movement of the contract.
              multiplier: float
                  The amount of the underlying asset represented by this
                  contract.
        exchanges : pd.DataFrame, optional
            The exchanges where assets can be traded. The columns of this
            dataframe are:

              exchange : str
                  The full name of the exchange.
              canonical_name : str
                  The canonical name of the exchange.
              country_code : str
                  The ISO 3166 alpha-2 country code of the exchange.
        root_symbols : pd.DataFrame, optional
            The root symbols for the futures contracts. The columns for this
            dataframe are:

              root_symbol : str
                  The root symbol name.
              root_symbol_id : int
                  The unique id for this root symbol.
              sector : string, optional
                  The sector of this root symbol.
              description : string, optional
                  A short description of this root symbol.
              exchange : str
                  The exchange where this root symbol is traded.
        equity_supplementary_mappings : pd.DataFrame, optional
            Additional mappings from values of abitrary type to assets.
        chunk_size : int, optional
            The amount of rows to write to the SQLite table at once.
            This defaults to the default number of bind params in sqlite.
            If you have compiled sqlite3 with more bind or less params you may
            want to pass that value here.

        """
        if equities is not None:
            equities = _generate_output_dataframe(
                equities,
                _direct_equities_defaults,
            )
            if equity_symbol_mappings is None:
                raise ValueError(
                    'equities provided with no symbol mapping data',
                )

            equity_symbol_mappings = _generate_output_dataframe(
                equity_symbol_mappings,
                _equity_symbol_mappings_defaults,
            )
            _check_symbol_mappings(
                equity_symbol_mappings,
                exchanges,
                equities['exchange'],
            )

        if equity_supplementary_mappings is not None:
            equity_supplementary_mappings = _generate_output_dataframe(
                equity_supplementary_mappings,
                _equity_supplementary_mappings_defaults,
            )

        if futures is not None:
            futures = _generate_output_dataframe(_futures_defaults, futures)

        if exchanges is not None:
            exchanges = _generate_output_dataframe(
                exchanges.set_index('exchange'),
                _exchanges_defaults,
            )

        if root_symbols is not None:
            root_symbols = _generate_output_dataframe(
                root_symbols,
                _root_symbols_defaults,
            )

        # Set named identifier columns as indices, if provided.
        _normalize_index_columns_in_place(
            equities=equities,
            equity_supplementary_mappings=equity_supplementary_mappings,
            futures=futures,
            exchanges=exchanges,
            root_symbols=root_symbols,
        )

        self._real_write(
            equities=equities,
            equity_symbol_mappings=equity_symbol_mappings,
            equity_supplementary_mappings=equity_supplementary_mappings,
            futures=futures,
            exchanges=exchanges,
            root_symbols=root_symbols,
            chunk_size=chunk_size,
        )