CREATE ICEBERG TABLE¶

Creates or replaces an Apache Iceberg™ table in the current/specified schema.

See also:

ALTER ICEBERG TABLE, DROP ICEBERG TABLE , SHOW ICEBERG TABLES , DESCRIBE ICEBERG TABLE

Syntax¶

This section provides an overview of the syntax for all types of Iceberg tables. The syntax for creating an Iceberg table varies considerably depending on whether you use Snowflake as the Iceberg catalog or an external Iceberg catalog.

To view the syntax, parameter descriptions, usage notes, and examples for specific use cases, see the following pages:

Snowflake as the Iceberg catalog¶

CREATE [ OR REPLACE ] ICEBERG TABLE [ IF NOT EXISTS ] <table_name> (
    -- Column definition
    <col_name> <col_type>
      [ inlineConstraint ]
      [ NOT NULL ]
      [ COLLATE '<collation_specification>' ]
      [ { DEFAULT <expr>
          | { AUTOINCREMENT | IDENTITY }
            [ { ( <start_num> , <step_num> )
                | START <num> INCREMENT <num>
              } ]
        } ]
      [ [ WITH ] MASKING POLICY <policy_name> [ USING ( <col_name> , <cond_col1> , ... ) ] ]
      [ [ WITH ] PROJECTION POLICY <policy_name> ]
      [ [ WITH ] TAG ( <tag_name> = '<tag_value>' [ , <tag_name> = '<tag_value>' , ... ] ) ]
      [ COMMENT '<string_literal>' ]

    -- Additional column definitions
    [ , <col_name> <col_type> [ ... ] ]

    -- Out-of-line constraints
    [ , outoflineConstraint [ ... ] ]
  )
  [ CLUSTER BY ( <expr> [ , <expr> , ... ] ) ]
  [ EXTERNAL_VOLUME = '<external_volume_name>' ]
  [ CATALOG = 'SNOWFLAKE' ]
  BASE_LOCATION = '<directory_for_table_files>'
  [ CATALOG_SYNC = '<open_catalog_integration_name>']
  [ STORAGE_SERIALIZATION_POLICY = { COMPATIBLE | OPTIMIZED } ]
  [ DATA_RETENTION_TIME_IN_DAYS = <integer> ]
  [ MAX_DATA_EXTENSION_TIME_IN_DAYS = <integer> ]
  [ CHANGE_TRACKING = { TRUE | FALSE } ]
  [ DEFAULT_DDL_COLLATION = '<collation_specification>' ]
  [ COPY GRANTS ]
  [ COMMENT = '<string_literal>' ]
  [ [ WITH ] ROW ACCESS POLICY <policy_name> ON ( <col_name> [ , <col_name> ... ] ) ]
  [ [ WITH ] AGGREGATION POLICY <policy_name> ]
  [ [ WITH ] TAG ( <tag_name> = '<tag_value>' [ , <tag_name> = '<tag_value>' , ... ] ) ]
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Where:

inlineConstraint ::=
  [ CONSTRAINT <constraint_name> ]
  { UNIQUE
    | PRIMARY KEY
    | [ FOREIGN KEY ] REFERENCES <ref_table_name> [ ( <ref_col_name> ) ]
  }
  [ <constraint_properties> ]
Copy

For additional inline constraint details, see CREATE | ALTER TABLE … CONSTRAINT.

outoflineConstraint ::=
  [ CONSTRAINT <constraint_name> ]
  { UNIQUE [ ( <col_name> [ , <col_name> , ... ] ) ]
    | PRIMARY KEY [ ( <col_name> [ , <col_name> , ... ] ) ]
    | [ FOREIGN KEY ] [ ( <col_name> [ , <col_name> , ... ] ) ]
      REFERENCES <ref_table_name> [ ( <ref_col_name> [ , <ref_col_name> , ... ] ) ]
  }
  [ <constraint_properties> ]
Copy

Note

  • Snowflake represents columns defined as PRIMARY KEY as identifier fields in the Iceberg metadata. The IDs for these columns are populated in the metadata as identifier field IDs.

  • Snowflake doesn’t enforce NOT NULL and UNIQUE constraints on PRIMARY KEY columns for Iceberg tables.

For additional out-of-line constraint details, see CREATE | ALTER TABLE … CONSTRAINT.

For more information, see CREATE ICEBERG TABLE (Snowflake as the Iceberg catalog).

CREATE ICEBERG TABLE … AS SELECT (also referred to as CTAS)

CREATE [ OR REPLACE ] ICEBERG TABLE <table_name> [ ( <col_name> [ <col_type> ] , <col_name> [ <col_type> ] , ... ) ]
  [ CLUSTER BY ( <expr> [ , <expr> , ... ] ) ]
  [ EXTERNAL_VOLUME = '<external_volume_name>' ]
  [ CATALOG = 'SNOWFLAKE' ]
  BASE_LOCATION = '<relative_path_from_external_volume>'
  [ COPY GRANTS ]
  [ ... ]
  AS SELECT <query>
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For more information, see CREATE ICEBERG TABLE … AS SELECT.

CREATE ICEBERG TABLE … LIKE

CREATE [ OR REPLACE ] ICEBERG TABLE <table_name> LIKE <source_table>
  [ CLUSTER BY ( <expr> [ , <expr> , ... ] ) ]
  [ COPY GRANTS ]
  [ ... ]
Copy

For more information, see CREATE ICEBERG TABLE … LIKE.

External Iceberg catalog¶

AWS Glue

CREATE [ OR REPLACE ] ICEBERG TABLE [ IF NOT EXISTS ] <table_name>
  [ EXTERNAL_VOLUME = '<external_volume_name>' ]
  [ CATALOG = '<catalog_integration_name>' ]
  CATALOG_TABLE_NAME = '<catalog_table_name>'
  [ CATALOG_NAMESPACE = '<catalog_namespace>' ]
  [ REPLACE_INVALID_CHARACTERS = { TRUE | FALSE } ]
  [ AUTO_REFRESH = { TRUE | FALSE } ]
  [ COMMENT = '<string_literal>' ]
  [ [ WITH ] TAG ( <tag_name> = '<tag_value>' [ , <tag_name> = '<tag_value>' , ... ] ) ]
Copy

For more information, see CREATE ICEBERG TABLE (AWS Glue as the Iceberg catalog).

Iceberg files in object storage

CREATE [ OR REPLACE ] ICEBERG TABLE [ IF NOT EXISTS ] <table_name>
  [ EXTERNAL_VOLUME = '<external_volume_name>' ]
  [ CATALOG = '<catalog_integration_name>' ]
  METADATA_FILE_PATH = '<metadata_file_path>'
  [ REPLACE_INVALID_CHARACTERS = { TRUE | FALSE } ]
  [ COMMENT = '<string_literal>' ]
  [ [ WITH ] TAG ( <tag_name> = '<tag_value>' [ , <tag_name> = '<tag_value>' , ... ] ) ]
Copy

For more information, see CREATE ICEBERG TABLE (Iceberg files in object storage).

Delta files

CREATE [ OR REPLACE ] ICEBERG TABLE [ IF NOT EXISTS ] <table_name>
  [ EXTERNAL_VOLUME = '<external_volume_name>' ]
  [ CATALOG = '<catalog_integration_name>' ]
  BASE_LOCATION = '<relative_path_from_external_volume>'
  [ REPLACE_INVALID_CHARACTERS = { TRUE | FALSE } ]
  [ COMMENT = '<string_literal>' ]
  [ [ WITH ] TAG ( <tag_name> = '<tag_value>' [ , <tag_name> = '<tag_value>' , ... ] ) ]
Copy

For more information, see CREATE ICEBERG TABLE (Delta files in object storage).

Iceberg REST API or Snowflake Open Catalog

CREATE [ OR REPLACE ] ICEBERG TABLE [ IF NOT EXISTS ] <table_name>
  [ EXTERNAL_VOLUME = '<external_volume_name>' ]
  [ CATALOG = '<catalog_integration_name>' ]
  CATALOG_TABLE_NAME = '<rest_catalog_table_name>'
  [ CATALOG_NAMESPACE = '<catalog_namespace>' ]
  [ REPLACE_INVALID_CHARACTERS = { TRUE | FALSE } ]
  [ AUTO_REFRESH = { TRUE | FALSE } ]
  [ COMMENT = '<string_literal>' ]
  [ [ WITH ] TAG ( <tag_name> = '<tag_value>' [ , <tag_name> = '<tag_value>' , ... ] ) ]
Copy

For more information, see CREATE ICEBERG TABLE (Iceberg REST catalog).