Query metadata tables feature

From Hive, you can query Iceberg metadata tables as you would query a Hive table. For example, you can use projections, joins, filters, and so on.

You can also use the describe table metadata feature to get information about metadata.The following Iceberg metadata is available from Hive:
  • files
  • entries
  • snapshots
  • manifests
  • partitions

Hive Syntax

To reference a metadata table, use the full name of the table as shown in the following syntax:
<DATABASE_NAME>.<TABLE_NAME>.<METADATA_TABLE_NAME>.history
<DATABASE_NAME>.<TABLE_NAME>.<METADATA_TABLE_NAME>.all_data_files
<DATABASE_NAME>.<TABLE_NAME>.<METADATA_TABLE_NAME>.all_manifests

Hive Example

SELECT * FROM default.table_a.files;