Folks, thank you for your responses! These area really helpful insights.

> I agree that the REST spec should aim to support v1, v2, and potentially the 
> upcoming v3. In practice, it seems like the choice of table spec might 
> ultimately be dictated by the REST catalog implementation.

> A best practice would be for the server to strive to support all Iceberg 
> versions, but the REST spec itself should remain flexible enough to 
> accommodate less strict table specs.

Yufei, yes that makes sense, and I agree that the server should strive to 
support all format versions, because otherwise the an older client application, 
may just not be compatible with a REST Catalog running on a higher version of 
table spec.  I think we have two choices here in ensuring that the REST Catalog 
server is able to support multiple versions of the Table Spec:

1. We could create single components that are common denominators of all 
existing table specs to accommodate the less table specs. The REST Catalog Spec 
currently falls short in this approach, and I've put up this PR to show what 
this change would look like just for the Snapshot component: 
https://github.com/apache/iceberg/pull/11353 - My take on this is that, this 
approach will make the REST catalog spec more confusing and difficult to manage 
as we add more Table Spec versions moving forward. The discussion on this mail 
list thread is I think a great demonstration of that confusion :)
2. We could instead create separate Table Spec version specific components on 
the REST Catalog Open API Spec. For example, a Snapshot component could be 
anyOf SnapshotV1 and SnapshotV2, which match the Table Spec V1 and V2 
definitions. I think creating explicit components that match the spec 
definitions will work in our favor when we continue to introduce more Spec 
changes and manage their lifecycles. And perhaps, maybe we could also indicate 
what format-versions the REST Catalog Server supports through an endpoint, and 
communicate it to a client application.

I'd love to hear the community's opinion on suggestion (2)! I'm very curious to 
hear if we've considered it before.

Sung

On 2024/10/18 05:13:15 Péter Váry wrote:
> Hi Team,
> Apart from fixing this current issue by relaxing the current spec
> constraints, to support both v1 and v2 specifications, we should think
> about how to handle table spec evolution for the long term.
> 
> What are the base factors we can start from (please add your own ideas if I
> have missed something):
> - We evolve the specifications in a way that is backwards compatible (v1
> table could be read by v2 reader) but not forwards compatible (v2 table
> could not be read by an old reader)
> - The rest spec ideally should conform to the currently used table spec
> schema/constraints
> - REST catalogs sooner-or-later would like to drop support for older table
> spec. We need to avoid the situation of Hive Metastore, where the decisions
> made 10 years ago prevented enhancing the APIs as the old specifications
> were supported forever.
> 
> Probably (when the spec difference becomes big enough) a composit request
> (version + different content spec) or a different endpoint will be required.
> 
> Thanks, Peter
> 
> On Thu, Oct 17, 2024, 23:11 Yufei Gu <flyrain...@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> > Hi Sung,
> >
> > It seems we are running to issues related to a mismatch between the REST
> > spec and table specifications. Currently, there's no clear definition of
> > how the REST spec is meant to support different table specs. The closest
> > reference I found is this statement
> > <https://github.com/apache/iceberg/blob/8e743a5b5209569f84b6bace36e1106c67e1eab3/open-api/rest-catalog-open-api.yaml#L30-L30>
> > in the REST spec.
> >
> > Implementations should ideally support both Iceberg table specs v1 and v2,
> >> with priority given to v2.
> >
> >
> > I agree that the REST spec should aim to support v1, v2, and potentially
> > the upcoming v3. In practice, it seems like the choice of table spec might
> > ultimately be dictated by the REST catalog implementation.
> >
> >
> > A best practice would be for the server to strive to support all Iceberg
> > versions, but the REST spec itself should remain flexible enough to
> > accommodate less strict table specs. For the case you mentioned, it should
> > be fine to make sequence number optional since the spec has to support v1
> > table spec. It does feel confusing though.
> >
> >
> > WDYT?
> >
> >
> > Yufei
> >
> >
> > On Thu, Oct 17, 2024 at 1:56 PM Anton Okolnychyi <aokolnyc...@gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> >> Well, the spec says nothing about a top-level `operation` field in JSON
> >> [1]. Yet the Java implementation produces it [2] and removes the operation
> >> from the summary map. This seems inconsistent?
> >>
> >> - Anton
> >>
> >> [1] - https://iceberg.apache.org/spec/#snapshots
> >> [2] -
> >> https://github.com/apache/iceberg/blob/17f1c4d2205b59c2bd877d4d31bbbef9e90979c5/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/SnapshotParser.java#L63
> >>
> >>
> >> чт, 17 жовт. 2024 р. о 10:06 Sung Yun <sun...@apache.org> пише:
> >>
> >>> > As a side note, the `rest-catalog-open-api.yaml` file [2] in the
> >>> Iceberg repo contains the latest version of the spec.
> >>>
> >>> I think more clarity on this would be helpful. Is it really the case
> >>> that the Open API spec contains the latest version of the spec? For
> >>> example, I'm noticing a discrepancy between sequence-number in the Table
> >>> Spec and in the Open API Spec...
> >>>
> >>> In the table spec, it's required for V2, but it's optional in the REST
> >>> API Spec:
> >>>
> >>> https://github.com/apache/iceberg/blob/main/open-api/rest-catalog-open-api.yaml#L2319-L2335
> >>>
> >>> On 2024/10/17 16:58:17 Kevin Liu wrote:
> >>> > > Based on the example metadata, that looks like it is not to spec, so
> >>> it's
> >>> > reasonable that python would reject it.  If the java implementation is
> >>> > allowing for that, it's likely that we're being too relaxed (possibly a
> >>> > holdover from v1 parsing).
> >>> > I believe the Java implementation is relaxing the constraint. I'll
> >>> create a
> >>> > PR with test cases and the necessary changes.
> >>> >
> >>> > > Do you know what produced the metadata?
> >>> > It was created by Snowflake [1]. After verifying this, I'll look into
> >>> > raising the issue with them.
> >>> >
> >>> > As a side note, the `rest-catalog-open-api.yaml` file [2] in the
> >>> Iceberg
> >>> > repo contains the latest version of the spec. As we're continuing to
> >>> evolve
> >>> > to spec for V3, would it be helpful to create a frozen version
> >>> representing
> >>> > both the V1 and V2 specs for reference, possibly as a separate file?
> >>> >
> >>> > Best,
> >>> > Kevin Liu
> >>> >
> >>> > [1]
> >>> >
> >>> https://github.com/apache/iceberg-python/issues/1106#issuecomment-2312108455
> >>> > [2]
> >>> >
> >>> https://github.com/apache/iceberg/blob/8e2eb9ac2e33ce4bac8956d4e2f099444d03c0e3/open-api/rest-catalog-open-api.yaml
> >>> >
> >>> > On Thu, Oct 17, 2024 at 9:20 AM Daniel Weeks <dwe...@apache.org>
> >>> wrote:
> >>> >
> >>> > > Sung,
> >>> > >
> >>> > > I was thinking of v1, so you're right that manifest-list and summary
> >>> are
> >>> > > required as of v2.  The REST Spec seems to follow the v2 definition,
> >>> so I
> >>> > > think we're somewhat implicitly requiring those fields via REST.
> >>> > >
> >>> > > Kevin,
> >>> > >
> >>> > > Based on the example metadata, that looks like it is not to spec, so
> >>> it's
> >>> > > reasonable that python would reject it.  If the java implementation
> >>> is
> >>> > > allowing for that, it's likely that we're being too relaxed
> >>> (possibly a
> >>> > > holdover from v1 parsing).
> >>> > >
> >>> > > Do you know what produced the metadata?
> >>> > >
> >>> > > -Dan
> >>> > >
> >>> > > On Thu, Oct 17, 2024 at 9:02 AM Kevin Liu <kevin.jq....@gmail.com>
> >>> wrote:
> >>> > >
> >>> > >> Thanks for the additional context.
> >>> > >>
> >>> > >> My understanding is that if a Snapshot has a `summary` field, it
> >>> must
> >>> > >> also have a corresponding `operation` key in the summary map. Is
> >>> that
> >>> > >> correct? Based on the `SnapshotParser`, this is not enforced [1].
> >>> > >>
> >>> > >> The underlying issue in #1106 [2] is the missing `operation` field
> >>> when
> >>> > >> the `summary` field is present.
> >>> > >> For example,
> >>> > >> ```
> >>> > >>     "summary" : {
> >>> > >>       "manifests-created" : "8",
> >>> > >>       "total-records" : "26508666891",
> >>> > >>       "added-files-size" : "3927895626752",
> >>> > >>       "manifests-kept" : "0",
> >>> > >>       "total-files-size" : "3927895626752",
> >>> > >>       "added-records" : "26508666891",
> >>> > >>       "added-data-files" : "231513",
> >>> > >>       "manifests-replaced" : "0",
> >>> > >>       "total-data-files" : "231513"
> >>> > >>     }
> >>> > >> ```
> >>> > >>
> >>> > >> It could be the case that this particular `metadata.json` was
> >>> generated
> >>> > >> not according to the spec.
> >>> > >>
> >>> > >> Best,
> >>> > >> Kevin Liu
> >>> > >>
> >>> > >>
> >>> > >> [1]
> >>> > >>
> >>> https://github.com/apache/iceberg/blob/17f1c4d2205b59c2bd877d4d31bbbef9e90979c5/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/SnapshotParser.java#L124-L142
> >>> > >> [2] https://github.com/apache/iceberg-python/issues/1106
> >>> > >>
> >>> > >>
> >>> > >> On Thu, Oct 17, 2024 at 8:47 AM Sung Yun <sun...@apache.org> wrote:
> >>> > >>
> >>> > >>> Thank you for the clarification Daniel, and thank you Kevin for
> >>> raising
> >>> > >>> this issue!
> >>> > >>>
> >>> > >>> Does that mean that we are creating component schemas that are the
> >>> > >>> superset of the V1 and V2 schemas? And if so, should we remove
> >>> summary and
> >>> > >>> manifest-list from the required properties, and add manifests
> >>> optional
> >>> > >>> property to the Snapshot schema to support both V1 and V2 Summary
> >>> specs?
> >>> > >>> https://iceberg.apache.org/spec/#snapshots
> >>> > >>>
> >>> > >>> Or would creating separate component schemas for V1/V2 be a
> >>> cleaner way
> >>> > >>> to align the REST spec with the table spec?
> >>> > >>>
> >>> > >>> Sung
> >>> > >>>
> >>> > >>> On 2024/10/17 15:19:23 Daniel Weeks wrote:
> >>> > >>> > I'm not convinced this is incorrect behavior (table spec or
> >>> > >>> > implementation), but it does lend to some confusion.  The
> >>> 'summary'
> >>> > >>> field
> >>> > >>> > is optional, which means that if a summary is not provided, you
> >>> do not
> >>> > >>> have
> >>> > >>> > an associated 'operation' field.  The 'operation' field is only
> >>> > >>> required in
> >>> > >>> > the context of the summary, so it's actually possible for the
> >>> > >>> > implementation (i.e. the tests you reference) to not have an
> >>> operation.
> >>> > >>> >
> >>> > >>> > I think what is wrong here is that the REST spec marked the
> >>> summary as
> >>> > >>> > required
> >>> > >>> > <
> >>> > >>>
> >>> https://github.com/apache/iceberg/blob/8e2eb9ac2e33ce4bac8956d4e2f099444d03c0e3/open-api/rest-catalog-open-api.yaml#L2040
> >>> > >>> >,
> >>> > >>> > which is inconsistent with the table spec.
> >>> > >>> >
> >>> > >>> > On Wed, Oct 16, 2024 at 3:52 PM Anton Okolnychyi <
> >>> > >>> aokolnyc...@gmail.com>
> >>> > >>> > wrote:
> >>> > >>> >
> >>> > >>> > > Based on [1], we never persisted the operation in the summary
> >>> map.
> >>> > >>> > > Instead, we persisted it as a top-level field in Java, which is
> >>> > >>> actually
> >>> > >>> > > NOT what the spec says. Does anyone remember cases when the
> >>> > >>> operation was
> >>> > >>> > > unknown? I personally don't.
> >>> > >>> > >
> >>> > >>> > > [1] -
> >>> > >>> > >
> >>> > >>>
> >>> https://github.com/apache/iceberg/blob/17f1c4d2205b59c2bd877d4d31bbbef9e90979c5/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/SnapshotParser.java#L63
> >>> > >>> > >
> >>> > >>> > >
> >>> > >>> > > ср, 16 жовт. 2024 р. о 12:42 Kevin Liu <kevin.jq....@gmail.com
> >>> >
> >>> > >>> пише:
> >>> > >>> > >
> >>> > >>> > >> Hey folks,
> >>> > >>> > >>
> >>> > >>> > >> I’ve noticed a discrepancy between the Iceberg specification
> >>> and
> >>> > >>> the Java
> >>> > >>> > >> implementation regarding the `operation` key in the `Snapshot`
> >>> > >>> `summary`
> >>> > >>> > >> field.
> >>> > >>> > >>
> >>> > >>> > >> The `Snapshot` object's `summary` dictionary includes a
> >>> *required*
> >>> > >>> key
> >>> > >>> > >> named `operation`, as outlined in the spec describing Table
> >>> > >>> Metadata and
> >>> > >>> > >> Snapshots [1] and the generated OpenAPI YAML [2]. However, in
> >>> the
> >>> > >>> Java
> >>> > >>> > >> implementation [3], `operation` is treated as optional. In
> >>> > >>> contrast, it
> >>> > >>> > >> remains a required field in the Python implementation [4].
> >>> > >>> > >> I also found that Java tests for `SnapshotParser` assert that
> >>> the
> >>> > >>> > >> `operation` field is null. [5]
> >>> > >>> > >>
> >>> > >>> > >> Due to this discrepancy, a user reported [6] that the
> >>> > >>> `metadata.json`
> >>> > >>> > >> file generated for an Iceberg table could not be read by
> >>> PyIceberg,
> >>> > >>> though
> >>> > >>> > >> it is readable using the Iceberg Java library.
> >>> > >>> > >>
> >>> > >>> > >> How should we proceed from here? Should the Java library
> >>> enforce
> >>> > >>> this
> >>> > >>> > >> requirement? Additionally, how should we handle existing
> >>> > >>> `metadata.json`
> >>> > >>> > >> files that were generated without this field?
> >>> > >>> > >>
> >>> > >>> > >> Best,
> >>> > >>> > >> Kevin Liu
> >>> > >>> > >>
> >>> > >>> > >> [1]
> >>> https://iceberg.apache.org/spec/#table-metadata-and-snapshots
> >>> > >>> > >> [2]
> >>> > >>> > >>
> >>> > >>>
> >>> https://github.com/apache/iceberg/blob/8e2eb9ac2e33ce4bac8956d4e2f099444d03c0e3/open-api/rest-catalog-open-api.yaml#L2057-L2060
> >>> > >>> > >> [3]
> >>> > >>> > >>
> >>> > >>>
> >>> https://github.com/apache/iceberg/blob/64b36999d7ff716ae2534fb0972fcc10d22a64c2/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/SnapshotParser.java#L124
> >>> > >>> > >> [4]
> >>> > >>> > >>
> >>> > >>>
> >>> https://github.com/apache/iceberg-python/blob/7cf0c225c3cdb32ac5e390de06b7b0e4fe7de92e/pyiceberg/table/snapshots.py#L182
> >>> > >>> > >> [5]
> >>> > >>> > >>
> >>> > >>>
> >>> https://github.com/apache/iceberg/blob/22a6b19c2e226eacc0aa78c1f2ffbdbb168b13be/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/TestSnapshotJson.java#L52
> >>> > >>> > >> [6] https://github.com/apache/iceberg-python/issues/1106
> >>> > >>> > >>
> >>> > >>> > >>
> >>> > >>> >
> >>> > >>>
> >>> > >>
> >>> >
> >>>
> >>
> 

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