Hi everyone, I’d like to propose an addition to the table specification to document optional fields in the snapshot summary.
Currently, the snapshot summary includes a required operation field and various optional fields. While these optional fields—such as metrics and partition-level summaries—are supported by Java <https://github.com/apache/iceberg/blob/549674b3fc0cdb18d6cad3e2d6320236fba8c562/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/SnapshotSummary.java#L32-L64> and Python <https://github.com/HonahX/iceberg-python/blob/45d611fe351f6f3847bf329aa053d890d810e2b6/pyiceberg/table/snapshots.py#L36-L60> implementations, they are not officially documented. This creates risks of inconsistency as other implementations and engines adopt and interact with these fields. I propose adding a new section to the table specification to document these optional fields, ensuring consistent naming conventions and reducing ambiguity across implementations. While this is the primary proposal, it may also be worth discussing whether documenting these fields separately in Docs/Table would provide additional flexibility for future updates. I’d love to hear your thoughts, suggestions, or concerns about this proposal. Looking forward to the discussion! Links - GitHub tracking issue: https://github.com/apache/iceberg/issues/11659 - Proposal: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Gt1ZOXVXK60IGdlmt4QlyRzaZ1iCVyYUBfMJCsiz14I/edit?usp=sharing - PR: https://github.com/apache/iceberg/pull/11660 Best regards, Honah
