+1 (binding) to deprecate equality deletes. Thanks, Huaxin! Ryan
On Wed, Aug 12, 2026 at 8:16 PM huaxin gao <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Manu, > > > No rewrite of the existing manifests is needed. The V4 root manifest > references the existing V2/V3 manifests as-is (data manifests and the older > delete manifests), so upgrade stays metadata-only regardless of table size; > only the new top-level V4 metadata is written. The equality deletes in > those carried-over delete manifests are still applied on read (with 2-phase > planning) until they age off or are converted to DVs by a separate > maintenance action. > > > Thanks, > > Huaxin > > On Thu, Aug 13, 2026 at 10:18 AM Manu Zhang <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> Hi Huaxin, >> >> To clarify the third point: will upgrading a V2/V3 table to a V4 table >> require a manifest rewrite? If so, how will that process be handled? >> >> Thanks, >> Manu >> >> >> On Thu, Aug 13, 2026 at 10:07 AM huaxin gao <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >>> Hi all, >>> >>> Following the discussion thread "[DISCUSS] Deprecate Equality Deletes in >>> Iceberg V4" [1], I'd like to call a vote on the following proposal for >>> the >>> V4 table spec. >>> >>> Proposal >>> -------- >>> 1. Writing new equality deletes is forbidden for V4 tables: the V4 >>> metadata >>> will not define equality deletes as an allowed entry type. >>> >>> 2. Reading equality deletes remains supported in the reference >>> implementation for backward compatibility, both for existing V2/V3 >>> tables and for equality deletes carried over into upgraded V4 tables. >>> >>> 3. Upgrading a V2/V3 table to V4 is metadata-only (no synchronous rewrite >>> of data or delete files). Existing equality deletes remain in carried- >>> over V2/V3 delete manifests; converting them to deletion vectors is a >>> separate, optional maintenance action. >>> >>> Rationale >>> --------- >>> Equality deletes impose an asymmetric cost paid on every read, complicate >>> the format, and block features such as CDC, row lineage, and incremental >>> index/materialized-view maintenance. Deletion vectors make deletion a >>> flat, >>> one-time cost, and the Flink ConvertEqualityDeletes work demonstrates a >>> viable replacement path, so we do not need the full replacement completed >>> before forbidding new equality deletes in V4. >>> >>> The vote will be open for at least 72 hours. >>> >>> [ ] +1 Forbid writing equality deletes in V4 >>> [ ] +0 >>> [ ] -1 Do not forbid (please explain) >>> >>> [1] https://lists.apache.org/thread/ks01jpv40qjlvz4yop5tlqv4x5oxbwy6 >>> >>> Thanks, >>> Huaxin >>> >>
