ianmcook commented on code in PR #41823:
URL: https://github.com/apache/arrow/pull/41823#discussion_r1683751527


##########
docs/source/format/CanonicalExtensions.rst:
##########
@@ -283,6 +283,148 @@ UUID
    A specific UUID version is not required or guaranteed. This extension 
represents
    UUIDs as FixedSizeBinary(16) with big-endian notation and does not 
interpret the bytes in any way.
 
+Opaque
+=======
+
+Opaque represents a type or array that an Arrow-based system received from an
+external (often non-Arrow) system, which it cannot interpret or did not have
+support for in advance.  In this case, it can pass on Opaque to its clients to
+show that a field exists, but that it cannot interpret the field or data.
+
+Extension parameters:
+
+* Extension name: ``arrow.opaque``.
+
+* The storage type of this extension is any type.  If there is no underlying
+  data, the storage type should be Null.
+
+* Extension type parameters:
+
+  * **type_name** = the name of the unknown type in the external system.
+  * **vendor_name** = the name of the external system.
+
+* Description of the serialization:
+
+  A valid JSON object containing the parameters as fields.  In the future,
+  additional fields may be added, but all fields current and future are never
+  required to interpret the array.
+
+Rationale
+---------
+

Review Comment:
   I think it is worthwhile to keep the explanation of the inadequacy of other 
solutions, even if it does make this section somewhat lengthy.



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