File formats and stages: Enforce dependency checks (Preview)¶

File formats and stages behave in the following ways:

Before the change:

You can drop or recreate a file format or stage even when external tables depend on it. You can also alter a stage location. These actions invalidate the dependent external tables.

After the change:

You can’t drop or recreate a file format or stage that has dependent external tables. You also can’t alter the location of a stage with dependent external tables. To perform these operations, first drop the dependent external tables.

Ref: 1989