Dynamic Iceberg tables: STRING and BINARY column sizes match Iceberg tables (Pending)¶

When the 2026_08 bundle is enabled, STRING, VARCHAR, BINARY, and VARBINARY columns in a dynamic Iceberg table use the same default lengths that Snowflake-managed Iceberg tables use.

Before the change:

In a dynamic Iceberg table, a STRING or VARCHAR column used a default length of 16 MB, and a BINARY or VARBINARY column used a default length of 8 MB. These are the default lengths for standard Snowflake tables, not the default lengths for Iceberg tables.

Copy code

CREATE OR REPLACE TABLE raw_orders (product_name VARCHAR, product_image BINARY);

CREATE OR REPLACE DYNAMIC ICEBERG TABLE dt_orders_iceberg
    TARGET_LAG = '10 minutes'
    WAREHOUSE = transform_wh
    EXTERNAL_VOLUME = 'my_external_volume'
    CATALOG = 'SNOWFLAKE'
    BASE_LOCATION = 'dt_orders_iceberg'
AS
    SELECT product_name, product_image FROM raw_orders;

DESC DYNAMIC TABLE dt_orders_iceberg;

+---------------+-------------------+-----+
| name          | type              | ... |
+---------------+-------------------+-----+
| PRODUCT_NAME  | VARCHAR(16777216) | ... |
| PRODUCT_IMAGE | BINARY(8388608)   | ... |
+---------------+-------------------+-----+

After the change:

In a dynamic Iceberg table, a STRING or VARCHAR column uses a default length of 128 MB, and a BINARY or VARBINARY column uses a default length of 64 MB. These default lengths match the default lengths that Snowflake-managed Iceberg tables use.

Copy code

-- Run the same statements as in the previous example.
DESC DYNAMIC TABLE dt_orders_iceberg;

+---------------+--------------------+-----+
| name          | type               | ... |
+---------------+--------------------+-----+
| PRODUCT_NAME  | VARCHAR(134217728) | ... |
| PRODUCT_IMAGE | BINARY(67108864)   | ... |
+---------------+--------------------+-----+

These default lengths apply to dynamic Iceberg tables that you create after the bundle is enabled. A dynamic Iceberg table that you created before the bundle is enabled keeps its previous column lengths until you recreate or alter it.

How to update your code¶

No action is required. To use the new default lengths in an existing dynamic Iceberg table, recreate the table with CREATE OR REPLACE DYNAMIC ICEBERG TABLE, or alter it in place with CREATE OR ALTER DYNAMIC ICEBERG TABLE.

Ref: 2387