DDL

Data Definition Language: schemas, tables, views, columns, partitions, branches, tags. Most statements parse via sqlparser-rs; SQE adds branch / tag / partition-evolution syntax that sqlparser-rs does not natively understand.

Source: sqe-sql/src/classifier.rs, sqe-sql/src/ddl.rs, sqe-sql/src/partition.rs, sqe-sql/src/partition_evolution.rs. Coordinator handlers in crates/sqe-coordinator/src/catalog_ops.rs.

Schema

CREATE SCHEMA IF NOT EXISTS analytics.staging;
CREATE SCHEMA marketing LOCATION 's3://my-warehouse/marketing/';
DROP SCHEMA staging CASCADE;

Table creation

CREATE TABLE analytics.events (
    id          BIGINT,
    user_id     BIGINT,
    event_type  VARCHAR,
    occurred_at TIMESTAMP(6),
    payload     JSON,
    region      VARCHAR DEFAULT 'unknown'
)
PARTITIONED BY (day(occurred_at), bucket(16, user_id));

CREATE TABLE analytics.daily_events AS
SELECT day(occurred_at) AS d, count(*) AS n
FROM analytics.events GROUP BY 1;

Schema evolution

ALTER TABLE analytics.events ADD COLUMN device VARCHAR DEFAULT 'unknown';
ALTER TABLE analytics.events DROP COLUMN IF EXISTS deprecated_field;
ALTER TABLE analytics.events RENAME COLUMN payload TO body;
ALTER TABLE analytics.events ALTER COLUMN region SET NOT NULL;
ALTER TABLE analytics.events SET TBLPROPERTIES (
    'write.delete.mode' = 'merge-on-read',
    'write.parquet.bloom-filter-columns' = 'user_id,event_id'
);

Partition evolution (SQE / Iceberg-specific)

Iceberg lets you change partition spec without rewriting data. SQE parses these in sqe-sql/src/partition_evolution.rs because sqlparser-rs only knows Hive-style PARTITION (col = val).

-- Originally partitioned by day(ts); switch to hour() for finer granularity.
ALTER TABLE events REPLACE PARTITION FIELD day(occurred_at) WITH hour(occurred_at);

-- Add a bucketing field on top of existing daily partitions.
ALTER TABLE events ADD PARTITION FIELD bucket(64, user_id);

Branches and tags (SQE / Iceberg-specific)

Iceberg branches are named pointers to a snapshot, like git branches. Tags are immutable named pointers. SQE parses these in sqe-sql/src/ddl.rs.

-- Branch a snapshot for development work
ALTER TABLE analytics.events CREATE BRANCH dev_2026_05;

-- Pin a known-good snapshot as a tag
ALTER TABLE analytics.events CREATE TAG release_2026_q2 AS OF VERSION 8472810294831234567;

-- Query the branch
SELECT * FROM analytics.events FOR VERSION AS OF 'dev_2026_05';

Views

CREATE OR REPLACE VIEW analytics.recent_events AS
SELECT * FROM analytics.events
WHERE occurred_at >= now() - INTERVAL '7' DAY;

DROP VIEW IF EXISTS analytics.recent_events;

SECURITY DEFINER is recorded, not enforced

Trino’s SECURITY DEFINER runs a view with its creator’s privileges, so a reader needs access to the view but not to its base tables. SECURITY INVOKER checks the querying user against the base tables instead.

SQE always behaves as INVOKER, and that is architectural rather than unfinished. Every query runs as the authenticated user via bearer-token passthrough, with no service account anywhere in the engine, so there is no credential to run a view as its definer with. Honouring DEFINER would mean storing one.

The clause is accepted because rejecting it blocks every dbt model that uses the default view materialization, and because the direction of the difference is safe: INVOKER is stricter than DEFINER asks for, so a reader who was meant to be shielded from base-table grants is denied rather than allowed. It fails closed.

What SQE does with it:

The properties live in the Iceberg view metadata, so the intent travels with the object and a later implementation, or another engine, can honour it.

Drop

Iceberg V3 type system

These types only exist in format-version 3. Adding one to a CREATE TABLE auto-bumps the table to V3.

What CREATE / ALTER does NOT cover

• CREATE INDEX. Iceberg has no equivalent. Bloom filter columns and partition fields cover the same ground; configure via SET TBLPROPERTIES and ADD PARTITION FIELD.
• CREATE FUNCTION / CREATE PROCEDURE. UDFs are Rust-side. SQL-defined functions and procedures are not supported.
• CREATE SEQUENCE. no auto-increment / sequence support today. Use row_number() over a deterministic ordering for synthetic keys.
• CREATE TYPE. no user-defined types. Use STRUCT<...> or MAP<...>.

These are tracked but not on the immediate roadmap.