Using External Tables (X100 Only)
Introduction to External Tables
The External Tables feature lets you read from and write to data sources stored outside of Actian X. The data source must be one that Apache Spark is able to read from and write to, such as files stored in formats like JSON or tables in external database systems.
The syntax CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE creates an X100 table that points at existing data files in locations outside the Actian X data directories. This feature eliminates the need to import the data into a new table when the data files are already in a known location, in the desired file format.
After the data file structure is mapped to X100 format using the CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE statement, you can:
• Select, join, or sort external table data
• Create views for external tables
• Insert data into external tables
• Import and store the data into an Actian X database
The data is queried from its original locations; the data files are left in place when you drop the table.
The following statements cannot be performed against external tables:
• MODIFY
• CREATE INDEX
Last modified date: 11/09/2022