Learn about the two possible values found in the METADATA$ACTION column of a Snowflake stream – INSERT and DELETE. Understand how these values help track changes in source tables.
Table of Contents
Question
What are the possible values within a METADATA$ACTION column in a Snowflake stream? (Choose two.)
A. INSERT
B. UPDATE
C. DELETE
D. TRUNCATE
E. UPSERT
Answer
A. INSERT
C. DELETE
Explanation
In a Snowflake stream, the METADATA$ACTION column captures the type of DML operation performed on the source table that triggered a change in the stream. The two possible values for this column are:
- INSERT: This value indicates that a new row was inserted into the source table.
- DELETE: This value indicates that an existing row was deleted from the source table.
When a row is updated in the source table, Snowflake treats it as a DELETE followed by an INSERT. Therefore, you will see two separate entries in the stream for an updated row – one with METADATA$ACTION = ‘DELETE’ for the old version of the row, and another with METADATA$ACTION = ‘INSERT’ for the new version of the row after the update.
The other options listed – UPDATE, TRUNCATE, and UPSERT – are not valid values for the METADATA$ACTION column in a Snowflake stream.
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