> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/apache/iceberg/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# View Configuration

> Configure Iceberg view properties and behavior

Iceberg views support properties to configure view behavior. This guide covers the available view properties and their default values.

## View Properties

The following table shows the core view properties:

| Property                           | Default | Description                                                                        |
| ---------------------------------- | ------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `write.metadata.compression-codec` | `gzip`  | Metadata compression codec: `none` or `gzip`                                       |
| `version.history.num-entries`      | `10`    | Controls the number of `versions` to retain                                        |
| `replace.drop-dialect.allowed`     | `false` | Controls whether a SQL dialect is allowed to be dropped during a replace operation |

### Metadata Compression

Control how view metadata is compressed:

```sql theme={null}
CREATE VIEW my_view 
AS SELECT * FROM my_table
TBLPROPERTIES (
  'write.metadata.compression-codec'='gzip'
);
```

<Tip>
  Using `gzip` compression (the default) reduces metadata file size at the cost of some CPU overhead. Use `none` for faster metadata operations on smaller views.
</Tip>

### Version History

Configure how many view versions to retain:

```sql theme={null}
ALTER VIEW my_view SET TBLPROPERTIES (
  'version.history.num-entries'='20'
);
```

<Info>
  Retaining more versions allows you to query older view definitions but increases metadata storage size.
</Info>

### Dialect Dropping

Control whether SQL dialects can be dropped during replace operations:

```sql theme={null}
CREATE VIEW my_view
AS SELECT * FROM my_table  
TBLPROPERTIES (
  'replace.drop-dialect.allowed'='true'
);
```

<Warning>
  Setting `replace.drop-dialect.allowed` to `true` allows dialect definitions to be removed during `CREATE OR REPLACE VIEW` operations, which may break compatibility with certain query engines.
</Warning>

## View Behavior Properties

These properties control view commit behavior:

| Property                        | Default            | Description                                                   |
| ------------------------------- | ------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `commit.retry.num-retries`      | `4`                | Number of times to retry a commit before failing              |
| `commit.retry.min-wait-ms`      | `100`              | Minimum time in milliseconds to wait before retrying a commit |
| `commit.retry.max-wait-ms`      | `60000` (1 min)    | Maximum time in milliseconds to wait before retrying a commit |
| `commit.retry.total-timeout-ms` | `1800000` (30 min) | Total retry timeout period in milliseconds for a commit       |

### Commit Retry Configuration

Configure commit retry behavior for views in high-concurrency environments:

```sql theme={null}
CREATE VIEW my_view
AS SELECT * FROM my_table
TBLPROPERTIES (
  'commit.retry.num-retries'='10',
  'commit.retry.min-wait-ms'='200',
  'commit.retry.max-wait-ms'='120000',
  'commit.retry.total-timeout-ms'='3600000'
);
```

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Retry Attempts" icon="rotate">
    Controls how many times to retry a failed commit operation before giving up
  </Card>

  <Card title="Wait Times" icon="clock">
    Exponential backoff between min and max wait times for commit retries
  </Card>

  <Card title="Total Timeout" icon="timer">
    Maximum total time to spend retrying commits before failing the operation
  </Card>

  <Card title="Concurrency" icon="users">
    Higher retry values help handle concurrent view updates from multiple clients
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Example: Production View Configuration

Here's a recommended configuration for production views:

```sql theme={null}
CREATE VIEW production.analytics.daily_metrics
AS 
SELECT 
  date,
  SUM(revenue) as total_revenue,
  COUNT(DISTINCT user_id) as unique_users
FROM production.events.user_activity
GROUP BY date
TBLPROPERTIES (
  'write.metadata.compression-codec'='gzip',
  'version.history.num-entries'='30',
  'replace.drop-dialect.allowed'='false',
  'commit.retry.num-retries'='8',
  'commit.retry.min-wait-ms'='100',
  'commit.retry.max-wait-ms'='60000',
  'commit.retry.total-timeout-ms'='1800000'
);
```

This configuration:

* Compresses metadata for efficiency
* Retains 30 days of view version history
* Prevents accidental dialect removal
* Uses robust retry settings for high-concurrency environments