v.24.6New Feature

Add _time Virtual Column to File-like Storages

Add _time virtual column to file alike storages (s3/file/hdfs/url/azureBlobStorage). #64947 (Ilya Golshtein).
Introduced a _time virtual column for file-like storages such as S3, file, HDFS, URL, and Azure Blob Storage.

Why it matters

This feature provides a standardized way to access and reference the timestamp associated with the data files in various external file storages. It simplifies time-based querying and filtering on external data sources without manual timestamp extraction.

How to use it

Users can simply query the _time virtual column in their SELECT statements when accessing tables backed by file-like storages (S3, file, HDFS, URL, Azure Blob Storage). No additional configuration is needed as the column is automatically available for these storage types.