# Read a columnar file Acquire / file read Parquet, ORC, Avro, Arrow, Iceberg, Delta Page: ## Status Runs as a SQL step. arcform carries it as a `sql:` step today. ## The DuckDB step read Parquet It reads the `orders` table the proofs share. Create it first: ```sql CREATE TABLE orders AS SELECT * FROM (VALUES (1, 'Alice Ng', 'north', DATE '2026-01-03', 120.00, 'widget', 'a|b', '{"channel":"web","items":[1,2]}'), (2, 'alice ng', 'north', DATE '2026-01-05', 80.50, 'gadget', 'b', '{"channel":"shop","items":[3]}'), (3, 'Bob Okafor', 'south', DATE '2026-01-05', 300.00, 'widget', 'a|c', '{"channel":"web","items":[4,5,6]}'), (4, 'Carla Díaz', 'east', DATE '2026-01-09', NULL, 'gizmo', NULL, '{"channel":"web","items":[]}'), (5, 'Bob Okafor', 'south', DATE '2026-01-12', 45.25, 'gadget', 'c', '{"channel":"phone","items":[7]}'), (6, 'Dev Patel', 'west', DATE '2026-01-12', 510.00, 'widget', 'a', '{"channel":"web","items":[8,9]}'), (7, 'Carla Diaz', 'east', DATE '2026-01-20', 99.99, 'gizmo', 'b|c', '{"channel":"shop","items":[10]}'), (8, 'Dev Patel', 'west', DATE '2026-02-02', 510.00, 'widget', 'a', '{"channel":"web","items":[8,9]}'), (9, 'Eve Larsen', NULL, DATE '2026-02-03', 15.00, 'gadget', NULL, '{"channel":"web","items":[11]}'), (10, 'Alice Ng', 'north', DATE '2026-02-10', 220.00, 'gizmo', 'a|b|c', '{"channel":"phone","items":[12,13]}') ) t(order_id, customer, region, order_date, amount, product, tags, meta); ``` Then run the statement: ```sql COPY orders TO '/orders.parquet' (FORMAT parquet); CREATE TEMP TABLE result AS SELECT count(*) AS n, sum(amount) AS total FROM read_parquet('/orders.parquet'); SELECT * FROM result; SELECT CASE WHEN ((SELECT n = 10 AND total = 1900.74 FROM result)) THEN 'as expected' ELSE error('the Parquet file did not read back as 10 rows totalling 1900.74') END AS verdict; ``` Replace `` with a directory of your own that you can write to before running the statement. The statement writes `orders.parquet` itself, in ``. It needs nothing installed beyond DuckDB itself. ## Variants - [Read an Arrow file or stream](https://meridian.online/operations/read-a-columnar-file/read-an-arrow-file-or-stream): Read Arrow IPC files, record-batch streams or Arrow datasets into a table. - [Read an Avro file](https://meridian.online/operations/read-a-columnar-file/read-an-avro-file): Read Avro container files or messages into rows, using the schema embedded in them or given separately. - [Read a lakehouse table](https://meridian.online/operations/read-a-columnar-file/read-a-lakehouse-table): Read a Delta Lake, Iceberg or Hudi table through its metadata, including earlier versions of it. - [Read an ORC file](https://meridian.online/operations/read-a-columnar-file/read-an-orc-file): Read ORC files into a table. - Read another columnar format: Read a table from a DuckDB database file, a Vortex file or another columnar store. - [Read a Parquet file](https://meridian.online/operations/read-a-columnar-file/read-a-parquet-file): Read one or many Parquet files into a table, reading only the columns and row groups the query needs. ## What other tools call it Meridian's classification; an independent blind rating agreed on 86.2% of 312 rows (exact class, version 2). - Azure Data Factory: [`Avro format (source)`](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/data-factory/format-avro) (read 2026-09-27) - Azure Data Factory: [`Delta format (source)`](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/data-factory/format-delta) (read 2026-09-27) - Azure Data Factory: [`ORC format (source)`](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/data-factory/format-orc) (read 2026-09-27) - Azure Data Factory: [`Parquet format (source)`](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/data-factory/format-parquet) (read 2026-09-27) - Apache DataFusion: [`Arrow`](https://datafusion.apache.org/user-guide/features.html) (read 2026-09-27) - Apache DataFusion: [`Avro`](https://datafusion.apache.org/user-guide/features.html) (read 2026-09-27) - Apache DataFusion: [`Parquet`](https://datafusion.apache.org/user-guide/features.html) (read 2026-09-27) - DuckDB: `arrow_scan` (read 2026-09-27) - DuckDB: `arrow_scan_dumb` (read 2026-09-27) - DuckDB: `parquet_scan` (read 2026-09-27) - DuckDB: `read_duckdb` (read 2026-09-27) - DuckDB: `read_parquet` (read 2026-09-27) - DuckDB: `seq_scan` (read 2026-09-27) - Duckle: [`Apache Iceberg`](https://github.com/slothflowlabs/duckle/blob/f85f8960edfb6efbf4cb89d58a7b32e16df0e867/website/docs/components.html) (read 2026-09-25) - Duckle: [`Avro`](https://github.com/slothflowlabs/duckle/blob/f85f8960edfb6efbf4cb89d58a7b32e16df0e867/website/docs/components.html) (read 2026-09-25) - Duckle: [`Delta Lake`](https://github.com/slothflowlabs/duckle/blob/f85f8960edfb6efbf4cb89d58a7b32e16df0e867/website/docs/components.html) (read 2026-09-25) - Duckle: [`Parquet`](https://github.com/slothflowlabs/duckle/blob/f85f8960edfb6efbf4cb89d58a7b32e16df0e867/website/docs/components.html) (read 2026-09-25) - Duckle: [`Vortex`](https://github.com/slothflowlabs/duckle/blob/f85f8960edfb6efbf4cb89d58a7b32e16df0e867/frontend/src/workflow-ui/palette-data.ts) (read 2026-09-25) - EasyMorph: [`Import from Apache Parquet`](https://help.easymorph.com/doku.php?id=transformations:importapacheparquet) (read 2026-09-27) - AWS Glue: [`Avro (read)`](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/glue/latest/dg/aws-glue-programming-etl-format-avro-home.html) (read 2026-09-27) - AWS Glue: [`Delta Lake (read)`](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/glue/latest/dg/aws-glue-programming-etl-format-delta-lake.html) (read 2026-09-27) - AWS Glue: [`Hudi (read)`](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/glue/latest/dg/aws-glue-programming-etl-format-hudi.html) (read 2026-09-27) - AWS Glue: [`Iceberg (read)`](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/glue/latest/dg/aws-glue-programming-etl-format-iceberg.html) (read 2026-09-27) - AWS Glue: [`ORC (read)`](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/glue/latest/dg/aws-glue-programming-etl-format-orc-home.html) (read 2026-09-27) - AWS Glue: [`Parquet (read)`](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/glue/latest/dg/aws-glue-programming-etl-format-parquet-home.html) (read 2026-09-27) - Apache Hop: [`Avro file input`](https://hop.apache.org/manual/latest/pipeline/transforms/avro-file-input.html) (read 2026-09-27) - Apache Hop: [`Data stream input`](https://hop.apache.org/manual/latest/pipeline/transforms/data-stream-input.html) (read 2026-09-27) - Apache Hop: [`Parquet file input`](https://hop.apache.org/manual/latest/pipeline/transforms/parquet-file-input.html) (read 2026-09-27) - Apache Hop: [`Spark lake table input`](https://hop.apache.org/manual/latest/pipeline/transforms/spark-lake-table-input.html) (read 2026-09-27) - KNIME Analytics Platform: [`KNIME Extension for Big Data File Formats (extension)`](https://api.hub.knime.com/extensions/org.knime.features.bigdata.fileformats) (read 2026-09-27) - Apache NiFi: [`AvroReader`](https://nifi.apache.org/components/org.apache.nifi.avro.AvroReader/) (read 2026-09-27) - Pentaho Data Integration: [`Avro Input`](https://docs.pentaho.com/pdia-data-integration/9.3-data-integration/pdi-transformation-steps-reference-overview) (read 2026-09-27) - Pentaho Data Integration: [`Avro input (deprecated)`](https://docs.pentaho.com/pdia-data-integration/9.3-data-integration/pdi-transformation-steps-reference-overview) (read 2026-09-27) - Pentaho Data Integration: [`ORC Input`](https://docs.pentaho.com/pdia-data-integration/9.3-data-integration/pdi-transformation-steps-reference-overview) (read 2026-09-27) - Pentaho Data Integration: [`Parquet Input`](https://docs.pentaho.com/pdia-data-integration/9.3-data-integration/pdi-transformation-steps-reference-overview) (read 2026-09-27) - Polars: [`read_avro`](https://docs.pola.rs/api/python/stable/reference/io.html) (read 2026-09-27) - Polars: [`read_delta`](https://docs.pola.rs/api/python/stable/reference/io.html) (read 2026-09-27) - Polars: [`read_ipc`](https://docs.pola.rs/api/python/stable/reference/io.html) (read 2026-09-27) - Polars: [`read_ipc_stream`](https://docs.pola.rs/api/python/stable/reference/io.html) (read 2026-09-27) - Polars: [`read_parquet`](https://docs.pola.rs/api/python/stable/reference/io.html) (read 2026-09-27) - Polars: [`scan_delta`](https://docs.pola.rs/api/python/stable/reference/io.html) (read 2026-09-27) - Polars: [`scan_iceberg`](https://docs.pola.rs/api/python/stable/reference/io.html) (read 2026-09-27) - Polars: [`scan_ipc`](https://docs.pola.rs/api/python/stable/reference/io.html) (read 2026-09-27) - Polars: [`scan_parquet`](https://docs.pola.rs/api/python/stable/reference/io.html) (read 2026-09-27) - Polars: [`scan_pyarrow_dataset`](https://docs.pola.rs/api/python/stable/reference/io.html) (read 2026-09-27) - Power Query M: [`Arrow.Document`](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powerquery-m/arrow-document) (read 2026-09-27) - Power Query M: [`Arrow.FromBinary`](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powerquery-m/arrow-frombinary) (read 2026-09-27) - Power Query M: [`DeltaLake.Metadata`](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powerquery-m/accessing-data-functions) (read 2026-09-27) - Power Query M: [`DeltaLake.Table`](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powerquery-m/accessing-data-functions) (read 2026-09-27) - Power Query M: [`Parquet.Document`](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-query/connectors/parquet) (read 2026-09-27) - Apache SeaTunnel: [`Avro format`](https://seatunnel.apache.org/docs/2.3.13/connectors/formats/avro) (read 2026-09-27) - Talend: [`tAvroInput`](https://help.qlik.com/talend/en-US/components/8.0/avro/avro-component) (read 2026-09-27) - Talend: [`tAvroStreamInput`](https://help.qlik.com/talend/en-US/components/8.0/avro/avro-component) (read 2026-09-27) - Talend: [`tFileInputORC`](https://help.qlik.com/talend/en-US/components/8.0/orc/orc-component) (read 2026-09-27) - Talend: [`tFileInputParquet`](https://help.qlik.com/talend/en-US/components/8.0/parquet/parquet-component) (read 2026-09-27) - Talend: [`tFileStreamInputParquet`](https://help.qlik.com/talend/en-US/components/8.0/parquet/parquet-component) (read 2026-09-27) - VisiData: [`arrow (loader)`](https://github.com/saulpw/visidata/blob/7609212ec2febafa9caba7183cbebfaf49627909/visidata/loaders/arrow.py#L8) (read 2026-09-23) - VisiData: [`arrows (loader)`](https://github.com/saulpw/visidata/blob/7609212ec2febafa9caba7183cbebfaf49627909/visidata/loaders/arrow.py#L14) (read 2026-09-23) - VisiData: [`parquet (loader)`](https://github.com/saulpw/visidata/blob/7609212ec2febafa9caba7183cbebfaf49627909/visidata/loaders/parquet.py#L8) (read 2026-09-23) - Yggdrasil Decision Forests: [`avro: (read)`](https://github.com/google/yggdrasil-decision-forests/blob/0a54b57c95ff0cf42ecf0310ace0513a4f32cb65/yggdrasil_decision_forests/dataset/avro_example.h) (read 2026-09-27)