Access MaxCompute tables by using external tables|V4.3.5|OceanBase Database| docs|Distributed Database

Access MaxCompute tables by using external tables

Last Updated：2026-05-11 02:24:09 Updated

MaxCompute (ODPS) provides two data access interfaces:

Storage API: a data service interface that provides efficient, low-latency, and secure data reading capabilities.
Tunnel API: a data upload/download interface that is mainly used for batch operations on table data (for example, full table import and export).

Since OceanBase Database V4.4.0 (MySQL mode), you can access MaxCompute tables by using external tables by adapting the ODPS API.

By creating an external table in OceanBase Database, you can transparently read and write data from an Alibaba Cloud MaxCompute (formerly ODPS) table without migrating the data. This enables cross-system joint analysis, real-time reporting, and data reflow.

When you create an external table in OceanBase Database, you can configure parameters for the Storage API and Tunnel API. For more information, see CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE. The following table describes the recommended use cases for the two APIs.

Dimension	Storage API	Tunnel API	Use case
Feature	Supports fine-grained data access (for example, partition filtering and predicate pushing down).	Focuses on efficient full-table import and export without conditional filtering.	HTAP hybrid workloads, conditional queries on partitioned tables, and deep integration with computing engines (such as Spark).
Sharding strategy	Automatic sharding: dynamically splits tasks by byte or row count to improve parallel efficiency.	Manual sharding: requires developers to calculate partition size or row count, which is complex. Performance is lower than that of the Storage API, and no special resource configuration is required for ODPS. It is compatible with all ODPS configurations.	Storage API: suitable for multi-partition tables, supporting two dynamic sharding strategies: + By byte: when data record sizes vary significantly, sharding by byte ensures balanced data volume across shards, avoiding computational skew. + By row: when record sizes are consistent, sharding by fixed row count improves parallel processing efficiency. Tunnel API: suitable when the relevant Storage API service is not enabled for ODPS or in compatibility scenarios.
Performance optimization	Low resource consumption: predicate pushing down reduces data transmission, and computation is pushed down to the database side, resulting in faster query speed.	High resource consumption: full transmission may occupy a large amount of bandwidth and storage.	Select the Storage API when you need to reduce data transmission and improve HTAP efficiency. Select the Tunnel API for simple ETL or full backup.
Data filtering capability	Supported: data can be filtered by SQL conditions (such as WHERE), and only the required data is transmitted.	Not supported: data must be fully transmitted and then filtered locally.	Select the Storage API when you need to filter data by conditions (such as analyzing specific user behavior).

Overview

Feature	Description
Read-only query	`SELECT * FROM odps_external_table`
Partition support	Supports both non-partitioned and partitioned tables (including dynamic partitioning)
Column mapping	Automatically or explicitly binds MaxCompute columns
Automatic partition refresh	Supports `IMMEDIATE` / `INTERVAL` / `OFF` synchronization strategies
Limitations	Only MySQL mode is supported. Complex types (such as ARRAY) are not supported. The number and order of columns must be strictly consistent when writing data.

Create an ODPS external table

Non-partitioned tables

Basic syntax (automatic column mapping)

-- step1: MaxCompute has a table named t1.
-- CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS odps_project.t1 (c1 INT, c2 INT);

-- step2: Create an external table named t1 in OceanBase Database.
CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE t1 (c1 INT, c2 INT)
PROPERTIES = (
    TYPE = 'ODPS',
    ACCESSID = '*****',
    ACCESSKEY = '*****',
    ENDPOINT = 'http://service.cn-hangzhou.maxcompute.aliyun.com/api',
    PROJECT_NAME = 'odps_project',
    SCHEMA_NAME = '',
    TABLE_NAME = 't1',
    QUOTA_NAME = '',
    COMPRESSION_CODE = ''
    API_MODE = {"tunnel_api"},
);

Note

If no generated columns are specified, OceanBase Database automatically maps them to external$tablecol1, external$tablecol2, and so on, in the order defined.

Explicit column mapping (recommended)

-- step1: MaxCompute has a table named t1.
-- CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS odps_project.t1 (c1 INT, c2 INT);

-- step2: Create an external table named t1 in OceanBase Database.
CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE t1 (
    c1 INT AS (external$tablecol1),
    c2 INT AS (external$tablecol2)
)
PROPERTIES = (
    TYPE = 'ODPS',
    ACCESSID = '*****',
    ACCESSKEY = '*****',
    ENDPOINT = 'http://service.cn-hangzhou.maxcompute.aliyun.com/api',
    PROJECT_NAME = 'odps_project',
    SCHEMA_NAME = '',
    TABLE_NAME = 't1',
    QUOTA_NAME = '',
    COMPRESSION_CODE = 'lz4'
    API_MODE = {"tunnel_api"},
);

Note

Use AS (external$tablecolx) to specify a column to be mapped to the xth column of the t1 table in ODPS. The xth column must be a regular column and cannot be a partitioning column. The starting number is 1.

If no generated columns are specified, OceanBase Database generates them by default. The numbers of the generated columns are incremented from 1 in the order defined.

Partitioned tables

Key rules:

The partitioning column must be explicitly declared using metadata$partition_list_colX.
The PARTITION BY clause must match the partitioning structure of the MaxCompute table.

-- step1: MaxCompute has a partitioned table t2 with c1 and c2 as regular columns, and c3 and c4 as partitioning columns.
-- CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS odps_project.t2 (c1 INT, c2 INT) PARTITIONED BY (c3 VARCHAR(20), c4 VARCHAR(20));

-- step2: Create an external partitioned table t2 in OceanBase Database.
CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE t2 (
    c1 INT,
    c2 INT,
    c3 VARCHAR(20) AS (metadata$partition_list_col1),
    c4 VARCHAR(20) AS (metadata$partition_list_col2)
)
PROPERTIES = (
    TYPE = 'ODPS',
    ACCESSID = '*****',
    ACCESSKEY = '*****',
    ENDPOINT = 'http://service.cn-hangzhou.maxcompute.aliyun.com/api',
    PROJECT_NAME = 'odps_project',
    SCHEMA_NAME = '',
    TABLE_NAME = 't2',
    QUOTA_NAME = '',
    COMPRESSION_CODE = ''
    API_MODE = {"tunnel_api"},
)
PARTITION BY (c3, c4);

Note

The partitioning column AS (metadata$partition_list_colx) specifies the x-th partitioning column of the t2 table in ODPS, with the starting number being 1.

The partitioning column AS (metadata$partition_list_colx) cannot be omitted. Otherwise, it will be treated as a regular column, leading to unexpected errors.

The number of partitioning columns in the MaxCompute table must match the number of partitioning columns in the external table in OceanBase Database.

Error example:

If you omit AS (metadata$partition_list_colX), the partitioning column will be treated as a regular column, causing the query to fail.

-- step1: MaxCompute has a partitioned table t2 with c1 and c2 as regular columns, and c3 and c4 as partitioning columns.
-- CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS odps_project.t2 (c1 INT, c2 INT) PARTITIONED BY (c3 VARCHAR(20), c4 VARCHAR(20));

-- step2: Incorrect approach: Partitioning columns are not mapped using metadata$partition_list_colX
CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE t2 (
    c1 INT,
    c2 INT,
    c3 VARCHAR(20),   -- ⚠️ Missing AS (metadata$partition_list_col1)
    c4 VARCHAR(20)    -- ⚠️ Missing AS (metadata$partition_list_col2)
)
PROPERTIES = (
    TYPE = 'ODPS',
    ACCESSID = '*****',
    ACCESSKEY = '*****',
    ENDPOINT = 'http://service.cn-hangzhou.maxcompute.aliyun.com/api',
    PROJECT_NAME = 'odps_project',
    SCHEMA_NAME = '',
    TABLE_NAME = 't2',
    QUOTA_NAME = '',
    COMPRESSION_CODE = ''
    API_MODE = {"tunnel_api"},
)
PARTITION BY (c3, c4);    -- Although partitioning is declared, no partitioning metadata mapping is provided.

Since c3 and c4 are not mapped to actual partitioning values in MaxCompute, OceanBase Database cannot obtain partitioning information. Therefore, partitioning columns must be explicitly mapped using metadata$partition_list_colX.

Note

Generation columns of regular columns can be explicitly specified or not, just like in non-partitioned external tables.

Key parameters (PROPERTIES)

Parameter	Required	Description
TYPE	Yes	Fixed to `'ODPS'`
ACCESSID / ACCESSKEY	Yes	The AccessKey of the RAM user (it is recommended to use the least privilege principle).
ENDPOINT	Yes	The endpoint of MaxCompute, which contains the region.
PROJECT_NAME	Yes	The name of the MaxCompute project.
TABLE_NAME	Yes	The name of the table.
SCHEMA_NAME	No	The name of the schema. This parameter is required if the table is located in a schema.
ACCESSTYPE	No	The account type. Valid values: `aliyun` (default), `sts`, and `app`.
STSTOKEN	No	Required only when `ACCESSTYPE = 'sts'`.
QUOTA_NAME	No	The name of the computing resource quota.
COMPRESSION_CODE	No	The compression format. Valid values: `zlib`, `zstd`, `lz4`, and `odps_lz4`.

Query data from MaxCompute

You can query data from a MaxCompute table by using an external table in the same way as querying data from a regular table.

-- step1: MaxCompute has a table named t1.
-- CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS odps_project.t1 (c1 INT, c2 INT);

-- step2: Create an external table named t1 in OceanBase Database.
CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE t1 (c1 INT, c2 INT)
PROPERTIES = (
    TYPE = 'ODPS',
    ACCESSID = '*****',
    ACCESSKEY = '*****',
    ENDPOINT = 'http://service.cn-hangzhou.maxcompute.aliyun.com/api',
    PROJECT_NAME = 'odps_project',
    SCHEMA_NAME = '',
    TABLE_NAME = 't1',
    QUOTA_NAME = '',
    COMPRESSION_CODE = ''
    API_MODE = {"tunnel_api"},
);

-- step3: Query data from the external table t1.
SELECT * FROM t1;

-- To speed up the query, set the parallelism to N.
SELECT /*+ PARALLEL(N) */ * FROM t1;

Export data to MaxCompute

OceanBase Database supports exporting data from internal tables to external tables of MaxCompute (ODPS) by using standard SQL statements.

-- Full update.
INSERT OVERWRITE external_table_name
SELECT column_list FROM source_table [WHERE ...];

-- Incremental import.
INSERT INTO external_table_name
SELECT column_list FROM source_table [WHERE ...];

external_table_name: the name of an external table in MaxCompute.
source_table: the name of an internal table in OceanBase Database or another queryable object.

For more information, see Insert data in MySQL mode and Insert data in Oracle mode.

Export data from a non-partitioned table

-- step1: Create a table t1 in MaxCompute.
-- CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS odps_project.t1 (c1 INT, c2 INT);

-- step2: Create an external table t1 in OceanBase Database.
CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE t1 (c1 INT, c2 INT)
PROPERTIES = (
    TYPE = 'ODPS',
    ACCESSID = '*****',
    ACCESSKEY = '*****',
    ENDPOINT = 'http://service.cn-hangzhou.maxcompute.aliyun.com/api',
    PROJECT_NAME = 'odps_project',
    SCHEMA_NAME = '',
    TABLE_NAME = 't1',
    QUOTA_NAME = '',
    COMPRESSION_CODE = ''
    API_MODE = {"tunnel_api"},
);

-- step3: Create a regular table t1_ in OceanBase Database.
CREATE TABLE t1_ (c1 INT, c2 INT);

-- step4: Export data from the regular table to the external table.
INSERT INTO t1 SELECT * FROM t1_;

-- Increase the export speed by setting the parallelism to N.
INSERT /*+ PARALLEL(N) */ INTO t1 SELECT * FROM t1_;

-- Specify OVERWRITE to overwrite the data in the external table. If the t1_ table is empty, the t1 table will also be overwritten to be empty.
INSERT OVERWRITE t1 SELECT * FROM t1_;

-- Specify the columns to be inserted.
INSERT INTO t1 (c1) SELECT c1 FROM t1_;  -- Insert NULL into the c2 column.

Export data from a partitioned table

-- step1: Create a partitioned table t2 in MaxCompute. c1 and c2 are regular columns, and c3 and c4 are partitioning columns.
-- CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS odps_project.t2 (c1 INT, c2 INT) PARTITIONED BY (c3 VARCHAR(20), c4 VARCHAR(20));

-- step2: Create a partitioned external table t2 in OceanBase Database.
CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE t2 (
    c1 INT AS (metadata$odpscol1),
    c2 INT AS (metadata$odpscol2),
    c3 VARCHAR(20) AS (metadata$partition_list_col1),
    c4 VARCHAR(20) AS (metadata$partition_list_col2)
)
PROPERTIES = (
    TYPE = 'ODPS',
    ACCESSID = '*****',
    ACCESSKEY = '*****',
    ENDPOINT = 'http://service.cn-hangzhou.maxcompute.aliyun.com/api',
    PROJECT_NAME = 'odps_project',
    SCHEMA_NAME = '',
    TABLE_NAME = 't2',
    QUOTA_NAME = '',
    COMPRESSION_CODE = ''
    API_MODE = {"tunnel_api"},
)
PARTITION BY (c3, c4);

-- step3: Create a regular table t2_ in OceanBase Database.
CREATE TABLE t2_ (c1 INT, c2 INT);

-- step4: Export data to a specified partition.
-- Note: Starting from V4.3.5 BP2, OceanBase Database automatically creates partitions in MaxCompute that do not exist in the MaxCompute table. You do not need to manually create the partitions in advance. Earlier versions of OceanBase Database do not support this feature. You must manually create the target partitions in the MaxCompute table.
INSERT INTO t2 PARTITION (c3 = 'abc', c4 = 'def') SELECT * FROM t2_;
INSERT OVERWRITE t2 PARTITION (c3 = 'abc', c4 = 'def') SELECT * FROM t2_;

Partition metadata refresh strategy

Use the AUTO_REFRESH option to specify the refresh method for MaxCompute partition metadata: AUTO_REFRESH = { IMMEDIATE | OFF | INTERVAL }

Strategy	Description	Applicable scenarios
`IMMEDIATE`	Automatically refreshes partition metadata on each query.	Partitions change frequently, such as hourly.
`OFF`	Manually refresh partition metadata by using the `ALTER EXTERNAL TABLE <table_name> REFRESH;` statement.	Static partitioned tables.
`INTERVAL`	Specifies the interval in seconds for automatic refreshes by using the `DBMS_EXTERNAL_TABLE.AUTO_REFRESH_EXTERNAL_TABLE(x)` function.	Partitions change at a moderate frequency.

Example of enabling immediate refresh

CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE t2 (
    c1 INT AS (metadata$odpscol1),
    c2 INT AS (metadata$odpscol2),
    c3 VARCHAR(20) AS (metadata$partition_list_col1),
    c4 VARCHAR(20) AS (metadata$partition_list_col2)
)
AUTO_REFRESH = IMMEDIATE
PROPERTIES = (
    TYPE = 'ODPS',
    ACCESSID = '*****',
    ACCESSKEY = '*****',
    ENDPOINT = 'http://service.cn-hangzhou.maxcompute.aliyun.com/api',
    PROJECT_NAME = 'odps_project',
    SCHEMA_NAME = '',
    TABLE_NAME = 't2',
    QUOTA_NAME = '',
    COMPRESSION_CODE = ''
    API_MODE = {"tunnel_api"},
)
PARTITION BY (c3, c4);

Manual refresh command (used when AUTO_REFRESH = OFF)

ALTER EXTERNAL TABLE t2 REFRESH;

Data types and time zones

Type mapping

For more information, see the data type mapping between OceanBase Database and MaxCompute.

Time zone handling

MaxCompute does not support time zones for time types such as DATETIME.
By default, OceanBase Database assumes that the time zone of MaxCompute is the same as its own.
Recommendation: Make sure that the time zones of OceanBase Database and MaxCompute are the same, such as Asia/Shanghai.

OceanBase

Customer Stories

Documentation

Access MaxCompute tables by using external tables

Overview

Create an ODPS external table

Non-partitioned tables

Note

Note

Partitioned tables

Note

Note

Key parameters (PROPERTIES)

Query data from MaxCompute

Export data to MaxCompute

Export data from a non-partitioned table

Export data from a partitioned table

Partition metadata refresh strategy

Data types and time zones

Type mapping

Time zone handling

References