--- title: Unifying the open table formats with Delta Lake... description: Delta Lake Universal Format (UniForm) and Apache XTable now interoperate so Delta Lake tables can be read as Delta, Iceberg, or Hudi, thanks to a merged PR... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/unifying-the-open-table-formats-with-delta-lake-universal-format-uniform-and-apache-xtable-1nqsgnwi1 twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Unifying the open table formats with Delta Lake Universal Format (UniForm) and Apache XTable | daily.dev og:description: Delta Lake Universal Format (UniForm) and Apache XTable now interoperate so Delta Lake tables can be read as Delta, Iceberg, or Hudi, thanks to a merged PR... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/unifying-the-open-table-formats-with-delta-lake-universal-format-uniform-and-apache-xtable-1nqsgnwi1 og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/1NqsGNwI1.png og:image:alt: Unifying the open table formats with Delta Lake Universal Format (UniForm) and Apache XTable og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Unifying the open table formats with Delta Lake Universal Format (UniForm) and Apache XTable **[Delta Lake Blog](https://daily.dev/sources/delta-lake)** · 5 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Delta Lake Universal Format (UniForm) and Apache XTable now interoperate so Delta Lake tables can be read as Delta, Iceberg, or Hudi, thanks to a merged PR adding Hudi support to UniForm. Both tools perform lightweight metadata-only translation over shared Parquet data files, letting organizations use one copy of data across engines like Databricks, Snowflake, and Spark for ETL, BI, and analytics without duplicating storage. The piece covers why organizations interoperate across table formats, how to enable UniForm and run XTable conversions, and how the two open source communities collaborate rather than compete. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### Can Delta Lake tables be read as Apache Hudi now? Yes, Delta Lake tables can be read as Apache Hudi through a partnership between Delta Lake UniForm and Apache XTable. XTable members merged a pull request into the Delta Lake repository adding Hudi support to UniForm, meaning Delta Lake tables written with UniForm enabled are now readable by clients across all three ecosystems: Delta Lake, Apache Iceberg, and Apache Hudi. _Teams juggling multiple lakehouse formats can track interoperability updates like this on daily.dev._ ### How does Apache XTable convert data between Delta Lake, Iceberg, and Hudi without rewriting the data files? Apache XTable performs a lightweight incremental metadata conversion, translating only the metadata layer while leaving the underlying Apache Parquet data files untouched. The process is a two-step setup: a config.yaml file defines the source and target formats plus the table's file location, then a JAR command executes the conversion, which can be triggered after Spark writer commits, scheduled via Airflow, or invoked on-demand through a Lambda function. _Engineers weighing lakehouse format conversion options can follow tooling changes like this via daily.dev._ ### How do I enable Delta Lake UniForm to read Delta tables as Iceberg in Snowflake? Enable Iceberg support on a Delta Lake table by setting specific table properties, which causes Iceberg metadata to be generated automatically alongside the DeltaLog whenever the table is written, colocated with the Parquet files. In Snowflake, that UniForm-enabled table can then be read using an Iceberg catalog integration, avoiding the need to duplicate Delta Lake tables into Snowflake's internal format. _Anyone connecting Databricks ETL to Snowflake BI can keep up with lakehouse compatibility news on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Apache Iceberg vs Delta Lake: Choosing the Right Table Format](https://daily.dev/posts/apache-iceberg-vs-delta-lake-choosing-the-right-table-format-vtnia2ems) · BigData Boutique blog · 7 upvotes · 0 comments - [Advancing the Open Lakehouse with Apache Spark, the Delta Kernel, and the new UC Delta APIs](https://daily.dev/posts/advancing-the-open-lakehouse-with-apache-spark-the-delta-kernel-and-the-new-uc-delta-apis-dbaazlwws) · Delta Lake Blog · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Announcing first-class support of Iceberg format in the Databricks Delta Sharing](https://daily.dev/posts/announcing-first-class-support-of-iceberg-format-in-the-databricks-delta-sharing-hqdvaln8f) · databricks · 2 upvotes · 0 comments - [Open Data Lakehouse: A Practical Guide](https://daily.dev/posts/open-data-lakehouse-a-practical-guide-zxq0hjdsv) · ITNEXT · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Why Apache Iceberg Is Not “Just Another Table Format”](https://daily.dev/posts/why-apache-iceberg-is-not-just-another-table-format--jeknvsrjf) · Snowflake Community · 37 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#data-engineering](https://daily.dev/tags/data-engineering), [#apache-iceberg](https://daily.dev/tags/apache-iceberg) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/unifying-the-open-table-formats-with-delta-lake-universal-format-uniform-and-apache-xtable-1nqsgnwi1) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Unifying the open table formats with Delta Lake Universal Format (UniForm) and Apache XTable","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/unifying-the-open-table-formats-with-delta-lake-universal-format-uniform-and-apache-xtable-1nqsgnwi1","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/unifying-the-open-table-formats-with-delta-lake-universal-format-uniform-and-apache-xtable-1nqsgnwi1"},"datePublished":"2026-08-16T08:53:25.749Z","dateModified":"2026-08-16T08:56:07.753Z","description":"Delta Lake Universal Format (UniForm) and Apache XTable now interoperate so Delta Lake tables can be read as Delta, Iceberg, or Hudi, thanks to a merged PR...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/928b8cf4a8373da4a3ed6bc95d1a0178?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/928b8cf4a8373da4a3ed6bc95d1a0178?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Delta Lake Blog","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Delta Lake Blog","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--7f2q9Asf--/f_auto,q_auto/v1786870393/logos/delta-lake?_a=BAMAMicg0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/delta-lake"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/unifying-the-open-table-formats-with-delta-lake-universal-format-uniform-and-apache-xtable-1nqsgnwi1","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"data-engineering,apache-iceberg","timeRequired":"PT5M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Delta Lake Blog","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/delta-lake"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Unifying the open table formats with Delta Lake Universal Format (UniForm) and Apache XTable"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/unifying-the-open-table-formats-with-delta-lake-universal-format-uniform-and-apache-xtable-1nqsgnwi1#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"Can Delta Lake tables be read as Apache Hudi now?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Yes, Delta Lake tables can be read as Apache Hudi through a partnership between Delta Lake UniForm and Apache XTable. 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