nssalian commented on code in PR #2045:
URL: https://github.com/apache/iceberg-go/pull/2045#discussion_r4077150295


##########
website/src/variant.md:
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@@ -0,0 +1,121 @@
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+  ~ KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
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+  ~ under the License.
+-->
+
+# Variant Type
+
+`variant` is the Iceberg v3 semi-structured type: a single self-describing 
column
+that holds arbitrary JSON-like values (objects, arrays, and scalars) without a
+fixed schema. iceberg-go supports both non-shredded and shredded variants, and 
can
+push predicates down into individual variant fields.
+
+## Reading and writing
+
+A variant column is declared with `iceberg.VariantType{}` in the table schema 
and
+maps to the Arrow `variant` extension type (see [API](./api.md)). Non-shredded
+variant values need no extra configuration: write an Arrow record whose variant
+column uses the extension type, and read it back the same way.
+
+Build the column with a variant builder and write it like any other Arrow 
column
+(the table must be format version 3):
+
+```go
+import (
+    "github.com/apache/arrow-go/v18/arrow"
+    "github.com/apache/arrow-go/v18/arrow/array"
+    "github.com/apache/arrow-go/v18/arrow/extensions"
+    "github.com/apache/arrow-go/v18/arrow/memory"
+    "github.com/apache/arrow-go/v18/parquet/variant"
+)
+
+// tbl was created with table.PropertyFormatVersion = "3" and this schema.
+schema := iceberg.NewSchema(0,
+    iceberg.NestedField{ID: 1, Name: "payload", Type: iceberg.VariantType{}},
+)
+arrowSchema, _ := table.SchemaToArrowSchema(schema, nil, true, false)
+
+bldr := extensions.NewVariantBuilder(memory.DefaultAllocator, 
extensions.NewDefaultVariantType())
+defer bldr.Release()
+
+var vb variant.Builder
+_ = vb.Append(map[string]any{"x": int64(320), "target": "button-submit"})
+val, _ := vb.Build()
+bldr.Append(val)
+
+col := bldr.NewArray()
+defer col.Release()
+rec := array.NewRecord(arrowSchema, []arrow.Array{col}, 1)
+defer rec.Release()
+
+tx := tbl.NewTransaction()
+_ = tx.AppendTable(ctx, array.NewTableFromRecords(arrowSchema, 
[]arrow.Record{rec}), 1024, nil)
+tbl, _ = tx.Commit(ctx)
+```
+
+A normal scan reads it back; the variant column comes back as an 
`*extensions.VariantArray`:
+
+```go
+result, _ := tbl.Scan().ToArrowTable(ctx)
+defer result.Release()
+
+variants := result.Column(0).Data().Chunk(0).(*extensions.VariantArray)
+v, _ := variants.Value(0)
+fmt.Println(v.Value()) // variant.ObjectValue for the object above
+```
+
+## Shredding
+
+Shredding stores the fields of a variant as typed Parquet sub-columns instead 
of a
+single opaque blob. This lets scans read and filter a field as a native column
+rather than decoding every value. Shredding is opt-in and configured with two 
write
+properties (see [Configuration](./configuration.md#parquet-writer)):
+
+- `write.parquet.shred-variants` - enable shredding of top-level variant 
columns
+  (default `false`).
+- `write.parquet.variant-inference-buffer-size` - rows buffered per file to 
infer
+  the shredding schema (default `100`).
+
+The reader accepts both shredded and non-shredded data; no read-side
+configuration is required.
+
+## Filtering on variant fields
+
+`iceberg.Extract(ref, path, typ)` builds a term that navigates a dotted 
JSONPath
+into a variant column and casts the leaf to `typ`. It plugs into the same 
predicate
+builders as `iceberg.Reference`:
+
+```go
+filter := iceberg.EqualTo(
+    iceberg.Extract(iceberg.Reference("payload"), "$.user.age", 
iceberg.PrimitiveTypes.Int64),
+    int64(30),
+)
+// filter is a BooleanExpression; pass it to Scan().WithRowFilter(filter).
+```
+
+See [Row Filter Syntax](./row-filter-syntax.md#variant-extraction) for the 
supported
+target types and caveats.
+
+## Constraints
+
+- A variant column cannot be a partition source or an identity-transform 
source.
+- Extract predicates are evaluated as per-row residual filters. Row-group 
stats and
+  bloom pruning skip them; comparison pruning against shredded variant bounds 
is
+  best-effort.
+- Extract terms are DSL-only: there is no string row-filter form, and they are 
not
+  REST-serializable, so they are dropped from any server-side pushed filter and

Review Comment:
   Makes sense. I corrected this. Under local planning (the default) Extract 
terms run as local residuals; with remote planning the filter fails to 
serialize (`ErrExtractNotSerializable`) rather than being silently dropped. 
Kept a single copy and pointed the row-filter caveat at it.



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