Fabric delta table - version number doesn't change on merge if no insert/update/delete

[yuvarajAU]

Dear community,

Scenario:

I am trying to load file from staging layer to bronze table & subsequently to silver & Gold layers tables. All tables are change data feed (CDF) enabled. 

Load to bronze: The source file is always full load, so using Merge (Inserts/updates/deletes) to load bronze table. For logging, check the delta table history "operationMetrics" to get the total rows inserted, total rows deleted, total rows updated . 

describle history <<lakehouse.schema.tablename>>

Load to silver: 

Strategy to load silver table is based on number of rows inserted/updated/deleted in bronze table. If all of them are 0, that implies the source hasn't changed between the last run & current run, so silver & gold layer runs will be skipped. 

Problem statement:

If I rerun the load to bronze with the same file(no change in data), referring to above screenshot, I am expecting a new version (Version 2) to show up in describe history for that table & operationMetrics to log 0 inserts/updates/deletes. But Fabric delta table doesn't record that run at all. Until there's a change in the source data, it doesn't show a committed version of that new run. 

This affects the logging as well as strategy to avoid running silver load.

Came across similar post on Databricks community but DB does commit every Merge & increment version.

Delta table - version number change on merge - Databricks Community - 48674

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Hi @yuvarajAU,

Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Fabric Community Forum.

Fabric Delta tables do not create a new version if no rows are inserted, updated, or deleted. This is an optimization to avoid unnecessary metadata overhead.

I suggest submitting your detailed feedback and ideas through Microsoft's official feedback channels, such as Microsoft Fabric Ideas. Feedback submitted through these channels is frequently reviewed by the product teams and can contribute to meaningful improvements.
https://ideas.fabric.microsoft.com/ideas/search-ideas/ 

If this post helps, then please consider Accepting as solution to help the other members find it more quickly, don't forget to give a "Kudos" – I’d truly appreciate it!

Regards,
Vinay Pabbu