apache · thomasrebele · Jan 21, 2026
diff --git a/ql/src/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/ql/ddl/ShowUtils.java b/ql/src/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/ql/ddl/ShowUtils.java
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@
 import org.apache.hadoop.hive.ql.exec.Utilities;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hive.ql.metadata.HiveException;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hive.ql.session.SessionState;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hive.serde.serdeConstants;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hive.serde2.io.DateWritableV2;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hive.serde2.io.TimestampWritableV2;
 import org.apache.hive.common.util.HiveStringUtils;
@@ -199,13 +200,23 @@ public static String[] extractColumnValues(FieldSchema column, boolean isColumnS
           }
         } else if (statsData.isSetLongStats()) {
           LongColumnStatsData longStats = statsData.getLongStats();
-          String lowVal = longStats.isSetLowValue() ? "" + longStats.getLowValue() : "";
-          String highVal = longStats.isSetHighValue() ? "" + longStats.getHighValue() : "";
+          ColumnStatisticsData._Fields field = statsData.getSetField();
+          String lowVal;
+          String highVal;
+          if (serdeConstants.TIMESTAMP_TYPE_NAME.equals(column.getType())) {
+            // if the long stats represent a timestamp, format it as a timestamp
+            lowVal = longStats.isSetLowValue() ? convertTimestampToString(longStats.getLowValue()) : "";
+            highVal = longStats.isSetHighValue() ? convertTimestampToString(longStats.getHighValue()) : "";
+            field = ColumnStatisticsData._Fields.TIMESTAMP_STATS;
+          } else {
+            lowVal = longStats.isSetLowValue() ? "" + longStats.getLowValue() : "";
+            highVal = longStats.isSetHighValue() ? "" + longStats.getHighValue() : "";
+          }
           values.addAll(Lists.newArrayList(lowVal, highVal,
               "" + longStats.getNumNulls(), "" + longStats.getNumDVs(), "", "", "", "",
               convertToString(longStats.getBitVectors())));
           if (histogramEnabled) {
-            values.add(convertHistogram(statsData.getLongStats().getHistogram(), statsData.getSetField()));
+            values.add(convertHistogram(statsData.getLongStats().getHistogram(), field));
           }
         } else if (statsData.isSetDateStats()) {
           DateColumnStatsData dateStats = statsData.getDateStats();
@@ -297,6 +308,12 @@ private static String convertToString(byte[] buffer) {
     return new String(Arrays.copyOfRange(buffer, 0, 2));
   }
 
+  public static String convertTimestampToString(long val) {
+    TimestampWritableV2 writableValue = new TimestampWritableV2(
+        Timestamp.ofEpochSecond(val));
+    return writableValue.toString();
+  }
+
   public static String convertToString(org.apache.hadoop.hive.metastore.api.Timestamp val) {
     if (val == null) {
       return "";

diff --git a/ql/src/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/ql/ddl/table/info/desc/DescTableOperation.java b/ql/src/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/ql/ddl/table/info/desc/DescTableOperation.java
@@ -198,7 +198,9 @@ private void getColumnDataColPathSpecified(Table table, Partition part, List<Fie
         Map<String, String> tableProps = table.getParameters() == null ?
             new HashMap<>() : table.getParameters();
         if (table.isPartitionKey(colNames.get(0))) {
-          getColumnDataForPartitionKeyColumn(table, cols, colStats, colNames, tableProps);
+          boolean timestampAsLong =
+              MetastoreConf.getBoolVar(context.getConf(), MetastoreConf.ConfVars.HIVE_STATS_LEGACY_TIMESTAMP_AS_LONG);
+          getColumnDataForPartitionKeyColumn(table, cols, colStats, colNames, tableProps, timestampAsLong);
         } else {
           getColumnsForNotPartitionKeyColumn(table, cols, colStats, deserializer, colNames, tableProps);
         }
@@ -222,7 +224,8 @@ private void getColumnDataColPathSpecified(Table table, Partition part, List<Fie
   }
 
   private void getColumnDataForPartitionKeyColumn(Table table, List<FieldSchema> cols,
-      List<ColumnStatisticsObj> colStats, List<String> colNames, Map<String, String> tableProps)
+      List<ColumnStatisticsObj> colStats, List<String> colNames, Map<String, String> tableProps,
+      boolean timestampAsLong)
       throws HiveException, MetaException {
     FieldSchema partCol = table.getPartColByName(colNames.get(0));
     cols.add(partCol);
@@ -232,7 +235,7 @@ private void getColumnDataForPartitionKeyColumn(Table table, List<FieldSchema> c
         TypeInfoUtils.getTypeInfoFromTypeString(partCol.getType()), null, false);
     ColStatistics cs = StatsUtils.getColStatsForPartCol(ci, parts, context.getConf());
     ColumnStatisticsData data = new ColumnStatisticsData();
-    StatsUtils.fillColumnStatisticsData(data, cs, partCol.getType());
+    StatsUtils.fillColumnStatisticsData(data, cs, partCol.getType(), timestampAsLong);
     ColumnStatisticsObj cso = new ColumnStatisticsObj(partCol.getName(), partCol.getType(), data);
     colStats.add(cso);
     StatsSetupConst.setColumnStatsState(tableProps, colNames);

diff --git a/.../java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/ql/ddl/table/info/desc/formatter/JsonDescTableFormatter.java b/.../java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/ql/ddl/table/info/desc/formatter/JsonDescTableFormatter.java
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@
 import org.apache.hadoop.hive.ql.metadata.UniqueConstraint;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hive.ql.metadata.formatting.MapBuilder;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hive.ql.parse.TransformSpec;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hive.serde.serdeConstants;
 
 import java.io.DataOutputStream;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
@@ -112,7 +113,12 @@ private static Map<String, Object> createColumnInfo(FieldSchema column, ColumnSt
       } else if (statistics.isSetDoubleStats()) {
         addDoubleStats(statistics, result);
       } else if (statistics.isSetLongStats()) {
-        addLongStats(statistics, result);
+        if (serdeConstants.TIMESTAMP_TYPE_NAME.equals(column.getType())) {
+          // if the long stat represents a timestamp, format it as a timestamp
+          addLongTimeStampStats(statistics, result);
+        } else {
+          addLongStats(statistics, result);
+        }
       } else if (statistics.isSetDateStats()) {
         addDateStats(statistics, result);
       } else if (statistics.isSetTimestampStats()) {
@@ -237,6 +243,21 @@ private static void addTimeStampStats(ColumnStatisticsData statistics, Map<Strin
     }
   }
 
+  private static void addLongTimeStampStats(ColumnStatisticsData statistics, Map<String, Object> result) {
+    if (statistics.getDateStats().isSetLowValue()) {
+      result.put(COLUMN_MIN, ShowUtils.convertTimestampToString(statistics.getLongStats().getLowValue()));
+    }
+    if (statistics.getDateStats().isSetHighValue()) {
+      result.put(COLUMN_MAX, ShowUtils.convertTimestampToString(statistics.getLongStats().getHighValue()));
+    }
+    if (statistics.getDateStats().isSetNumNulls()) {
+      result.put(COLUMN_NUM_NULLS, statistics.getLongStats().getNumNulls());
+    }
+    if (statistics.getDateStats().isSetNumDVs()) {
+      result.put(COLUMN_DISTINCT_COUNT, statistics.getLongStats().getNumDVs());
+    }
+  }
+
   private void addExtendedInfo(Table table, Partition partition, MapBuilder builder) {
     if (partition != null) {
       builder.put("partitionInfo", partition.getTPartition());

diff --git a/ql/src/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/ql/exec/ColumnStatsUpdateTask.java b/ql/src/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/ql/exec/ColumnStatsUpdateTask.java
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@
 import org.apache.hadoop.hive.metastore.columnstats.cache.LongColumnStatsDataInspector;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hive.metastore.columnstats.cache.StringColumnStatsDataInspector;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hive.metastore.columnstats.cache.TimestampColumnStatsDataInspector;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hive.metastore.conf.MetastoreConf;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hive.ql.exec.repl.util.ReplUtils;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hive.ql.io.AcidUtils;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hive.ql.metadata.Hive;
@@ -100,12 +101,16 @@ private ColumnStatistics constructColumnStatsFromInput()
 
     statsObj.setColType(columnType);
 
+    boolean timestampAsLong =
+        MetastoreConf.getBoolVar(conf, MetastoreConf.ConfVars.HIVE_STATS_LEGACY_TIMESTAMP_AS_LONG);
+
     ColumnStatisticsData statsData = new ColumnStatisticsData();
 
     if (columnType.equalsIgnoreCase(serdeConstants.TINYINT_TYPE_NAME)
         || columnType.equalsIgnoreCase(serdeConstants.SMALLINT_TYPE_NAME)
         || columnType.equalsIgnoreCase(serdeConstants.INT_TYPE_NAME)
-        || columnType.equalsIgnoreCase(serdeConstants.BIGINT_TYPE_NAME)) {
+        || columnType.equalsIgnoreCase(serdeConstants.BIGINT_TYPE_NAME)
+        || (timestampAsLong && columnType.equalsIgnoreCase(serdeConstants.TIMESTAMP_TYPE_NAME))) {
       LongColumnStatsDataInspector longStats = new LongColumnStatsDataInspector();
       longStats.setNumNullsIsSet(false);
       longStats.setNumDVsIsSet(false);
@@ -272,7 +277,7 @@ private ColumnStatistics constructColumnStatsFromInput()
       }
       statsData.setDateStats(dateStats);
       statsObj.setStatsData(statsData);
-    } else if (columnType.equalsIgnoreCase(serdeConstants.TIMESTAMP_TYPE_NAME)) {
+    } else if (!timestampAsLong && columnType.equalsIgnoreCase(serdeConstants.TIMESTAMP_TYPE_NAME)) {
       TimestampColumnStatsDataInspector timestampStats = new TimestampColumnStatsDataInspector();
       Map<String, String> mapProp = work.getMapProp();
       for (Entry<String, String> entry : mapProp.entrySet()) {

diff --git a/ql/src/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/ql/stats/StatsUtils.java b/ql/src/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/ql/stats/StatsUtils.java
@@ -832,13 +832,21 @@ public static ColStatistics getColStatistics(ColumnStatisticsObj cso, String col
       cs.setNumNulls(csd.getBinaryStats().getNumNulls());
     } else if (colTypeLowerCase.equals(serdeConstants.TIMESTAMP_TYPE_NAME)) {
       cs.setAvgColLen(JavaDataModel.get().lengthOfTimestamp());
-      cs.setNumNulls(csd.getTimestampStats().getNumNulls());
-      Long lowVal = (csd.getTimestampStats().getLowValue() != null) ? csd.getTimestampStats().getLowValue()
-          .getSecondsSinceEpoch() : null;
-      Long highVal = (csd.getTimestampStats().getHighValue() != null) ? csd.getTimestampStats().getHighValue()
-          .getSecondsSinceEpoch() : null;
-      cs.setRange(lowVal, highVal);
-      cs.setHistogram(csd.getTimestampStats().getHistogram());
+      if (csd.isSetTimestampStats()) {
+        cs.setNumNulls(csd.getTimestampStats().getNumNulls());
+        Long lowVal = (csd.getTimestampStats().getLowValue() != null) ? csd.getTimestampStats().getLowValue()
+            .getSecondsSinceEpoch() : null;
+        Long highVal = (csd.getTimestampStats().getHighValue() != null) ? csd.getTimestampStats().getHighValue()
+            .getSecondsSinceEpoch() : null;
+        cs.setRange(lowVal, highVal);
+        cs.setHistogram(csd.getTimestampStats().getHistogram());
+      } else if (csd.isSetLongStats()) {
+        cs.setNumNulls(csd.getLongStats().getNumNulls());
+        Long lowVal = csd.getLongStats().isSetLowValue() ? csd.getLongStats().getLowValue() : null;
+        Long highVal = csd.getLongStats().isSetHighValue() ? csd.getLongStats().getHighValue() : null;
+        cs.setRange(lowVal, highVal);
+        cs.setHistogram(csd.getLongStats().getHistogram());
+      }
     } else if (colTypeLowerCase.equals(serdeConstants.TIMESTAMPLOCALTZ_TYPE_NAME)) {
       cs.setAvgColLen(JavaDataModel.get().lengthOfTimestamp());
     } else if (colTypeLowerCase.startsWith(serdeConstants.DECIMAL_TYPE_NAME)) {
@@ -879,13 +887,13 @@ public static ColStatistics getColStatistics(ColumnStatisticsObj cso, String col
   }
 
   public static void fillColumnStatisticsData(ColumnStatisticsData data, ColStatistics cs,
-      String colType) throws MetaException {
+      String colType, boolean timestampAsLong) throws MetaException {
     ColStatistics.Range r = cs.getRange();
     Object lowValue = (r != null) ? r.minValue : null;
     Object highValue = (r != null) ? r.maxValue : null;
     StatObjectConverter.fillColumnStatisticsData(colType, data, lowValue, highValue,
         cs.getNumNulls(), cs.getCountDistint(), cs.getBitVectors(), cs.getHistogram(),
-        cs.getAvgColLen(), cs.getAvgColLen(), cs.getNumTrues(), cs.getNumFalses());
+        cs.getAvgColLen(), cs.getAvgColLen(), cs.getNumTrues(), cs.getNumFalses(), timestampAsLong);
   }
 
   private static void fillColStatisticsFromLongStatsData(ColStatistics cs, LongColumnStatsData longStats,

diff --git a/ql/src/test/org/apache/hadoop/hive/ql/ddl/table/info/desc/TestDescTableOperation.java b/ql/src/test/org/apache/hadoop/hive/ql/ddl/table/info/desc/TestDescTableOperation.java
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ void testGetColumnDataForPartitionKeyColumnDifferentRanges(
       // Capture the ColStatistics passed to fillColumnStatisticsData
       ArgumentCaptor<ColStatistics> colStatsCaptor = ArgumentCaptor.forClass(ColStatistics.class);
       statsUtils.when(() -> StatsUtils.fillColumnStatisticsData(any(ColumnStatisticsData.class),
-          colStatsCaptor.capture(), any(String.class))).thenCallRealMethod();
+          colStatsCaptor.capture(), any(String.class), any(Boolean.class))).thenCallRealMethod();
 
       DescTableOperation operation = new DescTableOperation(mockContext, mockDesc);
 

diff --git a/ql/src/test/org/apache/hadoop/hive/ql/plan/mapping/TestStatEstimations.java b/ql/src/test/org/apache/hadoop/hive/ql/plan/mapping/TestStatEstimations.java
@@ -20,9 +20,15 @@
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertThat;
 
+import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.List;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hive.conf.HiveConf;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hive.conf.HiveConf.ConfVars;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hive.metastore.HiveMetaStoreClient;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hive.metastore.IMetaStoreClient;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hive.metastore.api.ColumnStatisticsData;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hive.metastore.api.ColumnStatisticsObj;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hive.metastore.conf.MetastoreConf;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hive.ql.DriverFactory;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hive.ql.IDriver;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hive.ql.exec.FilterOperator;
@@ -31,6 +37,7 @@
 import org.apache.hadoop.hive.ql.processors.CommandProcessorException;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hive.ql.session.SessionState;
 import org.apache.hive.testutils.HiveTestEnvSetup;
+import org.apache.thrift.TException;
 import org.hamcrest.Matchers;
 import org.junit.AfterClass;
 import org.junit.BeforeClass;
@@ -54,9 +61,12 @@ public static void beforeClass() throws Exception {
     dropTables(driver);
     String cmds[] = {
         // @formatter:off
-        "create table t2(a integer, b string) STORED AS ORC",
-        "insert into t2 values (1, 'A1'),(2, 'A2'),(3, 'A3'),(4, 'A4'),(5, 'A5')," +
-                              "(6, 'B1'),(7, 'B2'),(8, 'B3'),(9, 'B4'),(10, 'B5')",
+        "create table t2(a integer, b string, c timestamp) STORED AS ORC",
+        "insert into t2 values " +
+            "(1, 'A1', '2000-01-01'),(2, 'A2', '2000-01-02'),(3, 'A3', '2000-01-03')," +
+            "(4, 'A4', '2000-01-04'),(5, 'A5', '2000-01-05')," +
+            "(6, 'B1', '2000-01-06'),(7, 'B2', '2000-01-07'),(8, 'B3', '2000-01-08')," +
+            "(9, 'B4', '2000-01-09'),(10, 'B5', '2000-01-10')",
         "analyze table t2 compute statistics for columns"
         // @formatter:on
     };
@@ -134,6 +144,37 @@ public void testFilterIntIn() throws ParseException, CommandProcessorException {
 
   }
 
+  /** Test case for HIVE-29398. */
+  @Test
+  public void testTimestampAsLong() throws TException {
+    readStatsAndCheckTimestampField(true);
+  }
+
+  /** Test case for HIVE-29398. */
+  @Test
+  public void testTimestampAsTimestamp() throws TException {
+    readStatsAndCheckTimestampField(false);
+  }
+
+  private static void readStatsAndCheckTimestampField(boolean timestampAsLong) throws TException {
+    HiveConf conf = env_setup.getTestCtx().hiveConf;
+    boolean oldSetting = MetastoreConf.getBoolVar(conf, MetastoreConf.ConfVars.HIVE_STATS_LEGACY_TIMESTAMP_AS_LONG);
+    try {
+      MetastoreConf.setBoolVar(conf, MetastoreConf.ConfVars.HIVE_STATS_LEGACY_TIMESTAMP_AS_LONG, timestampAsLong);
+
+      try (IMetaStoreClient client = new HiveMetaStoreClient(conf)) {
+        List<ColumnStatisticsObj> tableColumnStatistics =
+            client.getTableColumnStatistics("default", "t2", Collections.singletonList("c"), "hive");
+        ColumnStatisticsObj columnStatisticsObj = tableColumnStatistics.getFirst();
+        ColumnStatisticsData statsData = columnStatisticsObj.getStatsData();
+        assertEquals(timestampAsLong, statsData.isSetLongStats());
+        assertEquals(!timestampAsLong, statsData.isSetTimestampStats());
+      }
+    } finally {
+      MetastoreConf.setBoolVar(conf, MetastoreConf.ConfVars.HIVE_STATS_LEGACY_TIMESTAMP_AS_LONG, oldSetting);
+    }
+  }
+
   private static IDriver createDriver() {
     HiveConf conf = env_setup.getTestCtx().hiveConf;
 

diff --git a/...e/metastore-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/metastore/conf/MetastoreConf.java b/...e/metastore-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/metastore/conf/MetastoreConf.java
@@ -1505,6 +1505,11 @@ public enum ConfVars {
     STATS_AUTO_UPDATE_WORKER_COUNT("metastore.stats.auto.analyze.worker.count",
         "hive.metastore.stats.auto.analyze.worker.count", 1,
         "Number of parallel analyze commands to run for background stats update."),
+    HIVE_STATS_LEGACY_TIMESTAMP_AS_LONG("metastore.stats.legacy.timestamp.as.long",
+        "hive.metastore.stats.legacy.timestamp.as.long", false,
+        "If true, store the timestamp stats in the long stats field, " +
+            "instead of the newer timestamp stats field.\nUse only if a dependent client" +
+            " (e.g. Impala) does not yet support the timestamp stats field.\nThe default value is false."),
     STORAGE_SCHEMA_READER_IMPL("metastore.storage.schema.reader.impl", "metastore.storage.schema.reader.impl",
         SERDE_STORAGE_SCHEMA_READER_CLASS,
         "The class to use to read schemas from storage.  It must implement " +

diff --git a/...e/metastore-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/metastore/DirectSqlAggrStats.java b/...e/metastore-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/metastore/DirectSqlAggrStats.java
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ class DirectSqlAggrStats {
   private static final Logger LOG = LoggerFactory.getLogger(DirectSqlAggrStats.class);
   private final PersistenceManager pm;
   private final int batchSize;
+  private final boolean timestampAsLong;
 
   @java.lang.annotation.Target(java.lang.annotation.ElementType.FIELD)
   @java.lang.annotation.Retention(java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
@@ -88,6 +89,7 @@ public DirectSqlAggrStats(PersistenceManager pm, Configuration conf, String sche
       configBatchSize = dbType.needsInBatching() ? 1000 : NO_BATCHING;
     }
     this.batchSize = configBatchSize;
+    this.timestampAsLong = MetastoreConf.getBoolVar(conf, MetastoreConf.ConfVars.HIVE_STATS_LEGACY_TIMESTAMP_AS_LONG);
     ImmutableMap.Builder<String, String> fieldNameToTableNameBuilder =
         new ImmutableMap.Builder<>();
 
@@ -446,8 +448,8 @@ private ColumnStatisticsObj prepareCSObjWithAdjustedNDV(
     StatObjectConverter.fillColumnStatisticsData(cso.getColType(), data, row[LONG_LOW_VALUE.idx()],
         row[LONG_HIGH_VALUE.idx()], row[DOUBLE_LOW_VALUE.idx()], row[DOUBLE_HIGH_VALUE.idx()], row[BIG_DECIMAL_LOW_VALUE.idx()], row[BIG_DECIMAL_HIGH_VALUE.idx()],
         row[NUM_NULLS.idx()], row[NUM_DISTINCTS.idx()], row[AVG_COL_LEN.idx()], row[MAX_COL_LEN.idx()], row[NUM_TRUES.idx()], row[NUM_FALSES.idx()],
-        avgLong, avgDouble, avgDecimal, row[SUM_NUM_DISTINCTS.idx()],
-        useDensityFunctionForNDVEstimation, ndvTuner);
+        avgLong, avgDouble, avgDecimal, row[SUM_NUM_DISTINCTS.idx()], useDensityFunctionForNDVEstimation, ndvTuner,
+        timestampAsLong);
     return cso;
   }
 
@@ -457,8 +459,8 @@ private ColumnStatisticsObj prepareCSObj(Object[] row, int i) throws MetaExcepti
     Object llow = row[i++], lhigh = row[i++], dlow = row[i++], dhigh = row[i++],
         declow = row[i++], dechigh = row[i++], nulls = row[i++], dist = row[i++], bitVector = row[i++],
         histogram = row[i++], avglen = row[i++], maxlen = row[i++], trues = row[i++], falses = row[i];
-    StatObjectConverter.fillColumnStatisticsData(cso.getColType(), data,
-        llow, lhigh, dlow, dhigh, declow, dechigh, nulls, dist, bitVector, histogram, avglen, maxlen, trues, falses);
+    StatObjectConverter.fillColumnStatisticsData(cso.getColType(), data, llow, lhigh, dlow, dhigh, declow, dechigh,
+        nulls, dist, bitVector, histogram, avglen, maxlen, trues, falses, timestampAsLong);
     return cso;
   }
 

diff --git a/...e/metastore-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/metastore/MetaStoreDirectSql.java b/...e/metastore-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/metastore/MetaStoreDirectSql.java
@@ -1805,7 +1805,6 @@ public List<Long> run(List<String> inputPartNames) throws MetaException {
     return partsFound;
   }
 
-
   @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
   private <T> T executeWithArray(Query query, Object[] params, String sql) throws MetaException {
     return executeWithArray(query, params, sql, -1);