PARTITION-BASED SCANNING OF EXTERNAL TABLES FOR QUERY PROCESSING

Disclosed herein are embodiments of systems and methods for partition-based scanning of external tables for query processing. In an example embodiment, a database platform receives a query that includes one or more predicates, where the query is directed at least to data in an external table that is stored in an external storage platform that is external to the database platform. The database platform identifies, based on metadata that summarizes the data in the external table, one or more partitions of the external table that potentially include data that satisfies the one or more predicates. The database platform also identifies, from the one or more identified partitions, data that satisfies the one or more predicates. The database platform sends a response to the query to the client, the response comprising the data satisfying the one or more predicates.