rdblue commented on code in PR #15630:
URL: https://github.com/apache/iceberg/pull/15630#discussion_r3250946634


##########
format/spec.md:
##########
@@ -168,6 +185,46 @@ All columns must be written to data files even if they 
introduce redundancy with
 
 Writers are not allowed to commit files with a partition spec that contains a 
field with an unknown transform.
 
+### Paths in Metadata
+
+Path strings stored in Iceberg metadata location fields are classified as one 
of two types:
+
+* **Absolute path** -- A path string that includes a [URI 
scheme](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc3986#section-3.1) (e.g., 
`s3:`, `gs:`, `hdfs:`, `file:`). Absolute paths are used as-is without 
modification.
+* **Relative path** -- A path string that does not include a URI scheme. 
Relative paths must be resolved against the table's base location before use.
+
+Prior to v4, all path fields must contain fully-qualified paths. Starting with 
v4, path fields may contain either absolute or relative paths. [Relative 
resolution within a 
URI](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc3986#section-5.2) (e.g. `.` and 
`..`) and other file system navigation conventions are not supported in 
relative paths.
+
+#### Path Resolution
+
+Path resolution is the process of producing an absolute path from a relative 
path by combining it with the table's base location:
+
+* If the path contains a URI scheme, it is absolute and is used without 
modification.
+* If the path does not contain a URI scheme, the resolved path is the table 
location followed by the relative path joined by the URI separator character 
`/`.
+
+Paths used as prefixes should not end in a path separator. The relative 
portion is joined to the prefix without consideration of any additional 
separator characters.
+
+Any path from a manifest produced prior to v4 is a fully-qualified path and 
must be produced with a URI scheme if the scheme was omitted to be consistent 
with V4 paths.
+
+Examples of path resolution:
+
+|                 | Format Version | Table Location       | File Path          
                      | Resolved Path                             | Description 
|
+|-----------------|----------------|----------------------|------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|-------------|
+| Relative Path   | v4             | s3://bucket/db/table | 
data/00000-0.parquet                     | 
s3://bucket/db/table/data/00000-0.parquet | Path parts are joined on `/` |
+| Absolute Path   | v4             | s3://bucket/db/table | 
hdfs:/wh/db/table/data/00000-0.parquet   | 
hdfs://wh/db/table/data/00000-0.parquet   | Absolute path is used |
+| Fully-qualified | v3 and earlier | s3://bucket/db/table | 
s3://bucket/db/table/data/00000-0.parquet | 
s3://bucket/db/table/data/00000-0.parquet | Fully-qualified path is used |
+| Missing scheme  | v3 and earlier | /wh/db/table         | 
/wh/db/table/data/00000-0.parquet        | 
hdfs:/wh/db/table/data/00000-0.parquet    | Scheme is prepended for consistency 
|
+
+#### Path Relativization
+
+Path relativization is the process of converting an absolute path to a 
relative path by removing the table location prefix. This is used when 
persisting paths to metadata files.
+
+* If an absolute path starts with the table location, the table location 
prefix should be removed along with the separator character and the remaining 
relative portion stored.
+* If an absolute path does not start with the table location, it is stored as 
an absolute path.

Review Comment:
   Table location immediately followed by the separator character



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