Databricks SQL version 2026.15 is now available in the Preview channel. Review the following section to learn about new features, behavioral changes, and bug fixes.
XPath no longer fetches external DTDs
When you evaluate xpath over XML, Databricks no longer loads external Document Type Definitions (DTDs) declared in the document. Previously, XPath could fail when the XML contained an external DTD reference that pointed to a malformed URL or an unreachable endpoint. Because DTD validation is separate from XPath evaluation, queries that already succeeded return the same results as before. Queries that previously failed only during external DTD retrieval can now succeed.
NULL struct preservation in INSERT, MERGE, and streaming writes with schema evolution
For INSERT, MERGE, and streaming writes that use schema evolution, a NULL struct in the source is now stored as NULL in the target. Previously, that value was incorrectly materialized as a non-null struct with every field set to NULL, while the same operations without schema evolution preserved NULL structs correctly. If your code relied on receiving a non-null struct whose fields were all NULL, update your code to handle a NULL struct instead.
SHOW CREATE TABLE supports metric views …