← All updates Databricks Update One-Pager Light version
databricks Platform · Updated Sep 16, 2026

VARIANT cast extends to ARRAY and MAP columns in ABAC column masks

You can now use a single VARIANT function to mask columns of type ARRAY and MAP, in addition to STRUCT and other types.

What it does

You can now use a single VARIANT function to mask columns of type ARRAY and MAP, in addition to STRUCT and other types. This requires Databricks Runtime 19 or above. This page describes common patterns for implementing ABAC row filter and column mask policies.

Why it matters

SQL SELECT CAST(mask salary(salary, 'admin') AS DOUBLE) FROM employees; SELECT CAST(mask salary(salary, 'manager') AS DOUBLE) FROM employees; SELECT CAST(mask salary(salary, 'viewer') AS DOUBLE) FROM employees; Masking multiple column types with a single function A single masking UDF that accepts and returns a VARIANT can mask columns of many data types, which reduces the number of UDFs and policies you maintain.

Architecture
Databricks Platform → Platform
In short

You can now use a single VARIANT function to mask columns of type ARRAY and MAP, in addition to STRUCT and other types. This requires Databricks Runtime 19 or above.

Read the full documentation ↗
Key takeaway
You can now use a single VARIANT function to mask columns of type ARRAY and MAP, in addition to STRUCT and other types.
2026-09-16-variant-cast-extends-to-array-and-map-columns-in-abac-column-masks Generated by the Databricks Updates Agent · browse all updates