percentile_cont aggregate function

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Applies to: check marked yes Databricks SQL check marked yes Databricks Runtime 10.4 LTS and above

Returns the value that corresponds to the percentile of the provided sortKeys using a continuous distribution model.

Syntax

percentile_cont ( percentile )
       WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY sortKey [ASC | DESC] )

This function can also be invoked as a window function using the OVER clause.

Arguments

  • percentile: A numeric literal between 0 and 1 or a literal array of numeric literals, each between 0 and 1.
  • sortKey: A numeric expression over which the percentile will be computed.
  • ASC or DESC: Optionally specify whether the percentile is computed using ascending or descending order. The default is ASC.

Returns

DOUBLE if percentile is numeric, or an ARRAY of DOUBLE if percentile is an ARRAY.

The aggregate function returns the interpolated percentile within the group of sortKeys.

Examples

-- Return the median, 40%-ile and 10%-ile.
> SELECT percentile_cont(array(0.5, 0.4, 0.1)) WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY col)
    FROM VALUES (0), (1), (2), (10) AS tab(col);
 [1.5, 1.2000000000000002, 0.30000000000000004]

-- Return the interpolated median.
> SELECT percentile_cont(0.50) WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY col)
    FROM VALUES (0), (6), (6), (7), (9), (10) AS tab(col);
 6.5