OLAP specifications

Online analytical processing (OLAP) specifications provide the ability to return ranking, row numbering, and aggregation information as a scalar value in the result of a query. An OLAP specification can be included in an expression, in a select-list, or in the ORDER BY clause of a select-statement. The query result to which the OLAP specifications is applied is the result table of the innermost subselect that includes the OLAP specification.

Syntax for OLAP specifications

ordered-OLAP-specification

Notes:

¹ FL 504 This passthrough-only function cannot run on Db2 for z/OS without acceleration. See Accelerating queries with passthrough-only expressions.

lag-function

lead-function

window-partition-clause

window-order-clause

numbering-specification

aggregation-specification

aggregate-function

Notes:

¹ You cannot specify DISTINCT or ALL for an aggregate function that is included in an aggregation-specification.

OLAP-aggregate-function

Notes:

¹ FL 504 These passthrough-only functions cannot run on Db2 for z/OS without acceleration. See Accelerating queries with passthrough-only expressions.

first-value-function

last-value-function

nth-value-function

ratio-to-report-function

window-aggregation-group-clause

group-start

group-between

group-bound-1

group-bound-2

group-end

RANK, DENSE_RANK, and ROW_NUMBER are sometimes called window functions.

An OLAP specification is not valid in a WHERE, VALUES, GROUP BY, HAVING, or SET clause. An OLAP specification cannot be used as an argument of an aggregate function.

When invoking an OLAP specification, a window is specified that defines the rows over which the function is applied and in which order.

The result of a RANK, DENSE_RANK, or ROW_NUMBER specification is BIGINT. The result cannot be null.

CUME_DIST

FL 504 Returns a cumulative distribution of a row within an OLAP window, expressed as a value in the range of 0.0–1.0. The result is computed by dividing the number of rows preceding or equivalent to the current row in the OLAP window by the number of rows in the OLAP window.

The data type of the result is DECFLOAT(34). The result cannot be NULL.

Passthrough-only expression: This function is passthrough-only and cannot run on Db2 for z/OS without acceleration. For information about invoking this function, see Accelerating queries with passthrough-only expressions.

PERCENT_RANK

FL 504 Returns a relative percentile rank of a row within an OLAP window, expressed as a value in the range 0.0–1.0. When the number of rows in the OLAP window is greater than 1, the result is computed by dividing the RANK of the current row in the OLAP window minus 1 by the number of rows in the OLAP window minus 1. Otherwise, the result is 0.0.

RANK or DENSE_RANK

Specifies that the ordinal rank of a row within the specified window is computed. Rows that are not distinct with respect to the ordering within the specified window are assigned the same rank. The results of the ranking can be defined with or without gaps in the numbers that result from duplicate values.

RANK: Specifies that the rank of a row is defined as 1 plus the number of rows that strictly precede the row. Thus, if two or more rows are not distinct with respect to the ordering, there will be one or more gaps in the sequential rank numbering.
DENSE_RANK: Specifies that the rank of a row is defined as 1 plus the number of preceding rows that are distinct with respect to the ordering. Therefore, there will be no gaps in the sequential rank numbering.

NTILE

FL 504 Returns the quantile rank of a row.

num-tiles: An expression that specifies the number of quantiles. The expression must return a value that is a built-in numeric data type, CHAR, or VARCHAR data type. In a Unicode database, the expression can also be a GRAPHIC or VARGRAPHIC data type. CHAR, VARCHAR, GRAPHIC, and VARGRAPHIC are supported by using implicit casting. If the expression is not a SMALLINT, INTEGER, or BIGINT, it is cast to BIGINT before the function is evaluated. The value must be greater than 0. The expression must be a constant, a variable, or a cast of a constant or variable.

The data type of the result of NTILE is the same data type as the data type of num-tiles after any implicit casting. If the argument can be null, the result can be null. If the argument is null, the result is the null value.

The NTILE function computes the quantile rank of a row by dividing the ordered rows within the OLAP window into num-tiles quantiles and returns a value between 1 and MIN(n, num-tiles), where n is the number of rows within the OLAP window. If n is evenly divisible by num-tiles, the rows in the OLAP window are grouped into num-tiles quantiles, each containing (n / num-tiles) rows. Otherwise, each of the quantiles 1 through MOD(n, num-tiles) is assigned (n / num-tiles + 1) rows, and each of the quantiles (MOD(n, num-tiles) + 1) through num-tiles is assigned (n / num-tiles) rows. The result is the quantile rank which is associated with the current row.

Equivalent sort keys are not considered when rows are divided into quantiles. Rows with equivalent sort keys can be assigned to different quantiles based on the non-deterministic order of these sort keys. Therefore, NTILE is a non-deterministic function.

LAG

FL 504 Returns the expression value for the row at offset rows before the current row. The offset must be a positive integer constant. An offset value of 0 indicates the current row. If a window-partition-clause is specified, offset indicates offset rows before the current row and within the current partition. If offset is not specified, the value 1 is used. If default-value (which can be an expression) is specified, it will be returned if the offset goes beyond the scope of the current partition. Otherwise, the null value is returned. If 'IGNORE NULLS' is specified, all rows for which the expression value is the null value are not considered in the calculation. If 'IGNORE NULLS' is specified and all rows are null, default-value (or the null value if default-value was not specified) is returned.

LEAD

FL 504 Returns the expression value for the row at offset rows after the current row. The offset must be a positive integer constant. An offset value of 0 indicates the current row. If a window-partition-clause is specified, offset indicates offset rows after the current row and within the current partition. If offset is not specified, the value 1 is used. If default-value (which can be an expression) is specified, it will be returned if the offset goes beyond the scope of the current partition. Otherwise, the null value is returned. If 'IGNORE NULLS' is specified, all rows for which the expression value is the null value are not considered in the calculation. If 'IGNORE NULLS' is specified and all rows are null, default-value (or the null value if default-value was not specified) is returned.

ROW_NUMBER

Specifies that a sequential row number is computed for the row that is defined by the ordering, starting with 1 for the first row. If the ORDER BY clause is not specified in the window, the row numbers are assigned to the rows in an arbitrary order, as the rows are returned (not according to any ORDER BY clause in the select-statement).

PARTITION BY partitioning-expression,...

Defines the partition within which the OLAP operation is applied. A partitioning-expression is an expression that is used in defining the partitioning of the result table. Each column name that is referenced in a partitioning-expression must unambiguously reference a column of the result table of the subselect that contains the OLAP specification. A partitioning-expression cannot include a scalar-fullselect an XMLQUERY or XMLEXISTS expression or any function that is not deterministic or has an external action.

ORDER BY sort-key-expression,...

Defines the ordering of rows within a partition that is used to determine the value of the OLAP specification. It does not define the ordering of the result table.

sort-key-expression: Specifies an expression to use in defining the ordering of the rows within a window partition. Each column name that is referenced in a sort-key-expression must unambiguously reference a column of the result table of the subselect, including the OLAP specification. A sort-key-expression cannot include a scalar fullselect, an XMLQUERY or XMLEXISTS expression, or any function that is not deterministic or that has an external action.
ASC: Specifies that the values of sort-key-expression are used in ascending order.
DESC: Specifies that the values of sort-key-expression are used in descending order.
NULLS FIRST: Specifies that the window ordering considers null values before all non-null values in the sort order.
NULLS LAST: Specifies that the window ordering considers null values after all non-null values in the sort order.

FIRST_VALUE

FL 504 Returns the expression value for the first row in an OLAP window. If 'IGNORE NULLS' is specified, all rows for which the expression value is the null value are not considered in the calculation. If 'IGNORE NULLS' is specified and all values in the OLAP window are null, FIRST_VALUE returns the null value.

LAST_VALUE

FL 504 Returns the expression value for the last row in an OLAP window. If 'IGNORE NULLS' is specified, all rows for which the expression value is the null value are not considered in the calculation. If 'IGNORE NULLS' is specified and all values in the OLAP window are null, LAST_VALUE returns the null value.

NTH_VALUE

FL 504 Returns the expression value for the nth-row row in an OLAP window.

expression: An expression that specifies the current row in an OLAP window. The expression must return a value that is a built-in data type.
nth-row: An expression that specifies which row of the OLAP window to return. The expression must return a value that is a built-in numeric data type, a CHAR, or a VARCHAR data type. In a Unicode database, the expression can also be a GRAPHIC or VARGRAPHIC data type. CHAR, VARCHAR, GRAPHIC, and VARGRAPHIC are supported using implicit casting. If the expression is not a SMALLINT, INTEGER, or BIGINT, it is cast to BIGINT before the function is evaluated. The value must be greater than 0. The expression must be a constant, a variable, or a cast of a constant or variable.

Db2 for z/OS does not support the FROM FIRST, FROM LAST, RESPECT NULLS, and IGNORE NULLS keywords for this function. Omitting these keywords in Db2 for Linux®, UNIX, and Windows results in the default behavior FROM FIRST RESPECT NULLS.

RATIO_TO_REPORT

FL 504 Returns the ratio of an argument to the sum of the arguments in an OLAP partition. The division is always performed using DECFLOAT(34). The result data type is DECFLOAT(34). If the argument can be null, the result can be null; if the argument is null, the result is the null value.

window-aggregation-group-clause

The aggregation group of a given row is a set of rows that is defined in relation to the given row (in the ordering of the rows in the partition of the given row). window-aggregation-group-clause specifies the aggregation group. If this clause is not specified and a window-order-clause is also not specified, the aggregation group consists of all rows of the window partition. The aggregation group of all rows of the window partition can be explicitly specified using the RANGE or ROWS clauses.

If window-order-clause is specified, but window-aggregation-group-clause is not specified, the window aggregation group consists of all rows that precede a given row of the partition of the given row or all rows that are peers of the given row in the window ordering of the window partition that is defined by the window-order-clause

ROW: Specifies that the aggregation group is defined by counting rows.
RANGE: Specifies that the aggregation group is defined by an offset from a sort key.
group-start: Specifies the starting point for the aggregation group. The aggregation group end is the CURRENT ROW. Specifying group-start is equivalent to specifying group-between as BETWEEN group-start AND CURRENT ROW.
group-between: Specifies that the aggregation group start and end based on either ROWS or RANGE.
group-end: Specifies the ending point for the aggregation group. The aggregation group start is the CURRENT ROW. Specifying group-end is equivalent to specifying group-between as BETWEEN CURRENT ROW AND group-end.
UNBOUNDED PRECEDING: Specifies that the entire partition that precedes the current row is included in the aggregation group. This can be specified with either the ROWS or RANGE clauses. Including the entire partition that precedes the current row can also be specified with multiple sort-key-expressions in the window-order-clause.
UNBOUNDED FOLLOWING: Specifies that the entire partition that follows the current row is included in the aggregation group. This can be specified with either the ROWS or RANGE clauses. Including the entire partition that follows the current row can also be specified with multiple sort-key-expressions in the window-order-clause.
CURRENT ROW: Specifies that the aggregation group starts or ends based on the current row. IF ROWS is specified, the current row is the aggregation group boundary. If RANGE is specified, the aggregation group boundary includes the set of rows with the values specified for the sort-key-expression as the current row. This clause cannot be specified in group-bound-2 if group-bound-1 specifies unsigned-constant FOLLOWING.
unsigned-constant PRECEDING: Specifies either the range or the number of rows that precede the current row. If ROWS is specified, unsigned-constant must be zero or a positive integer that indicates a number of rows. If RANGE is specified, the data type of unsigned-constant must be comparable to the data type of the sort-key-expression of the window-order-clause. Only one sort-key-expression is allowed, and the data type of sort-key-expression must allow subtraction. This clause cannot be specified in group-bound-2 if group-bound-1 is CURRENT ROW or unsigned-constant FOLLOWING.
unsigned-constant FOLLOWING: Specifies either the range or the number of rows that follow the current row. If ROWS is specified, unsigned-constant must be zero or a positive integer that indicates a number of rows. If RANGE is specified, the data type of unsigned-constant must be comparable to the data type of the sort-key-expression of the window-order-clause. Only one sort-key-expression is allowed, and the data type of sort-key-expression must allow addition.

Notes for OLAP Specification

Using a column mask with an OLAP specification: If a column mask is used to mask the column values in the final result table and an OLAP specification is referenced in the select list that is used to derive the final result table, the column mask cannot be applied to the column that is specified in the partitioning-expression or the sort-key-expression in the OLAP specification.

Syntax alternatives and synonyms: For compatibility, the keywords DENSERANK and ROWNUMBER can be used as synonyms for DENSE_RANK and ROW_NUMBER respectively.

Examples for OLAP specification

Example 1: Display the ranking of employees that have a total salary of more than $30,000, in order by last name:

SELECT EMPNO, LASTNAME, FIRSTNME, SALARY+BONUS AS TOTAL_SALARY,
  RANK() OVER(ORDER BY SALARY+BONUS DESC) AS RANK_SALARY
  FROM EMP WHERE SALARY+BONUS > 30000
  ORDER BY LASTNAME;

If the result is to be ordered by rank, ORDER BY LASTNAME would be replaced with ORDER BY RANK_SALARY.

Example 2: Rank the departments according to their average total salary:

SELECT WORKDEPT, AVG(SALARY+BONUS) AS AVG_TOTAL_SALARY,
  RANK() OVER(ORDER BY AVG(SALARY+BONUS) DESC) AS RANK_AVG_SAL
  FROM EMP
  GROUP BY WORKDEPT
  ORDER BY RANK_AVG_SAL;

Example 3: Rank the departments according to their education level. Having multiple employees with the same rank in the department should not increase the next ranking value:

SELECT WORKDEPT, EMPNO, LASTNAME, FIRSTNME, EDLEVEL,
  DENSE_RANK() OVER
   (PARTITION BY WORKDEPT ORDER BY EDLEVEL DESC) AS RANK_EDLEVEL
  FROM EMP
  ORDER BY WORKDEPT, LASTNAME;

Example 4: Provide row numbers in the results of a query:

SELECT ROW_NUMBER() OVER(ORDER BY WORKDEPT, LASTNAME) AS NUMBER,
  LASTNAME, SALARY
  FROM EMP
  ORDER BY WORKDEPT, LASTNAME;

Example 5: List the top five wage earners:

SELECT EMPNO, LASTNAME, FIRSTNME, TOTAL_SALARY, RANK_SALARY
  FROM (SELECT EMPNO, LASTNAME, FIRSTNME, SALARY+BONUS AS TOTAL_SALARY,
        RANK() OVER (ORDER BY SALARY+BONUS DESC) AS RANK_SALARY
        FROM EMP) AS RANKED_EMPLOYEE
  WHERE RANK_SALARY < 6
  ORDER BY RANK_SALARY;

A nested table expression is used to first compute the result, including the ranking, before the rank can be used in the WHERE clause. A common table expression could also have been used.

Example 6: The following example is used to calculate the 30 day moving average for the stocks 'ABC' and 'XYX' during 2005:

CREATE VIEW V1 AS
	SELECT SYMBOL, TRADINGDATE,
				AVG(CLOSINGPRICE) OVER (PARTITION BY SYMBOL
														  ORDER BY TRADINGDATE
														  ROWS BETWEEN 29 PRECEDING AND CURRENT ROW)
		FROM DAILYSTOCKDATA
		WHERE SYMBOL IN ('ABC', 'XYZ')
				  AND TRADINGDATE BETWEEN DATE('2005-01-01') - 2 MONTHS AND '2005-12-31';

SELECT SYMBOL, TRADINGDATE, MOVINGAVG30DAY
	FROM V1
  WHERE TRADINGDATE BETWEEN '2005-01-01' AND '2005-12-31'
	ORDER BY SYMBOL, TRADINGDATE;

Example 7: Calculate which quartile (4-quantiles) each employee's salary is in.

   SELECT EMPNO, SALARY, NTILE(4) OVER 
         (ORDER BY SALARY) AS QUARTILE
      FROM EMPLOYEE 
      ORDER BY SALARY

The result set is:

EMPNO  SALARY      QUARTILE
------ ----------- -----------
200340    31840.00           1
000290    35340.00           1
200330    35370.00           1
000310    35900.00           1
200310    35900.00           1
000280    36250.00           1
000270    37380.00           1
000300    37750.00           1
200240    37760.00           1
200120    39250.00           1
000320    39950.00           1
000230    42180.00           2
000340    43840.00           2
000170    44680.00           2
000330    45370.00           2
200280    46250.00           2
200010    46500.00           2
000260    47250.00           2
000240    48760.00           2
000250    49180.00           2
000120    49250.00           2
000220    49840.00           2
000190    50450.00           3
000180    51340.00           3
000150    55280.00           3
000200    57740.00           3
000160    62250.00           3
200170    64680.00           3
000110    66500.00           3
000210    68270.00           3
000140    68420.00           3
200140    68420.00           3
200220    69840.00           4
000060    72250.00           4
000130    73800.00           4
000050    80175.00           4
000100    86150.00           4
000090    89750.00           4
000020    94250.00           4
000070    96170.00           4
000030    98250.00           4
000010   152750.00           4

  42 record(s) selected.

Example 8: The query in the following example divides the rows into 3 buckets, grouping them by maximum salary. The maximum salary is included to show what values go into each bucket:

   SELECT NTILE(3) OVER (ORDER BY MAX_SALARY) AS Bucket, 
MAX_SALARY FROM GOSALESDW.EMP_POSITION_DIM;

A portion of the output from the query is in the following table:

Table 1. Example output
BUCKET	MAX_SALARY
1	0.00
...	...
1	35000.00
2	5000.00
...	...
2	12000.00
3	13000.00
...	...
3	301500.00