Analytic Functions Concepts in Standard SQL

This topic explains how analytic functions work in BigQuery. For a description of the different analytic functions that BigQuery supports, see the reference topics for navigation functions, numbering functions, and aggregate analytic functions.

In databases, an analytic function is a function that computes aggregate values over a group of rows. Unlike aggregate functions, which return a single aggregate value for a group of rows, analytic functions return a single value for each row by computing the function over a group of input rows.

Analytic functions are a powerful mechanism for succinctly representing complex analytic operations, and they enable efficient evaluations that otherwise would involve expensive self-JOINs or computation outside the SQL query.

Analytic functions are also called "(analytic) window functions" in the SQL standard and some commercial databases. This is because an analytic function is evaluated over a group of rows, referred to as a window or window frame. In some other databases, they may be referred to as Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) functions.

Simplified syntax:

analytic_function_name ( [ argument_list ] )
  OVER (
    [ PARTITION BY partition_expression_list ]
    [ ORDER BY expression [{ ASC | DESC }] [, ...] ]
    [ window_frame_clause ]
  )

An analytic function requires an OVER clause, which defines the window frame that the analytic function is evaluated over. The OVER clause contains the following three optional clauses. BigQuery evaluates the sub-clauses of an OVER clause in the order in which they are written.

• A PARTITION BY clause divides the input rows into partitions, similar to GROUP BY but without actually combining rows with the same key.
• An ORDER BY clause specifies the ordering within each partition.
• A window_frame_clause defines the window frame within the current partition.

The OVER clause can also be empty (OVER()) in which case the window frame includes all input rows.

Analytic functions are evaluated after aggregation (GROUP BY and non-analytic aggregate functions).

Example: Consider a company who wants to create a leaderboard for each department that shows a "seniority ranking" for each employee, i.e. showing which employees have been there the longest. The table Employees contains columns Name, StartDate, and Department.

The following query calculates the rank of each employee within their department:

SELECT firstname, department, startdate,
  RANK() OVER ( PARTITION BY department ORDER BY startdate ) AS rank
FROM Employees;

The conceptual computing process is illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Analytic Function Illustration

BigQuery evaluates the sub-clauses of an OVER clause in the order in which they appear:

1. PARTITION BY: The table is first split into two partitions by department.
2. ORDER BY: The employee rows in each partition are ordered by startdate.
3. Framing: None. The window frame clause is disallowed for RANK(), as it is for all numbering functions.
4. RANK(): The seniority ranking is computed for each row over the window frame.

Analytic Function Syntax

analytic_function_name ( [ argument_list ] )
  OVER { window_name | ( [ window_specification ] ) }

window_specification:
  [ window_name ]
  [ PARTITION BY partition_expression_list ]
  [ ORDER BY expression [{ ASC | DESC }] [, ...] ]
  [ window_frame_clause ]

window_frame_clause:
{ ROWS | RANGE }
{
  { UNBOUNDED PRECEDING | numeric_expression PRECEDING | CURRENT ROW }
  |
  { BETWEEN window_frame_boundary_start AND window_frame_boundary_end }
}

window_frame_boundary_start:
{ UNBOUNDED PRECEDING | numeric_expression { PRECEDING | FOLLOWING } | CURRENT ROW }

window_frame_boundary_end:
{ UNBOUNDED FOLLOWING | numeric_expression { PRECEDING | FOLLOWING } | CURRENT ROW }

Analytic functions can appear as a scalar expression or a scalar expression operand in only two places in the query:

• The SELECT list. If the analytic function appears in the SELECT list, its argument_list cannot refer to aliases introduced in the same SELECT list.
• The ORDER BY clause. If the analytic function appears in the ORDER BY clause of the query, its argument_list can refer to SELECT list aliases.

Additionally, an analytic function cannot refer to another analytic function in its argument_list or its OVER clause, even if indirectly through an alias.

Invalid:

SELECT ROW_NUMBER() OVER () AS alias1
FROM Singers
ORDER BY ROW_NUMBER() OVER(PARTITION BY alias1)

In the query above, the analytic function alias1 resolves to an analytic function: ROW_NUMBER() OVER().

OVER Clause

Syntax:

OVER { window_name | ( [ window_specification ] ) }

window_specification:
  [ window_name ]
  [ PARTITION BY partition_expression_list ]
  [ ORDER BY sort_specification_list ]
  [ window_frame_clause ]

The OVER clause has three possible components:

• PARTITION BY clause
• ORDER BY clause
• A window_frame_clause or a window_name, which refers to a window_specification defined in a WINDOW clause.

If the OVER clause is empty, OVER(), the analytic function is computed over a single partition which contains all input rows, meaning that it will produce the same result for each output row.

PARTITION BY Clause

Syntax:

PARTITION BY expression [, ... ]

The PARTITION BY clause breaks up the input rows into separate partitions, over which the analytic function is independently evaluated. Multiple expressions are allowed in the PARTITION BY clause.

The data type of expression must be groupable and support partitioning. This means the expression cannot be any of the following data types:

• Floating point
• Struct
• Array

This list is almost identical to the list of data types that GROUP BY does not support, with the additional exclusion of floating point types (see "Groupable" in the Data Type Properties table at the top of BigQuery Data Types).

If no PARTITION BY clause is present, BigQuery treats the entire input as a single partition.

ORDER BY Clause

Syntax:

ORDER BY expression [ ASC | DESC ] [, ... ]

The ORDER BY clause defines an ordering within each partition. If no ORDER BY clause is present, row ordering within a partition is non-deterministic. Some analytic functions require ORDER BY; this is noted in the section for each family of analytic functions. Even if an ORDER BY clause is present, some functions are not sensitive to ordering within a window frame (e.g. COUNT).

The ORDER BY clause within an OVER clause is consistent with the normal ORDER BY clause in that:

• There can be multiple expressions.
• expression must have a type that supports ordering.
• An optional ASC/DESC specification is allowed for each expression.
• NULL values order as the minimum possible value (first for ASC, last for DESC)

Data type support is identical to the normal ORDER BY clause in that the following types do not support ordering:

• Array
• Struct

If the OVER clause contains an ORDER BY clause but no window_frame_clause, then the ORDER BY implicitly defines window_frame_clause as:

RANGE BETWEEN UNBOUNDED PRECEDING AND CURRENT ROW

If neither window_frame_clause nor the ORDER BY clause is present, the window frame defaults to the entire partition.

Window Frame Clause

Syntax:

{ ROWS | RANGE }
{
  { UNBOUNDED PRECEDING | numeric_expression PRECEDING | CURRENT ROW }
  |
  { BETWEEN window_frame_boundary_start AND window_frame_boundary_end }
}

window_frame_boundary_start:
{ UNBOUNDED PRECEDING | numeric_expression { PRECEDING | FOLLOWING } | CURRENT ROW }

window_frame_boundary_end:
{ UNBOUNDED FOLLOWING | numeric_expression { PRECEDING | FOLLOWING } | CURRENT ROW }

window_frame_clause defines the window frame, around the current row within a partition, over which the analytic function is evaluated. window_frame_clause allows both physical window frames (defined by ROWS) and logical window frames (defined by RANGE). If the OVER clause contains an ORDER BY clause but no window_frame_clause, then the ORDER BY implicitly defines window_frame_clause as:

RANGE BETWEEN UNBOUNDED PRECEDING AND CURRENT ROW

If neither window_frame_clause nor the ORDER BY clause is present, the window frame defaults to the entire partition.

The numeric_expression can only be a constant or a query parameter, both of which must have a non-negative value. Otherwise, BigQuery provides an error.

Examples of window frame clauses:

ROWS BETWEEN UNBOUNDED PRECEDING AND UNBOUNDED FOLLOWING

• Includes the entire partition.
• Example use: Compute a grand total over the partition.

ROWS BETWEEN UNBOUNDED PRECEDING AND CURRENT ROW

• Includes all the rows in the partition before or including the current row.
• Example use: Compute a cumulative sum.

ROWS BETWEEN 2 PRECEDING AND 2 FOLLOWING

• Includes all rows between two before and two after the current row.
• Example use: Compute a moving average.

If window_frame_spec uses the BETWEEN clause:

• window_frame_boundary_start must specify a boundary that begins no later than that of the window_frame_boundary_end. This has the following consequences:
  1. If window_frame_boundary_start contains CURRENT ROW, window_frame_boundary_end cannot contain PRECEDING.
  2. If window_frame_boundary_start contains FOLLOWING, window_frame_boundary_end cannot contain CURRENT ROW or PRECEDING.
• window_frame_boundary_start has no default value.

Otherwise, the specified window_frame_spec boundary represents the start of the window frame and the end of the window frame boundary defaults to 'CURRENT ROW'. Thus,

ROWS 10 PRECEDING

is equivalent to

ROWS BETWEEN 10 PRECEDING AND CURRENT ROW

ROWS

ROWS-based window frames compute the window frame based on physical offsets from the current row. For example, the window frame below defines a window frame of size five (at most) around the current row.

ROWS BETWEEN 2 PRECEDING and 2 FOLLOWING

The numeric_expression in window_frame_clause is interpreted as a number of rows from the current row, and must be a constant, non-negative integer. It may also be a query parameter.

If the window frame for a given row extends beyond the beginning or end of the partition, then the window frame will only include rows from within that partition.

Example: Consider the following table with columns z, x, and y.

z	x	y
1	5	AA
2	2	AA
3	11	AB
4	2	AA
5	8	AC
6	10	AB
7	1	AB

Consider the following analytic function:

SUM(x) OVER (PARTITION BY y ORDER BY z ROWS BETWEEN 1 PRECEDING AND 1
FOLLOWING)

The PARTITION BY clause splits the table into 3 partitions based on their y value, and the ORDER BY orders the rows within each partition by their z value.

Partition 1 of 3:

z	x	y
1	5	AA
2	2	AA
4	2	AA

Partition 2 of 3:

z	x	y
3	11	AB
6	10	AB
7	1	AB

Partition 3 of 3:

z	x	y
5	8	AC

In the tables below, bold indicates the row currently being evaluated, and colored cells indicates all the rows in the window frame for that row.

• For the first row in the y = AA partition, the window frame includes only 2 rows since there is no preceding row, even though the window_frame_spec indicates a window size of 3. The result of the analytic function is 7 for the first row.

z	x	y
1	5	AA
2	2	AA
4	2	AA

• For the second row in the partition, the window frame includes all 3 rows. The result of the analytic function is 9 for the second row.

z	x	y
1	5	AA
2	2	AA
4	2	AA

• For the last row in the partition, the window frame includes only 2 rows since there is no following row. The result of the analytic function is 4 for the third row.

z	x	y
1	5	AA
2	2	AA
4	2	AA

RANGE

RANGE-based window frames compute the window frame based on a logical range of rows around the current row based on the current row's ORDER BY key value. The provided range value is added or subtracted to the current row's key value to define a starting or ending range boundary for the window frame.

The ORDER BY clause must be specified unless the window is:

RANGE BETWEEN UNBOUNDED PRECEDING AND UNBOUNDED FOLLOWING.

numeric_expression in the window_frame_clause is interpreted as an offset from the current row's value of the ORDER BY key. numeric_expression must have numeric type. DATE and TIMESTAMP are not currently supported. In addition, the numeric_expression must be a constant, non-negative integer or a parameter.

In a RANGE-based window frame, there can be at most one expression in the ORDER BY clause, and expression must have a numeric type.

Example of a RANGE-based window frame where there is a single partition:

SELECT x, COUNT(*) OVER ( ORDER BY x
  RANGE BETWEEN 2 PRECEDING AND 2 FOLLOWING ) AS count_x
FROM T;

In the tables below, bold indicates the row currently being evaluated, and colored cells indicates all the rows in the window frame for that row.

• For row 1, x = 5 and therefore COUNT(*) will only include rows where 3 <=x <= 7

x	count_x
5	1
2
11
2
8
10
1

• For row 2, x = 2 and therefore COUNT(*) will only include rows where 0 <= x <= 4

x	count_x
5	1
2	3
11
2
8
10
1

• For row 3, x = 11 and therefore COUNT(*) will only include rows where 9 <= x <= 13

x	count_x
5	1
2	3
11	2
2
8
10
1

WINDOW Clause

Syntax:

WINDOW window_definition [, ...]
window_definition: window_name AS ( window_specification )

A WINDOW clause defines a list of named windows whose window_name can be referenced in analytic functions in the SELECT list. This is useful when you want to use the same window_frame_clause for multiple analytic functions.

The WINDOW clause can appear only at the end of a SELECT clause, as shown in Query Syntax.

Named Windows

Once you define a WINDOW clause, you can use the named windows in analytic functions, but only in the SELECT list; you cannot use named windows in the ORDER BY clause. Named windows can appear either by themselves or embedded within an OVER clause. Named windows can refer to SELECT list aliases.

Examples:

SELECT SUM(x) OVER window_name FROM ...

SELECT SUM(x) OVER (
  window_name
  PARTITION BY...
  ORDER BY...
  window_frame_clause)
FROM ...

When embedded within an OVER clause, the window_specification associated with window_name must be compatible with the PARTITION BY, ORDER BY, and window_frame_clause that are in the same OVER clause.

The following rules apply to named windows:

• You can refer to named windows only in the SELECT list; you cannot refer to them in an ORDER BY clause, an outer query, or any subquery.
• A window W1 (named or unnamed) may reference a named window NW2, with the following rules:
  1. If W1 is a named window, then the referenced named window NW2 must precede W1 in the same WINDOW clause.
  2. W1 cannot contain a PARTITION BY clause
  3. It cannot be true that both W1 and NW2 contain an ORDER BY clause
  4. NW2 cannot contain a window_frame_clause.
• If a (named or unnamed) window W1 references a named window NW2, then the resulting window specification is defined using:
  1. The PARTITION BY from NW2, if there is one.
  2. The ORDER BY from W1 or NW2, if either is specified; it is not possible for them to both have an ORDER BY clause.
  3. The window_frame_clause from W1, if there is one.

Navigation Functions

This topic explains how analytic navigation functions work. For a description of the analytic navigation functions BigQuery supports, see the function reference for navigation functions.

Navigation functions generally compute some value_expression over a different row in the window frame from the current row. The OVER clause syntax varies across navigation functions.

OVER clause requirements:

• PARTITION BY: Optional.
• ORDER BY:
  1. Disallowed for PERCENTILE_CONT and PERCENTILE_DISC.
  2. Required for FIRST_VALUE, LAST_VALUE, NTH_VALUE, LEAD and LAG.
• window_frame_clause:
  1. Disallowed for PERCENTILE_CONT, PERCENTILE_DISC, LEAD and LAG.
  2. Optional for FIRST_VALUE, LAST_VALUE, and NTH_VALUE.

For all navigation functions, the result data type is the same type as value_expression.

Numbering Functions

This topic explains how analytic numbering functions work. For an explanation of the analytic numbering functions BigQuery supports, see the numbering functions reference.

Numbering functions assign integer values to each row based on their position within the specified window.

Example of RANK(), DENSE_RANK(), and ROW_NUMBER():

SELECT x,
  RANK() OVER (ORDER BY x ASC) AS rank,
  DENSE_RANK() OVER (ORDER BY x ASC) AS dense_rank,
  ROW_NUMBER() OVER (PARTITION BY x ORDER BY y) AS row_num
FROM ...

x	rank	dense_rank	row_num
1	1	1	1
2	2	2	2
2	2	2	3
5	4	3	4
8	5	4	5
10	6	5	6
10	6	5	7

• RANK():For x=5, rank returns 4, since RANK() increments by the number of peers in the previous window ordering group.
• DENSE_RANK(): For x=5, dense_rank returns 3, since DENSE_RANK() always increments by 1, never skipping a value.
• ROW_NUMBER():For x=5, row_num returns 4.

Aggregate Analytic Functions

BigQuery supports certain aggregate functions as analytic functions.

With these functions, the OVER clause is simply appended to the aggregate function call; the function call syntax remains otherwise unchanged. Like their aggregate function counterparts, these analytic functions perform aggregations, but specifically over the relevant window frame for each row. The result data types of these analytic functions are the same as their aggregate function counterparts.

For a description of the aggregate analytic functions that BigQuery supports, see the function reference for aggregate analytic functions.