ARRAY_AGG¶

Syntax¶

Aggregate function

ARRAY_AGG( [ DISTINCT ] <expr1> ) [ WITHIN GROUP ( <orderby_clause> ) ]

Window function

ARRAY_AGG( [ DISTINCT ] <expr1> )
    [ WITHIN GROUP ( <orderby_clause> ) ]
    OVER ( [ PARTITION BY <expr2> ] )

Arguments¶

• expr1 The expression (typically a column name) that determines the values to be put into the list.

• expr2 The expression (typically a column name) that determines the partitions into which to group the values.

• orderby_clause An expression (typically a column name) that determines the order of the values in the list.

Returns¶

Returns a value of type ARRAY.

The maximum amount of data that ARRAY_AGG can return for a single call is 16 MB.

Usage Notes¶

• DISTINCT is supported for this function.

• If you do not specify the WITHIN GROUP (<orderby_clause>), the order of elements within each array is unpredictable. (An ORDER BY clause outside the WITHIN GROUP clause applies to the order of the output rows, not to the order of the array elements within a row.)

• If you specify DISTINCT and WITHIN GROUP, both must refer to the same column. For example:

  SELECT array_agg(DISTINCT O_ORDERKEY) WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY O_ORDERKEY) ...;
  

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  If you specify different columns for DISTINCT and WITHIN GROUP, an error occurs:

  SELECT array_agg(DISTINCT O_ORDERKEY) WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY O_ORDERSTATUS) ...;
  

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  SQL compilation error: [ORDERS.O_ORDERSTATUS] is not a valid order by expression
  

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  You must either specify the same column for DISTINCT and WITHIN GROUP or omit DISTINCT.

• NULL values are omitted from the output.

• When used as a window function:

  • This function does not support:

    • ORDER BY sub-clause in the OVER() clause.

    • Window frames.

Examples¶

The example queries below use the tables and data shown below:

CREATE TABLE orders (
    o_orderkey INTEGER,         -- unique ID for each order.
    o_clerk VARCHAR,            -- identifies which clerk is responsible.
    o_totalprice NUMBER(12, 2), -- total price.
    o_orderstatus CHAR(1)       -- 'F' = Fulfilled (sent); 
                                -- 'O' = 'Ordered but not yet Fulfilled'.
    );

INSERT INTO orders (o_orderkey, o_orderstatus, o_clerk, o_totalprice) 
  VALUES 
    ( 32123, 'O', 'Clerk#000000321',     321.23),
    ( 41445, 'F', 'Clerk#000000386', 1041445.00),
    ( 55937, 'O', 'Clerk#000000114', 1055937.00),
    ( 67781, 'F', 'Clerk#000000521', 1067781.00),
    ( 80550, 'O', 'Clerk#000000411', 1080550.00),
    ( 95808, 'F', 'Clerk#000000136', 1095808.00),
    (101700, 'O', 'Clerk#000000220', 1101700.00),
    (103136, 'F', 'Clerk#000000508', 1103136.00);

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This example shows non-pivoted output from a SELECT that does not use ARRAY_AGG(). The contrast in output between this example and the following example shows that ARRAY_AGG() pivots the data.

SELECT O_ORDERKEY AS order_keys
  FROM orders
  WHERE O_TOTALPRICE > 450000
  ORDER BY O_ORDERKEY;
+------------+
| ORDER_KEYS |
|------------|
|      41445 |
|      55937 |
|      67781 |
|      80550 |
|      95808 |
|     101700 |
|     103136 |
+------------+

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This example shows how to use ARRAY_AGG() to pivot a column of output into an array in a single row:

SELECT ARRAY_AGG(O_ORDERKEY) WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY O_ORDERKEY ASC)
  FROM orders 
  WHERE O_TOTALPRICE > 450000;
+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| ARRAY_AGG(O_ORDERKEY) WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY O_ORDERKEY ASC) |
|--------------------------------------------------------------|
| [                                                            |
|   41445,                                                     |
|   55937,                                                     |
|   67781,                                                     |
|   80550,                                                     |
|   95808,                                                     |
|   101700,                                                    |
|   103136                                                     |
| ]                                                            |
+--------------------------------------------------------------+

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This example shows the use of the DISTINCT keyword with ARRAY_AGG().

SELECT ARRAY_AGG(DISTINCT O_ORDERSTATUS) WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY O_ORDERSTATUS ASC)
  FROM orders 
  WHERE O_TOTALPRICE > 450000
  ORDER BY O_ORDERSTATUS ASC;
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| ARRAY_AGG(DISTINCT O_ORDERSTATUS) WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY O_ORDERSTATUS ASC) |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| [                                                                           |
|   "F",                                                                      |
|   "O"                                                                       |
| ]                                                                           |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

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This example uses two separate ORDER BY clauses, one of which controls the order within the output array inside each row, and one of which controls the order of the output rows:

SELECT 
    O_ORDERSTATUS, 
    ARRAYAGG(O_CLERK) WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY O_TOTALPRICE DESC)
  FROM orders 
  WHERE O_TOTALPRICE > 450000
  GROUP BY O_ORDERSTATUS
  ORDER BY O_ORDERSTATUS DESC;
+---------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| O_ORDERSTATUS | ARRAYAGG(O_CLERK) WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY O_TOTALPRICE DESC) |
|---------------+-------------------------------------------------------------|
| O             | [                                                           |
|               |   "Clerk#000000220",                                        |
|               |   "Clerk#000000411",                                        |
|               |   "Clerk#000000114"                                         |
|               | ]                                                           |
| F             | [                                                           |
|               |   "Clerk#000000508",                                        |
|               |   "Clerk#000000136",                                        |
|               |   "Clerk#000000521",                                        |
|               |   "Clerk#000000386"                                         |
|               | ]                                                           |
+---------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+

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