LISTAGG¶

Syntax¶

Aggregate function

LISTAGG( [ DISTINCT ] <expr1> [, <delimiter> ] )
    [ WITHIN GROUP ( <orderby_clause> ) ]

Window function

LISTAGG( [ DISTINCT ] <expr1> [, <delimiter> ] )
    [ WITHIN GROUP ( <orderby_clause> ) ]
    OVER ( [ PARTITION BY <expr2> ] )

Required arguments¶

expr1

An expression (typically a column name) that determines the values to be put into the list. The expression must evaluate to a string, or to a data type that can be cast to string.

OVER()

The OVER clause is required when the function is being used as a window function. For details, see Window function syntax and usage.

Optional arguments¶

DISTINCT

Removes duplicate values from the list.

delimiter

A string, or an expression that evaluates to a string. Typically, this value is a single-character string. The string should be surrounded by single quotes, as shown in the examples below.

If no delimiter is specified, an empty string is used as the delimiter.

The delimiter must be a constant.

WITHIN GROUP orderby_clause

One or more expressions (typically column names) that determine the order of the values for each group in the list.

The WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY) syntax supports the same parameters as the ORDER BY clause in a SELECT statement.

PARTITION BY expr2

Window function sub-clause that specifies an expression (typically a column name). This expression defines partitions that group the input rows before the function is applied. For details, see Window function syntax and usage.

Returns¶

Returns a string that includes all of the non-NULL input values, separated by the delimiter.

This function does not return a list or an array. It returns a single string that contains all of the non-NULL input values.

Usage notes¶

• If you do not specify WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY), the order of elements within each list 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 list elements within a row.)

• If you specify a number for an expression in WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY), this number is parsed as a numeric constant, not as the ordinal position of a column in the SELECT list. Therefore, do not specify numbers as WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY) expressions.

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

  SELECT LISTAGG(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 LISTAGG(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
  

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

• Regarding NULL or empty input values:

  • If the input is empty, an empty string is returned.

  • If all input expressions evaluate to NULL, the output is an empty string.

  • If some but not all input expressions evaluate to NULL, the output contains all non-NULL values and excludes the NULL values.

• When this function is called as a window function, it does not support:

  • An ORDER BY clause within the OVER clause.

  • Explicit window frames.

Collation details¶

• The collation of the result is the same as the collation of the input.

• Elements inside the list are ordered according to collations, if the ORDER BY sub-clause specifies an expression with collation.

• The delimiter cannot use a collation specification.

• Specifying collation inside ORDER BY does not impact the collation of the result. For example, the statement below contains two ORDER BY clauses, one for LISTAGG and one for the query results. Specifying collation inside the first one does not affect the collation of the second one. If you need to collate the output in both ORDER BY clauses, you must specify collation explicitly in both clauses.

  SELECT LISTAGG(x, ', ') WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY last_name COLLATE 'es')
    FROM table1
    ORDER BY last_name;
  

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Examples¶

These examples use the LISTAGG function.

USE SCHEMA snowflake_sample_data.tpch_sf1;

SELECT LISTAGG(DISTINCT o_orderkey, ' ')
  FROM orders
  WHERE o_totalprice > 520000;

+-------------------------------------------------+
| LISTAGG(DISTINCT O_ORDERKEY, ' ')               |
|-------------------------------------------------|
| 2232932 1750466 3043270 4576548 4722021 3586919 |
+-------------------------------------------------+

SELECT LISTAGG(DISTINCT o_orderstatus, '|')
  FROM orders
  WHERE o_totalprice > 520000;

+--------------------------------------+
| LISTAGG(DISTINCT O_ORDERSTATUS, '|') |
|--------------------------------------|
| O|F                                  |
+--------------------------------------+

SELECT o_orderstatus,
   LISTAGG(o_clerk, ', ')
     WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY o_totalprice DESC)
  FROM orders
  WHERE o_totalprice > 520000
  GROUP BY o_orderstatus;

+---------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| O_ORDERSTATUS | LISTAGG(O_CLERK, ', ')                            |
|               |      WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY O_TOTALPRICE DESC)    |
|---------------+---------------------------------------------------|
| O             | Clerk#000000699, Clerk#000000336, Clerk#000000245 |
| F             | Clerk#000000040, Clerk#000000230, Clerk#000000924 |
+---------------+---------------------------------------------------+

CREATE OR REPLACE TABLE collation_demo (
  spanish_phrase VARCHAR COLLATE 'es');

INSERT INTO collation_demo (spanish_phrase) VALUES
  ('piña colada'),
  ('Pinatubo (Mount)'),
  ('pint'),
  ('Pinta');

SELECT LISTAGG(spanish_phrase, '|')
    WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY COLLATE(spanish_phrase, 'es')) AS es_collation
  FROM collation_demo;

+-----------------------------------------+
| ES_COLLATION                            |
|-----------------------------------------|
| Pinatubo (Mount)|pint|Pinta|piña colada |
+-----------------------------------------+

SELECT LISTAGG(spanish_phrase, '|')
    WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY COLLATE(spanish_phrase, 'utf8')) AS utf8_collation
  FROM collation_demo;

+-----------------------------------------+
| UTF8_COLLATION                          |
|-----------------------------------------|
| Pinatubo (Mount)|Pinta|pint|piña colada |
+-----------------------------------------+