Categories:

Window Functions (Rank-related)

# NTILE¶

Divides an ordered data set equally into the number of buckets specified by constant_value. Buckets are sequentially numbered 1 through constant_value.

## Syntax¶

NTILE( <constant_value> ) OVER ( [ PARTITION BY <expr1> ] ORDER BY <expr2> [ { ASC | DESC } ] )


## Arguments¶

constant_value

The desired number of buckets; must be a positive integer value.

expr1

If you wish to partition the data into groups, specify the criterion (usually a column) to partition by. For example, you might partition by province.

expr2

The expression (usually a column) by which to order the rows in the window. For example, you might order by timestamp.

## Usage Notes¶

If the data is partitioned, then the data is divided into buckets equally within each partition. For example, if the number of buckets is 3, and if the data is partitioned by province, then approximately 1/3 of the rows for each province are put into each bucket.

If the statement has an ORDER BY clause for the output, as well as an ORDER BY clause for the NTILE function, the two operate independently; the ORDER BY for the NTILE function influences which rows are assigned to each bucket, while the ORDER BY for the output determines the order in which the output rows are shown.

## Examples¶

SELECT
exchange,
symbol,
NTILE(4) OVER (PARTITION BY exchange ORDER BY shares) AS ntile_4
ORDER BY exchange, NTILE_4;

+--------+------+-------+
|exchange|symbol|NTILE_4|
+--------+------+-------+
|C       |SPY   |      1|
|C       |AAPL  |      2|
|C       |AAPL  |      3|
|N       |SPY   |      1|
|N       |AAPL  |      1|
|N       |SPY   |      2|
|N       |QQQ   |      2|
|N       |QQQ   |      3|
|N       |YHOO  |      4|
|Q       |MSFT  |      1|
|Q       |YHOO  |      1|
|Q       |MSFT  |      2|
|Q       |YHOO  |      2|
|Q       |QQQ   |      3|
|Q       |QQQ   |      4|
|P       |AAPL  |      1|
|P       |YHOO  |      1|
|P       |MSFT  |      2|
|P       |SPY   |      3|
|P       |MSFT  |      4|
+--------+------+-------+