Calculate a continuous percentile. This inverse distribution function returns an interpolated value that corresponds to the specified percentile.
PERCENTILE_CONT() (standing for continuous percentile) is a which returns a value which corresponds to the given fraction in the sort order. If required, it will interpolate between adjacent input items.
Essentially, the following process is followed to find the value to return:
Get the number of rows in the partition, denoted by N
RN = p*(N-1), where p denotes the argument to the PERCENTILE_CONT function
Calculate FRN as FRN=floor(RN) and CRN as CRN=ceil(RN)
Look up rows FRN and CRN
The is a specific case of PERCENTILE_CONT, equivalent to PERCENTILE_CONT(0.5).
- a special case of PERCENTILE_CONT equivalent to PERCENTILE_CONT(0.5)
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If (CRN = FRN = RN) then the result is (value of expression from row at RN)
Otherwise the result is
(CRN - RN) * (value of expression for row at FRN) +
(RN - FRN) * (value of expression for row at CRN)
CREATE TABLE book_rating (name CHAR(30), star_rating TINYINT);
INSERT INTO book_rating VALUES ('Lord of the Ladybirds', 5);
INSERT INTO book_rating VALUES ('Lord of the Ladybirds', 3);
INSERT INTO book_rating VALUES ('Lady of the Flies', 1);
INSERT INTO book_rating VALUES ('Lady of the Flies', 2);
INSERT INTO book_rating VALUES ('Lady of the Flies', 5);
SELECT name, PERCENTILE_CONT(0.5) WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY star_rating)
OVER (PARTITION BY name) AS pc
FROM book_rating;
+-----------------------+--------------+
| name | pc |
+-----------------------+--------------+
| Lord of the Ladybirds | 4.0000000000 |
| Lord of the Ladybirds | 4.0000000000 |
| Lady of the Flies | 2.0000000000 |
| Lady of the Flies | 2.0000000000 |
| Lady of the Flies | 2.0000000000 |
+-----------------------+--------------+
SELECT name, PERCENTILE_CONT(1) WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY star_rating)
OVER (PARTITION BY name) AS pc
FROM book_rating;
+-----------------------+--------------+
| name | pc |
+-----------------------+--------------+
| Lord of the Ladybirds | 5.0000000000 |
| Lord of the Ladybirds | 5.0000000000 |
| Lady of the Flies | 5.0000000000 |
| Lady of the Flies | 5.0000000000 |
| Lady of the Flies | 5.0000000000 |
+-----------------------+--------------+
SELECT name, PERCENTILE_CONT(0) WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY star_rating)
OVER (PARTITION BY name) AS pc
FROM book_rating;
+-----------------------+--------------+
| name | pc |
+-----------------------+--------------+
| Lord of the Ladybirds | 3.0000000000 |
| Lord of the Ladybirds | 3.0000000000 |
| Lady of the Flies | 1.0000000000 |
| Lady of the Flies | 1.0000000000 |
| Lady of the Flies | 1.0000000000 |
+-----------------------+--------------+
SELECT name, PERCENTILE_CONT(0.6) WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY star_rating)
OVER (PARTITION BY name) AS pc
FROM book_rating;
+-----------------------+--------------+
| name | pc |
+-----------------------+--------------+
| Lord of the Ladybirds | 4.2000000000 |
| Lord of the Ladybirds | 4.2000000000 |
| Lady of the Flies | 2.6000000000 |
| Lady of the Flies | 2.6000000000 |
| Lady of the Flies | 2.6000000000 |
+-----------------------+--------------+