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PERCENTILE_DISC

Applies to: ✅ Data 360 SQL ✅ Tableau Hyper API

Computes a discrete percentile, returning the first input value whose position in the ordering equals or exceeds the specified fraction.

Syntax

percentile_disc(<fraction>) WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY <sort_expression>)

Arguments

Required

  • <fraction>: A double precision value between 0 and 1 specifying the percentile to compute.
  • <sort_expression>: An expression of any sortable type.

Returns

Returns the same type as the sort expression. Returns NULL if the fraction is NULL.

Considerations

  • This is an ordered-set aggregate function.
  • NULL values in the sorted input are ignored.
  • Returns an actual value from the input set (no interpolation).
  • Use PERCENTILE_CONT for continuous percentiles with interpolation.

Examples

Calculate Median

Find the median (50th percentile).

SELECT percentile_disc(0.5) WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY salary) AS median_salary
FROM employees;

Calculate Quartiles

Find the 25th and 75th percentiles.

SELECT
    percentile_disc(0.25) WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY score) AS q1,
    percentile_disc(0.5) WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY score) AS median,
    percentile_disc(0.75) WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY score) AS q3
FROM test_results;

Percentile by Group

Calculate percentiles for each group.

SELECT department,
    percentile_disc(0.9) WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY response_time) AS p90_response
FROM service_calls
GROUP BY department;

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