Introduction

Estimate the value at a given percentile, or the percentile rank of a given value, using the UddSketch algorithm. This estimation is more memory- and CPU-efficient than an exact calculation using PostgreSQL's percentile_cont and percentile_disc functions.

uddsketch is one of two advanced percentile approximation aggregates provided in TimescaleDB Toolkit. It produces stable estimates within a guaranteed relative error.

The other advanced percentile approximation aggregate is tdigest, which is more accurate at extreme quantiles, but is somewhat dependent on input order.

If you aren't sure which aggregate to use, try the default percentile estimation method, percentile_agg. It uses the uddsketch algorithm with some sensible defaults.

For more information about percentile approximation algorithms, see the algorithms overview.

Related hyperfunction groups

Aggregate

uddsketch
Aggregate data in a uddsketch for further calculation of percentile estimates

Alternate aggregate

percentile_agg
Aggregate data in a uddsketch, using some reasonable default values, for further calculation of percentile estimates

Accessor

approx_percentile
Estimate the value at a given percentile from a uddsketch
approx_percentile_array
Estimate the values for an array of given percentiles from a uddsketch
approx_percentile_rank
Estimate the percentile of a given value from a uddsketch
error
Get the maximum relative error for a uddsketch
mean
Calculate the exact mean from values in a uddsketch
num_vals
Get the number of values contained in a uddsketch

Rollup

rollup
Roll up multiple uddsketches
uddsketch(
size INTEGER,
max_error DOUBLE PRECISION,
value DOUBLE PRECISION
) RETURNS UddSketch

This is the first step for calculating approximate percentiles with the uddsketch algorithm. Use uddsketch to create an intermediate aggregate from your raw data. This intermediate form can then be used by one or more accessors in this group to compute final results.

Optionally, multiple such intermediate aggregate objects can be combined using rollup() before an accessor is applied.

If you aren't sure what values to set for size and max_error, try using the alternate aggregate function, percentile_agg(). percentile_agg also creates a UddSketch, but it sets some sensible default values for size and max_error that should work for many use cases.

Required arguments
NameTypeDescription
sizeINTEGERMaximum number of buckets in the uddsketch. Providing a larger value here makes it more likely that the aggregate is able to maintain the desired error, but potentially increases the memory usage.
max_errorDOUBLE PRECISIONThe desired maximum relative error of the sketch. The true error may exceed this if too few buckets are provided for the data distribution. You can get the true error using the error function.
valueDOUBLE PRECISIONThe column to aggregate for further calculation.
Returns
ColumnTypeDescription
uddsketchUddSketchA percentile estimator object created to calculate percentiles using the uddsketch algorithm
Examples

Given a table called samples, with a column called data, build a uddsketch using the data column. Use a maximum of 100 buckets and a relative error of 0.01:

SELECT uddsketch(100, 0.01, data) FROM samples;
percentile_agg(
value DOUBLE PRECISION
) RETURNS UddSketch

This is an alternate first step for calculating approximate percentiles. It provides some added convenience by using some sensible defaults to create a UddSketch. Internally, it calls uddsketch with 200 buckets and a maximum error rate of 0.001.

Use percentile_agg to create an intermediate aggregate from your raw data. This intermediate form can then be used by one or more accessors in this group to compute final results.

Optionally, multiple such intermediate aggregate objects can be combined using rollup() before an accessor is applied.

Required arguments
NameTypeDescription
valueDOUBLE PRECISIONColumn of values to aggregate for percentile calculation
Returns
ColumnTypeDescription
percentile_aggUddSketchA percentile estimator object created to calculate percentiles using the UddSketch algorithm
Examples

Create a continuous aggregate that stores percentile aggregate objects. These objects can later be used with multiple accessors for retrospective analysis:

CREATE MATERIALIZED VIEW foo_hourly
WITH (timescaledb.continuous)
AS SELECT
time_bucket('1 h'::interval, ts) as bucket,
percentile_agg(value) as pct_agg
FROM foo
GROUP BY 1;
approx_percentile(
percentile DOUBLE PRECISION,
uddsketch UddSketch
) RETURNS DOUBLE PRECISION

Estimate the approximate value at a percentile from a uddsketch aggregate.

Required arguments
NameTypeDescription
percentileDOUBLE PRECISIONThe percentile to compute. Must be within the range [0.0, 1.0].
sketchUddSketchThe uddsketch aggregate.
Returns
ColumnTypeDescription
approx_percentileDOUBLE PRECISIONThe estimated value at the requested percentile.
Examples

Estimate the value at the first percentile, given a sample containing the numbers from 0 to 100:

SELECT
approx_percentile(0.01, uddsketch(data))
FROM generate_series(0, 100) data;
approx_percentile
-------------------
0.999
approx_percentile_array(
percentiles DOUBLE PRECISION[],
uddsketch UddSketch
) RETURNS DOUBLE PRECISION[]

Estimate the approximate values of an array of percentiles from a uddsketch aggregate.

Required arguments
NameTypeDescription
percentilesDOUBLE PRECISION[]Array of percentiles to compute. Must be within the range [0.0, 1.0].
sketchUddSketchThe uddsketch aggregate.
Returns
ColumnTypeDescription
approx_percentile_arrayDOUBLE PRECISION[]The estimated values at the requested percentiles.
Examples

Estimate the value at the 90th, 50th, and 20th percentiles, given a sample containing the numbers from 0 to 100:

SELECT
approx_percentile_array(array[0.9,0.5,0.2], uddsketch(100,0.005,data))
FROM generate_series(0, 100) data;
approx_percentile_array
-------------------
{90.0,50.0,20.0}
approx_percentile_rank(
value DOUBLE PRECISION,
sketch UddSketch
) RETURNS DOUBLE PRECISION

Estimate the percentile at which a given value would be located.

Required arguments
NameTypeDescription
valueDOUBLE PRECISIONThe value to estimate the percentile of.
sketchUddSketchThe uddsketch aggregate.
Returns
ColumnTypeDescription
approx_percentile_rankDOUBLE PRECISIONThe estimated percentile associated with the provided value.
Examples

Estimate the percentile rank of the value 99, given a sample containing the numbers from 0 to 100:

SELECT
approx_percentile_rank(99, uddsketch(data))
FROM generate_series(0, 100) data;
approx_percentile_rank
----------------------------
0.9851485148514851
error(
sketch UddSketch
) RETURNS DOUBLE PRECISION

Get the maximum relative error of a uddsketch. The correct (non-estimated) percentile falls within the range defined by approx_percentile(sketch) +/- (approx_percentile(sketch) * error(sketch)).

Required arguments
NameTypeDescription
sketchUddSketchThe uddsketch to determine the error of.
Returns
ColumnTypeDescription
errorDOUBLE PRECISIONThe maximum relative error of any percentile estimate.
Examples

Calculate the maximum relative error when estimating percentiles using uddsketch:

SELECT error(uddsketch(data))
FROM generate_series(0, 100) data;
error
-------
0.001
mean(
sketch UddSketch
) RETURNS DOUBLE PRECISION

Calculate the exact mean of the values in a uddsketch. Unlike percentile calculations, the mean calculation is exact. This accessor allows you to calculate the mean alongside percentiles, without needing to create two separate aggregates from the same raw data.

Required arguments
NameTypeDescription
sketchUddSketchThe uddsketch to extract the mean from.
Returns
ColumnTypeDescription
meanDOUBLE PRECISIONThe mean of the values in the uddsketch.
Examples

Calculate the mean of the integers from 0 to 100:

SELECT mean(uddsketch(data))
FROM generate_series(0, 100) data;
mean
------
50
num_vals(
sketch UddSketch
) RETURNS DOUBLE PRECISION

Get the number of values contained in a uddsketch. This accessor allows you to calculate a count alongside percentiles, without needing to create two separate aggregates from the same raw data.

Required arguments
NameTypeDescription
sketchUddSketchThe uddsketch to extract the number of values from.
Returns
ColumnTypeDescription
num_valsDOUBLE PRECISIONThe number of values in the uddsketch.
Examples

Count the number of integers from 0 to 100:

SELECT num_vals(uddsketch(data))
FROM generate_series(0, 100) data;
num_vals
-----------
101
rollup(
sketch UddSketch
) RETURNS UddSketch

Combine multiple intermediate uddsketch aggregates, produced by uddsketch, into a single intermediate uddsketch aggregate. For example, you can use rollup to combine uddsketches from 15-minute buckets into daily buckets.

Required arguments
NameTypeDescription
sketchUddSketchThe uddsketch aggregates to roll up.
Returns
ColumnTypeDescription
rollupUddSketchA new uddsketch aggregate created by combining the input uddsketch aggregates.

Create an hourly continuous aggregate that contains a percentile aggregate:

CREATE MATERIALIZED VIEW foo_hourly
WITH (timescaledb.continuous)
AS SELECT
time_bucket('1 h'::interval, ts) as bucket,
percentile_agg(value) as pct_agg
FROM foo
GROUP BY 1;

You can use accessors to query directly from the continuous aggregate for hourly data. You can also roll the hourly data up into daily buckets, then calculate approximate percentiles:

SELECT
time_bucket('1 day'::interval, bucket) as bucket,
approx_percentile(0.95, rollup(pct_agg)) as p95,
approx_percentile(0.99, rollup(pct_agg)) as p99
FROM foo_hourly
GROUP BY 1;

Create an hourly continuous aggregate that contains a percentile aggregate:

CREATE MATERIALIZED VIEW foo_hourly
WITH (timescaledb.continuous)
AS SELECT
time_bucket('1 h'::interval, ts) as bucket,
uddsketch(value) as uddsketch
FROM foo
GROUP BY 1;

You can use accessors to query directly from the continuous aggregate for hourly data. You can also roll the hourly data up into daily buckets, then calculate approximate percentiles:

SELECT
time_bucket('1 day'::interval, bucket) as bucket,
approx_percentile(0.95, rollup(uddsketch)) as p95,
approx_percentile(0.99, rollup(uddsketch)) as p99
FROM foo_hourly
GROUP BY 1;

Keywords

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