Calculations in visuals and low-code cells

Leverage the full power of SQL without the boilerplate

Calculations allow you to perform more complex analyses than possible with the built-in functions available in the visual/low-code UI, without having to write a full SQL statement.

Calculations in Count are SQL expressions, written in a syntax that is heavily influenced by DuckDB (itself similar to PostgreSQL). They can be used with all databases supported by Count and — depending on the database — are parsed and transliterated to the appropriate dialect as required.

Getting started

You can apply calculations to selects, filters and join constraints in visuals and low-code cells. In order to add or edit a calculation, either:

• Double click on a drop target or select to get an inline-editor

Double-click on a column, filter or drop target to edit a calculation in-line.

• Click on a select, filter or join constraint and select Edit calculation... to bring up the calculation modal

Double-click on a column, then select Edit calculation to view the calculation modal.

Edit the calculation and then press Shift + Enter to submit.

Once you're happy with your calculation, submit it using Shift + Enter.

Expressions

Calculations in Count support the following expression types:

• Literal (0, 0.123, 'abc', NULL, TRUE, FALSE)

• Identifier (Sales, Orders.Sales)

• Function (sum(Sales))

• Between (Sales BETWEEN 10 and 20)

• In (Region IN ('East', 'West'))

• Case (CASE WHEN Region = 'East' THEN 0 ELSE 1 END)

• Cast (CAST(Sales AS VARCHAR))

• Binary (2 + 2, A OR B)

• Unary (-2, NOT TRUE)

There's no explicit limit to the length of calculations.

Operators

The precedence of operators (the order in which expressions are evaluated) follows that of PostgreSQL. Parentheses can be used to override this.

Precedence	Symbols	Name	Example
1	-	Unary minus	-1
2	^, **	Exponentiation	7 ^ 2
3	*, /, %	Multiplication, Divison, Modulo	7 * 2
4	+, -	Addition, Subtraction	7 + 2
5	=, !=, <>, <, >, <=, >=	Comparison	2 = 3
6	IS	Is	X IS NULL
7	NOT	Logical negation	NOT TRUE
8	AND	Logical AND	A AND B
9	OR	Logical OR	A OR B

Types

The following data types can be used in CAST expressions:

• VARCHAR ('abc')

• DOUBLE (1.23)

• INTEGER (123)

• DATE (DATE '2024-01-01')

• TIMESTAMP (TIMESTAMP '2024-01-01T00:00:00')

• TIMESTAMPTZ (TIMESTAMPTZ '2024-01-01T00:00:00Z')

• BOOLEAN (TRUE)

Functions

Count supports the following functions (note that some functions may be unavailable on some databases):

Text

Function	Description	Example	Result
CONCAT(string, ...)	Concatenate any number of strings together.	CONCAT('Hello', ' ', 'World')	'Hello World'
CONTAINS(string, substring)	Returns true if string contains substring.	CONTAINS('abc', 'c')	true
ENDS_WITH(string, substring)	Returns true if string ends with substring.	ENDS_WITH('abc', 'c')	true
LEFT(string, length)	Extracts the left-most characters from the string.	LEFT('Hello World', 2)	'He'
LENGTH(string)	Number of characters in the string.	LENGTH('Hello World')	11
LOWER(string)	Converts string to lower case.	LOWER('Hello')	'hello'
LPAD(string, count, pad?)	Pads the string with the character from the left until it has count characters.	LPAD('Hello', 10, '<')	'<<<<<Hello'
LTRIM(string)	Removes leading spaces from the string.	LTRIM(' Hello')	'Hello'
REPEAT(string, count)	Returns the original string repeated count times.	REPEAT('abc', 2)	'abcabc'
REPLACE(string, source, target)	Replaces any occurrences of the source with target in string.	REPLACE('Hello World', 'World', 'Universe')	'Hello Universe'
REVERSE(string)	Reverses the string.	REVERSE('Hello')	'olleH'
RIGHT(string, count)	Extracts the right-most count characters from the string.	RIGHT('Hello World', 2)	'ld'
RPAD(string, length, pad?)	Returns the original string with trailing spaces added up to length characters.	RPAD('Hello', 10, '<')	'Hello<<<<<'
RTRIM(string)	Removes trailing spaces from the string.	RTRIM('Hello ')	'Hello'
SPLIT_PART(string, delimiter, position)	Split the string along the delimiter and return the data at the (1-based) index of the list. If the index is outside the bounds of the list, returns an empty string.	SPLIT_PART('a|b|c', '|', 2)	b
STARTS_WITH(string, substring)	Returns true string begins with substring.	STARTS_WITH('abc', 'a')	true
STRPOS(string, substring)	Returns the position of the first occurrence of substring. Returns 0 if the substring is not found.	STRPOS('Hello World', 'World')	7
SUBSTRING(string, position, length)	Extract a substring of length characters from character position.	SUBSTRING('Hello', 2, 2)	'el'
TRIM(string)	Removes whitespace from both sides of the string.	TRIM(' Hello World ')	'Hello World'
UPPER(string)	Converts the string to upper case.	UPPER('Hello World')	'HELLO WORLD'

Numeric

Function	Description	Example	Result
ABS(x)	Computes the absolute value of x.	ABS(-1)	1
ACOS(x)	Computes the arc cosine of x.	ACOS(0)	1.5707963268
ASIN(x)	Computes the arc sine of x.	ASIN(0)	0
ATAN(x)	Computes the arc tangent of x.	ATAN(0)	0
ATAN2(x, y)	Computes the arc tangent of x and y.	ATAN2(0, 1)	0
CEIL(x)	Computes the smallest integer value that is greater than or equal to x.	CEIL(1.5)	2
COS(x)	Computes the cosine of x.	COS(0)	1
DEGREES(x)	Computes the degrees of x.	DEGREES(PI() / 2)	90
DIV(x, y)	Returns the result of integer division of x by y.	DIV(5, 2)	2
EXP(x)	Computes the exponential of x.	EXP(1)	2.718281828459045
FLOOR(x)	Computes the largest integer value that is less than or equal to x.	FLOOR(1.5)	1
LN(x)	Computes the natural logarithm of x.	LN(100)	4.605170185988092
LOG(x, y)	Computes the logarithm of x to base y.	LOG(100, 10)	2
LOG10(x)	Computes the logarithm base 10 of x.	LOG10(100)	2
MOD(x, y)	Computes the modulo of x and y.	MOD(5, 2)	1
PI()	Returns the value of π.	PI()	3.141592653589793
POWER(x, y)	Computes the value of x raised to the power of y.	POWER(2, 3)	8
RADIANS(x)	Computes the radians of x.	RADIANS(90)	1.570796326
RANDOM()	Returns a random real number between 0 and 1.	RANDOM()	various
ROUND(x, precision)	Rounds x to precision.	ROUND(1.23456, 2)	1.23
SIGN(x)	Computes the sign of x.	SIGN(-17)	-1
SIN(x)	Computes the sine of x.	SIN(0.5)	0.4794255386
SQRT(x)	Computes the square-root of x.	SQRT(4)	2
TAN(x)	Computes the tangent of x.	TAN(0.5)	0.5463024898
TRUNC(x, precision)	Truncates x to precision.	TRUNC(1.23456, 2)	1.23

Date

Function	Description	Example	Result
DATE_ADD(date, interval)	Adds an interval to a date.	DATE_ADD(DATE '2024-01-01', INTERVAL 2 YEAR)	2026-01-01
DATE_SUB(part, start_date, end_date)	Returns the number of complete partitions between start_date and end_date.	DATE_SUB('year', DATE '2024-01-01', DATE '2026-01-01')	2
DATE_TRUNC(part, date)	Truncates a date to specified precision.	DATE_TRUNC('year', DATE '2024-07-06')	2024-01-01
NOW()	Returns the current timestamp.	NOW()	Various
TODAY()	Returns the current date.	TODAY()	Various

Intervals take the form of:

• INTERVAL x <date_part>

• INTERVAL 'x <date_part> y <date_part> z <date_part> ...'

and the following are valid date parts:

• YEAR, YR, Y, YEAR, YRS

• QUARTER, QUARTERS

• MONTH, MON, MONTHS, MONS

• WEEK

• DAY, DAYS, D

• HOUR, HR, HOURS, HRS, H

• MINUTES, MIN, MINUTES, MINS, M

• SECOND, SEC, SECONDS, SECS, S

• MILLISECONDS, MILLISECOND, MS, MSEC, MSECS, MSECOND, MSECONDS

• MICROSECONDS, MICROSECONDS, US, USEC, USECOND,

Date part

Function	Description	Example	Result
DAYOFMONTH(date)	Returns the integer day of the month.	DAYOMONTH(DATE '2023-07-12')	12
DAYOFWEEK(date)	Returns the integer day of the week (Sunday = 0, Saturday = 6).	DAYOFWEEK(DATE '2023-07-12')	3
DAYOFYEAR(date)	Returns the integer day of the year.	DAYOFYEAR(DATE '2023-07-12')	193
MONTH(date)	Returns the integer month of year (January = 1).	MONTH(DATE '2023-07-12')	7
QUARTER(date)	Returns the integer quarter of year (January-March = 1).	QUARTER(DATE '2023-07-12')	3
WEEK(date)	Returns the week number of year (starting with 1).	WEEK(DATE '2023-07-12')	28
YEAR(date)	Returns the year.	YEAR(DATE '2023-07-12')	2023

Aggregate

Function	Description	Example
AVG(x)	Computes the average (mean) of the values within x. NULL values are ignored.	AVG(x)
CORR(x, y)	Calculates the Pearson correlation coefficient of non-null pairs in the specified columns.	CORR(x, y)
COUNT(arg)	Counts the number of non-null values in the specified column. If no column is specified, counts the number of rows in the table.	COUNT(x)
COVAR_POP(x, y)	Calculates the population covariance of non-null pairs in the specified columns.	COVAR_POP(x, y)
COVAR_SAMP(x, y)	Calculates the sample covariance of non-null pairs in the specified columns.	COVAR_SAMP(x, y)
MAX(x)	Returns the maximum value of non-null expressions.	MAX(x)
MEDIAN(x)	Computes the median of the values within x. NULL values are ignored.	MEDIAN(x)
MIN(x)	Returns the minimum value of non-null expressions.	MIN(x)
MODE(x)	Returns the most frequent value of non-null expressions.	MODE(x)
QUANTILE_CONT(x, y)	Calculates the value of a continuous variable x at a specified percentile y, where y is between 0 and 1. The result is interpolated between adjacent values of x.	QUANTILE_CONT(x, 0.5)
QUANTILE_DISC(x, y)	Calculates the value of a discrete variable x at a specified percentile y, where y is between 0 and 1. The result is the value of x at the yth percentile.	QUANTILE_DISC(x, 0.5)
STDDEV_POP(x)	Computes the standard deviation of the values within x. NULL values are ignored.	STDDEV_POP(x)
STDDEV_SAMP(x)	Computes the standard deviation of the values within x. NULL values are ignored.	STDDEV_SAMP(x)
SUM(x)	Computes the sum of the values within x. NULL values are ignored.	SUM(x)
VAR_POP(x)	Computes the variance of the values within x. NULL values are ignored.	VAR_POP(x)
VAR_SAMP(x)	Computes the variance of the values within x. NULL values are ignored.	VAR_SAMP(x)

Window

Function	Description	Example
CUME_DIST()	Evaluates the cumualative distribution: the number of partition rows preceding the current row / total partition rows.	CUME_DIST()
DENSE_RANK()	Calculates the rank of the current row without gaps.	DENSE_RANK()
FIRST_VALUE(expr)	Evaluates expr for the first row in the window frame.	FIRST_VALUE(x)
LAG(expr, offset, default)	Returns the value of expr evaluated at the row that is offset rows before the current row within the window frame. If there is no such row, instead return default. If offset is omitted, it defaults to 1. If default is omitted, it defaults to NULL.	LAG(x, 1, 0)
LAST_VALUE(expr)	Evaluates expr for the last row in the window frame.	LAST_VALUE(x)
LEAD(expr, offset, default)	Returns the value of expr evaluated at the row that is offset rows after the current row within the window frame. If there is no such row, instead return default. If offset is omitted, it defaults to 1. If default is omitted, it defaults to NULL.	LEAD(x, 1, 0)
NTH_VALUE(expr, nth)	Evaluates expr at the nth row of the window frame.	NTH_VALUE(x, 2)
NTILE(num_buckets)	Distributes the rows in an ordered partition into a specified number of groups, ranging from 1 to num_buckets.	NTILE(4)
PERCENT_RANK()	Evaluates the relative rank of the current row: (rank - 1) / (total partition rows - 1).	PERCENT_RANK()
RANK()	Calculates the rank of the current row with gaps. Rows with equal values receive the same rank value.	RANK()
ROW_NUMBER()	Returns the number of the current row within the partition, 1-indexed.	ROW_NUMBER()

Utility

Function	Description	Example	Result
COALESCE(x, ...)	Returns the value of the first non-null expression. All expressions must be of the same type.	COALESCE(NULL, 1, 2)	1
GREATEST(x, ...)	Returns the greatest value of the list of expressions. All expressions must be of the same type.	GREATEST(1, 2, 3)	3
IF(x, y, z)	If x is true, returns y, Otherwise, returns z.	IF(2 > 1, 'a', 'b')	'a'
IFNULL(x, y)	If x is null, returns y. Otherwise, returns x.	IFNULL(NULL, 1)	1
LEAST(x, ...)	Returns the least value of the list of expressions. All expressions must be of the same type.	LEAST(1, 2, 3)	1
NULLIF(x, y)	Returns null if x = y, otherwise returns x.	NULLIF(1, 1)	NULL