FIRST_VALUE - MaxCompute - Alibaba Cloud Documentation Center

Obtains the calculated result of the first row of data in the window to which the current row belongs.

Limits

Before you use window functions, take note of the following limits:

Window functions are supported only in SELECT statements.
A window function cannot contain nested window functions or nested aggregate functions.
You cannot use window functions together with aggregate functions of the same level.

Syntax

first_value(<expr>[, <ignore_nulls>]) over ([partition_clause] [orderby_clause] [frame_clause])

Description

Returns the value of expr that corresponds to the first row of a window.

Parameters

expr: required. The expression that is used to calculate the returned result.
ignore_nulls: optional. A value of the BOOLEAN type. This parameter specifies whether to ignore null values. Default value: false. If this parameter is set to true, a non-null value of expr that corresponds to the first row of a window is returned.
partition_clause, orderby_clause, and frame_clause: For more information about these parameters, see windowing_definition.

Return value

A value of the same data type as expr is returned.

Sample data

This section provides sample source data and examples for you to understand how to use the functions. Create a table named emp and insert the sample data into the table. Sample statement:

create table if not exists emp
   (empno bigint,
    ename string,
    job string,
    mgr bigint,
    hiredate datetime,
    sal bigint,
    comm bigint,
    deptno bigint);
tunnel upload emp.txt emp;

The emp.txt file contains the following sample data:

7369,SMITH,CLERK,7902,1980-12-17 00:00:00,800,,20
7499,ALLEN,SALESMAN,7698,1981-02-20 00:00:00,1600,300,30
7521,WARD,SALESMAN,7698,1981-02-22 00:00:00,1250,500,30
7566,JONES,MANAGER,7839,1981-04-02 00:00:00,2975,,20
7654,MARTIN,SALESMAN,7698,1981-09-28 00:00:00,1250,1400,30
7698,BLAKE,MANAGER,7839,1981-05-01 00:00:00,2850,,30
7782,CLARK,MANAGER,7839,1981-06-09 00:00:00,2450,,10
7788,SCOTT,ANALYST,7566,1987-04-19 00:00:00,3000,,20
7839,KING,PRESIDENT,,1981-11-17 00:00:00,5000,,10
7844,TURNER,SALESMAN,7698,1981-09-08 00:00:00,1500,0,30
7876,ADAMS,CLERK,7788,1987-05-23 00:00:00,1100,,20
7900,JAMES,CLERK,7698,1981-12-03 00:00:00,950,,30
7902,FORD,ANALYST,7566,1981-12-03 00:00:00,3000,,20
7934,MILLER,CLERK,7782,1982-01-23 00:00:00,1300,,10
7948,JACCKA,CLERK,7782,1981-04-12 00:00:00,5000,,10
7956,WELAN,CLERK,7649,1982-07-20 00:00:00,2450,,10
7956,TEBAGE,CLERK,7748,1982-12-30 00:00:00,1300,,10

Examples

Group all employees by department and return the first row of data in each group. Sample statement:

ORDER BY is not specified.

select deptno, ename, sal, first_value(sal) over (partition by deptno) as first_value from emp;

The following result is returned:

+------------+------------+------------+-------------+
| deptno     | ename      | sal        | first_value |
+------------+------------+------------+-------------+
| 10         | TEBAGE     | 1300       | 1300        |   -- This row is the first row of the current window. 
| 10         | CLARK      | 2450       | 1300        |
| 10         | KING       | 5000       | 1300        |
| 10         | MILLER     | 1300       | 1300        |
| 10         | JACCKA     | 5000       | 1300        |
| 10         | WELAN      | 2450       | 1300        |
| 20         | FORD       | 3000       | 3000        |   -- This row is the first row of the current window. 
| 20         | SCOTT      | 3000       | 3000        |
| 20         | SMITH      | 800        | 3000        |
| 20         | ADAMS      | 1100       | 3000        |
| 20         | JONES      | 2975       | 3000        |
| 30         | TURNER     | 1500       | 1500        |   -- This row is the first row of the current window. 
| 30         | JAMES      | 950        | 1500        |
| 30         | ALLEN      | 1600       | 1500        |
| 30         | WARD       | 1250       | 1500        |
| 30         | MARTIN     | 1250       | 1500        |
| 30         | BLAKE      | 2850       | 1500        |
+------------+------------+------------+-------------+

ORDER BY is specified.

select deptno, ename, sal, first_value(sal) over (partition by deptno order by sal desc) as first_value from emp;

The following result is returned:

+------------+------------+------------+-------------+
| deptno     | ename      | sal        | first_value |
+------------+------------+------------+-------------+
| 10         | JACCKA     | 5000       | 5000        |   -- This row is the first row of the current window. 
| 10         | KING       | 5000       | 5000        |
| 10         | CLARK      | 2450       | 5000        |
| 10         | WELAN      | 2450       | 5000        |
| 10         | TEBAGE     | 1300       | 5000        |
| 10         | MILLER     | 1300       | 5000        |
| 20         | SCOTT      | 3000       | 3000        |   -- This row is the first row of the current window. 
| 20         | FORD       | 3000       | 3000        |
| 20         | JONES      | 2975       | 3000        |
| 20         | ADAMS      | 1100       | 3000        |
| 20         | SMITH      | 800        | 3000        |
| 30         | BLAKE      | 2850       | 2850        |   -- This row is the first row of the current window. 
| 30         | ALLEN      | 1600       | 2850        |
| 30         | TURNER     | 1500       | 2850        |
| 30         | MARTIN     | 1250       | 2850        |
| 30         | WARD       | 1250       | 2850        |
| 30         | JAMES      | 950        | 2850        |
+------------+------------+------------+-------------+

Related functions

FIRST_VALUE is a window function. For more information about the functions that are used to calculate the sum of data of columns in a window and to sort data, see Window functions.