LAG
Returns the value of the input expression at the given offset before the current row within the requested window.
For more information on usage, please refer to Window Functions.
Syntax
LAG ( <exp> [, <offset> [, <default> ]] )
OVER ( [ PARTITION BY <exp> ] ORDER BY <exp> [ { ASC | DESC } ] )
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
<val> | Any valid expression that will be returned based on the LAG <offset>. |
<expr> | The expression used for the PARTITION BY clause. |
<offset> | The number of rows backward from the current row from which to obtain a value. A negative number will act as LEAD() |
<default> | The expression to return when the offset goes out of the bounds of the window. Must be a literal INTEGER. The default is NULL. |
Example
In the example below, the LAG function is being used to find the students in each grade level who are sitting next to each other. In some cases, a student does not have an adjacent classmate, so the LAG function returns NULL.
SELECT
first_name,
grade_level,
LAG(first_name, 1) OVER (PARTITION BY grade_level ORDER BY first_name ) AS to_the_left,
LAG(first_name, -1) OVER (PARTITION BY grade_level ORDER BY first_name ) AS to_the_right
FROM
class_test;
Returns:
+------------+-------------+-------------+--------------+
| first_name | grade_level | to_the_left | to_the_right |
+------------+-------------+-------------+--------------+
| Frank | 9 | NULL | Humphrey |
| Humphrey | 9 | Frank | Iris |
| Iris | 9 | Humphrey | Jojo |
| Sammy | 9 | Peter | NULL |
| Peter | 9 | Jojo | Sammy |
| Jojo | 9 | Iris | Peter |
| Brunhilda | 12 | NULL | Charles |
| Franco | 12 | Charles | Gary |
| Thomas | 12 | Jesse | NULL |
| Gary | 12 | Franco | Jesse |
| Charles | 12 | Brunhilda | Franco |
| Jesse | 12 | Gary | Thomas |
| Roseanna | 11 | Otis | Shangxiu |
| Carol | 11 | NULL | Larry |
| Wanda | 11 | Shangxiu | NULL |
| Shangxiu | 11 | Roseanna | Wanda |
| Larry | 11 | Carol | Otis |
| Otis | 11 | Larry | Roseanna |
| Deborah | 10 | Albert | Mary |
| Yolinda | 10 | Shawn | NULL |
| Albert | 10 | NULL | Deborah |
| Mary | 10 | Deborah | Shawn |
| Shawn | 10 | Mary | Yolinda |
+------------+-------------+-------------+--------------+