:orphan:

.. _percentile_cont:

**************************
PERCENTILE CONT
**************************

The **PERCENTILE_CONT** function returns the value located in the selected percentile of a specified column. The required input is a number between **0** and **1** that represents the wanted percentile and the column containing the wanted percentile. If the selected percentile does not have an exact value, the PERCENTILE_CONT function extrapolates a value estimated from the existing values.

The **PERCENTILE_CONT** function returns an extrapolated value closest to the values in the requested percentile. If you want to see the closest value in your data to the requested percentile, use :ref:`PERCENTILE DISC<percentile_disc>`.

Syntax
========

The following is the correct syntax for the ``PERCENTILE_CONT`` function:

.. code-block:: postgres

   PERCENTILE_CONT(double) WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY <column>)
   
Example
========

The example in this section is based on the ``players`` table below:

.. list-table::
   :widths: auto
   :header-rows: 1
   
   * - Player_Name
     - Team
     - Score
   * - T_Tock
     - Blue
     - 12
   * - N_Stein
     - Blue
     - 23  
   * - F_Dirk
     - Blue
     - 45
   * - Y_Hyung
     - Blue
     - 19
   * - A_Rodrick
     - Blue
     - 37
   * - R_Evans
     - Red
     - 52    
   * - C_Johnston
     - Red
     - 43
   * - K_Stoll
     - Red
     - 27
   * - J_Loftus
     - Red
     - 8  
   * - L_Ellis
     - Red
     - 13   
   * - G_Elroy
     - Red
     - 31    


The following is an example of the ``PERCENTILE_CONT`` function:

.. code-block:: postgres

   SELECT
   PERCENTILE_CONT(0.18) WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY score) 
   FROM players;
             
   percentile_cont|
   ---------------+
   12.8
   
.. note:: The output value is an extrapolation of the halfway point between the values.