ROW_NUMBER

Returns the row number of each row within the partition of a result set.

ROW_NUMBER numbers all rows sequentially.

See also RANK, which provides the same value for identical consecutive rows (e.g. 1, 2, 2, 4, 4, 6).

Syntax

ROW_NUMBER( )
      OVER (
         [ PARTITION BY partition_expr [, ...] ]
         [ ORDER BY order [ ASC | DESC ] [, ...]]
      )

Arguments

None

Returns

The row number, with data type BIGINT.

Notes

• The ORDER BY clause that is used determines the order in which the rows appear in a result set, and thus the rank.
• Rank is non-deterministic. It may return different results each time it is called with a specific set of input values even if there has been no change in the table contents.

Examples

For these examples, assume a table named nba, with the following structure:

CREATE TABLE nba
(
   "Name" varchar(40),
   "Team" varchar(40),
   "Number" tinyint,
   "Position" varchar(2),
   "Age" tinyint,
   "Height" varchar(4),
   "Weight" real,
   "College" varchar(40),
   "Salary" float
 );

Here’s a peek at the table contents (Download nba.csv):

nba.csv

Name	Team	Number	Position	Age	Height	Weight	College	Salary
Avery Bradley	Boston Celtics	0.0	PG	25.0	6-2	180.0	Texas	7730337.0
Jae Crowder	Boston Celtics	99.0	SF	25.0	6-6	235.0	Marquette	6796117.0
John Holland	Boston Celtics	30.0	SG	27.0	6-5	205.0	Boston University
R.J. Hunter	Boston Celtics	28.0	SG	22.0	6-5	185.0	Georgia State	1148640.0
Jonas Jerebko	Boston Celtics	8.0	PF	29.0	6-10	231.0		5000000.0
Amir Johnson	Boston Celtics	90.0	PF	29.0	6-9	240.0		12000000.0
Jordan Mickey	Boston Celtics	55.0	PF	21.0	6-8	235.0	LSU	1170960.0
Kelly Olynyk	Boston Celtics	41.0	C	25.0	7-0	238.0	Gonzaga	2165160.0
Terry Rozier	Boston Celtics	12.0	PG	22.0	6-2	190.0	Louisville	1824360.0

RANK vs. ROW_NUMBER

t=> SELECT ROW_NUMBER () OVER (PARTITION BY "Age" ORDER BY "Height") FROM nba;
row_number
----------
         1
         2
         1
         2
         3
         4
         5
         6
         7
         8
         9
        10
        11
        12
        13
        14
        15
        16
        17
        18
        19
         1
         2
         3
         4
[...]


t=> SELECT RANK () OVER (PARTITION BY "Age" ORDER BY "Height") FROM nba;
rank
----
   1
   1
   1
   2
   2
   2
   5
   6
   6
   8
   8
  10
  10
  10
  13
  14
  14
  14
  14
  18
  19
   1
   2
   2
   2
[...]