PostgreSQL ROLLUP

Summary: in this tutorial, you will learn how to use the PostgreSQL ROLLUP to generate multiple grouping sets.

Introduction to the PostgreSQL ROLLUP

The PostgreSQL ROLLUP is a subclause of the GROUP BY clause that offers a shorthand for defining multiple grouping sets. A grouping set is a set of columns by which you group. Check out the grouping sets tutorial for detailed information.

Different from the CUBE subclause, ROLLUP does not generate all possible grouping sets based on the specified columns. It just makes a subset of those.

The ROLLUP assumes a hierarchy among the input columns and generates all grouping sets that make sense considering the hierarchy. This is the reason why ROLLUP is often used to generate the subtotals and the grand total for reports.

For example, the CUBE (c1,c2,c3) makes all eight possible grouping sets:

(c1, c2, c3)
(c1, c2)
(c2, c3)
(c1,c3)
(c1)
(c2)
(c3)
()
Code language: SQL (Structured Query Language) (sql)

However, the ROLLUP(c1,c2,c3) generates only four grouping sets, assuming the hierarchy c1 > c2 > c3 as follows:

(c1, c2, c3)
(c1, c2)
(c1)
()
Code language: SQL (Structured Query Language) (sql)

A common use of ROLLUP is to calculate the aggregations of data by year, month, and date, considering the hierarchy year > month > date

The following illustrates the syntax of the PostgreSQL ROLLUP:

SELECT
    c1,
    c2,
    c3,
    aggregate(c4)
FROM
    table_name
GROUP BY
    ROLLUP (c1, c2, c3);
Code language: SQL (Structured Query Language) (sql)

It is also possible to do a partial roll up to reduce the number of subtotals generated.

SELECT
    c1,
    c2,
    c3,
    aggregate(c4)
FROM
    table_name
GROUP BY
    c1, 
    ROLLUP (c2, c3);
Code language: SQL (Structured Query Language) (sql)

PostgreSQL ROLLUP examples

If you haven’t created the sales table, you can use the following script:

DROP TABLE IF EXISTS sales;
CREATE TABLE sales (
    brand VARCHAR NOT NULL,
    segment VARCHAR NOT NULL,
    quantity INT NOT NULL,
    PRIMARY KEY (brand, segment)
);

INSERT INTO sales (brand, segment, quantity)
VALUES
    ('ABC', 'Premium', 100),
    ('ABC', 'Basic', 200),
    ('XYZ', 'Premium', 100),
    ('XYZ', 'Basic', 300);
Code language: PHP (php)

The following query uses the ROLLUP clause to find the number of products sold by brand (subtotal) and by all brands and segments (total).

SELECT
    brand,
    segment,
    SUM (quantity)
FROM
    sales
GROUP BY
    ROLLUP (brand, segment)
ORDER BY
    brand,
    segment;
Code language: SQL (Structured Query Language) (sql)

As you can see clearly from the output, the third row shows the sales of the ABC brand, the sixth row displays sales of the XYZ brand. The last row shows the grand total for all brands and segments. In this example, the hierarchy is brand > segment.

If you change the order of brand and segment, the result will be different as follows:

SELECT
    segment,
    brand,
    SUM (quantity)
FROM
    sales
GROUP BY
    ROLLUP (segment, brand)
ORDER BY
    segment,
    brand;
Code language: SQL (Structured Query Language) (sql)

In this case, the hierarchy is the segment > brand.

The following statement performs a partial roll-up:

SELECT
    segment,
    brand,
    SUM (quantity)
FROM
    sales
GROUP BY
    segment,
    ROLLUP (brand)
ORDER BY
    segment,
    brand;
Code language: SQL (Structured Query Language) (sql)

See the following rental table from the sample database.

The following statement finds the number of rental per day, month, and year by using the ROLLUP:

SELECT
    EXTRACT (YEAR FROM rental_date) y,
    EXTRACT (MONTH FROM rental_date) M,
    EXTRACT (DAY FROM rental_date) d,
    COUNT (rental_id)
FROM
    rental
GROUP BY
    ROLLUP (
        EXTRACT (YEAR FROM rental_date),
        EXTRACT (MONTH FROM rental_date),
        EXTRACT (DAY FROM rental_date)
    );
Code language: SQL (Structured Query Language) (sql)

PostgreSQL ROLLUP example with year month and date

In this tutorial, you have learned how to use the PostgreSQL ROLLUP to generate multiple grouping sets.