median() function

The median() function is a special application of the quantile() function that returns the median _value of an input table or all non-null records in the input table with values that fall within the 0.5 quantile (50th percentile) depending on the method used.

*Function type: Selector or Aggregate
**Output data type:* Record

median(
  column: "_value",
  method: "estimate_tdigest",
  compression: 0.0
)

When using the estimate_tdigest or exact_mean methods, it outputs non-null records with values that fall within the 0.5 quantile.

When using the exact_selector method, it outputs the non-null record with the value that represents the 0.5 quantile.

The median() function can only be used with float value types. It is a special application of the quantile() function which uses an approximation implementation that requires floats. You can convert your value column to a float column using the toFloat() function.

Parameters

column

The column to use to compute the median. Defaults to "_value".

*Data type: String*

method

Defines the method of computation. Defaults to "estimate_tdigest".

*Data type: String*

The available options are:

estimate_tdigest

An aggregate method that uses a t-digest data structure to compute an accurate quantile estimate on large data sources.

exact_mean

An aggregate method that takes the average of the two points closest to the quantile value.

exact_selector

A selector method that returns the data point for which at least q points are less than.

compression

Indicates how many centroids to use when compressing the dataset. A larger number produces a more accurate result at the cost of increased memory requirements. Defaults to 1000.0.

*Data type: Float*

Examples

Median as an aggregate

from(bucket: "example-bucket")
  |> filter(fn: (r) =>
    r._measurement == "mem" and
    r._field == "used_percent"
  )
  |> range(start:-12h)
  |> window(every:10m)
  |> median()

Median as a selector

from(bucket: "example-bucket")
  |> filter(fn: (r) =>
    r._measurement == "mem" and
    r._field == "used_percent"
  )
  |> range(start:-12h)
  |> window(every:10m)
  |> median(method: "exact_selector")

Function definition

median = (method="estimate_tdigest", compression=0.0, tables=<-) =>
  quantile(
    q:0.5,
    method:method,
    compression:compression
  )

Related articles

• Find median values
• InfluxQL – MEDIAN()