Creates a user-defined aggregate function (UDAF). A UDAF is a callable routine that accepts input parameters, executes programmatic logic in the function body, and returns a scalar-type value.

Syntax

CREATE [OR REPLACE] AGGREGATE function_name ( [parameter_list] )
  RETURNS { data_type [data_type_modifier] }
  WITH STATE data_type
  INITIALIZE WITH udf_function_name
  ITERATE WITH udf_function_name
  MERGE WITH udf_function_name
  TERMINATE WITH udf_function_name

parameter_list:
  data_type [data_type_modifier [, ...] ] [, ...]

data_type_modifier:
  DEFAULT default_value | NOT NULL | NULL | COLLATE collation_name

Arguments

OR REPLACE

If specified, replaces a UDAF if one already exists with the same name.

function_name

The name of the function. By their nature, UDAF names may override existing builtin aggregate function names for scalar data types, such as SUM(). UDAF names cannot be use the same name as stored procedures, tables, views, user-defined scalar-value functions (UDFs), or user-defined table-valued functions (TVFs).

You can also specify database_name and function_name together by replacing function_name with database_name.function_name instead of defaulting to the current context database. For example, you can write the following:

CREATE AGGREGATE db.some_func(a int)
...

Function names are not case-sensitive. For details on case-sensitivity, refer to the Database Object Case-Sensitivity topic.

WITH STATE

The STATE type of a UDAF may be a scalar type, ARRAY type, or a RECORD type.

parameter_list

Input parameters are optional. Any number of input parameters can be specified, and each must be delimited by a comma (,). Each input parameter is specified only by its data type and optional modifier.

UDAFs only allow scalar data types as input parameters. See the Data Types topic for more information.

The following example shows how to declare a single input parameter:

CREATE AGGREGATE my_sum(BIGINT)
...

The following example demonstrates how to declare more than one input parameters that also specify a data type modifier:

CREATE AGGREGATE multi_param_example(a INT, b VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL COLLATE utf8_bin, c DECIMAL(19,4))
...

udf_function_name

The name of each UDF function to execute for the INITIALIZE WITH, ITERATE WITH, MERGE WITH, and TERMINATE WITH clauses. The INITIALIZE function takes in no arguments, and it returns a STATE data type. The ITERATE function takes in a STATE data type and the input parameter data type, and it returns a STATE data type. If the UDAF has n parameters, the ITERATE function will take in n+1 arguments, with the first argument being the STATE type. The MERGE function takes in two STATE data types, and it returns a STATE data type. The TERMINATE function takes in a STATE data type, and it returns the type specified in the RETURNS clause.

MySQL Client Delimiters

When creating a UDF using a MySQL-compatible client connected to MemSQL, you must change the client delimiter to ensure that the function definition is correctly passed to the server and then set it back to a semicolon after the alternate delimiter is no longer needed. See the MySQL Client Delimiters topic for details on MySQL client delimiters.

Security and Permissions

The invoker of a UDAF must have EXECUTE permissions on the UDAF. Also, the UDAF’s definer must have EXECUTE permissions on each of the four UDFs that the UDAF uses.

Example

The following example creates a new UDAF named avg_udaf, which uses a RECORD state type and has the same behavior as the builtin AVG function. Note that before we can create the UDAF, each of the prerequisite user-defined scalar functions (UDFs) must be created, as the UDAF definition depends on their existence.

Create UDF Dependencies

The avg_udaf example UDAF depends on the following UDFs:

DELIMITER //
CREATE FUNCTION avg_init() RETURNS RECORD(s BIGINT, c BIGINT) AS
  BEGIN
    RETURN ROW(0, 0);
  END //
DELIMITER ;

DELIMITER //
CREATE FUNCTION avg_iter(state RECORD(s BIGINT, c BIGINT), value BIGINT) RETURNS RECORD(s BIGINT, c BIGINT) AS
  BEGIN
    RETURN ROW(state.s + value, state.c + 1);
  END //
DELIMITER ;

DELIMITER //
CREATE FUNCTION avg_merge(state1 RECORD(s BIGINT, c BIGINT), state2 RECORD(s BIGINT, c BIGINT)) RETURNS RECORD(s BIGINT, c BIGINT) AS
  BEGIN
    RETURN row(state1.s + state2.s, state1.c + state2.c);
  END //
DELIMITER ;

DELIMITER //
CREATE FUNCTION avg_terminate(state RECORD(s BIGINT, c BIGINT)) RETURNS BIGINT AS
  BEGIN
    RETURN state.s / state.c;
  END //
DELIMITER ;

Create UDAF Example

Once the UDF dependencies have been created, you can create the UDAF. Execute the following statement:

CREATE AGGREGATE avg_udaf(BIGINT) RETURNS BIGINT
  WITH STATE RECORD(s BIGINT, c BIGINT)
  INITIALIZE WITH avg_init
  ITERATE WITH avg_iter
  MERGE WITH avg_merge
  TERMINATE WITH avg_terminate;

After the UDAF has been successfully created, execute the following commands to try it:

CREATE TABLE t (i BIGINT);

INSERT INTO t VALUES (1), (2), (3), (4), (5);

SELECT avg_udaf(i) FROM t;
****
+-------------+
| avg_udaf(i) |
+-------------+
|           3 |
+-------------+

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