Snowflake
Aggregate Values Into Delimited String

Snowflake LISTAGG: Aggregate Multiple Values Into a Delimited String

What it does

LISTAGG concatenates values from a group into a single string with a specified delimiter separating them. It’s like making a list where each item is joined by a comma or another separator.

What you get

A single string that contains all the concatenated non-NULL values. If all values are NULL or the input is empty, the result is an empty string.

Common use cases

  • Combine names, addresses, or any set of values into one easy-to-read string.
  • Summarize data points that belong together, like listing all products purchased in a single transaction.

How to use it

You can concatenate items simply by specifying the column you want to aggregate and choosing a delimiter:


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SELECT
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LISTAGG (character_name, ', ') WITHIN GROUP (
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ORDER BY
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character_name
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) AS characters
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FROM
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galactic_events;

This would collect all character_name entries, separate them with a comma followed by a space, and order them alphabetically.

To avoid duplicate entries in your list, use the DISTINCT keyword:


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SELECT
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LISTAGG (DISTINCT character_name, '; ') WITHIN GROUP (
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ORDER BY
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character_name
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) AS unique_characters
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FROM
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galactic_events;

You can use LISTAGG both as an aggregate or a window function:

  • as an aggregate function

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LISTAGG( [ DISTINCT ] <expr1> [, <delimiter> ] ) [ WITHIN GROUP ( <orderby_clause> ) ]

  • as a window function

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LISTAGG( [ DISTINCT ] <expr1> [, <delimiter> ] )
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[ WITHIN GROUP ( <orderby_clause> ) ]
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OVER ( [ PARTITION BY <expr2> ] )

where

  • expression: This is the column or expression that you want to concatenate.
  • delimiter: The string that separates entries in the list. If omitted, entries will just be concatenated together without any separation.
  • DISTINCT: Optional keyword to remove duplicate values from the result.
  • ORDER BY: Determines the order of the concatenated results.
  • PARTITION BY: (Only in window function use) Groups rows that receive the same treatment.

Examples

List of events by character

Suppose we have a table called galactic_events that records events attended by characters from "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."

Input

Table: galactic_events

idcharacter_nameevent
1Arthur DentVogon Poetry Reading
2Arthur DentMilliways Dinner
3Arthur DentDeep Thought Inquiry
4Ford PrefectVogon Poetry Reading
5Ford PrefectEscape from Vogsphere
6Zaphod BeeblebroxPan Galactic Gargle Blaster Party

Snowflake SQL Query


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SELECT
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character_name,
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LISTAGG (event, ', ') WITHIN GROUP (
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ORDER BY
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event
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) AS events_attended
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FROM
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galactic_events_dupl
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GROUP BY
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character_name;

Output

character_nameevents_attended
Arthur DentDeep Thought Inquiry, Milliways Dinner, Vogon Poetry Reading
Ford PrefectEscape from Vogsphere, Vogon Poetry Reading
Zaphod BeeblebroxPan Galactic Gargle Blaster Party
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