Calculations
Use Calculations to write spreadsheet-style formulas.
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Hex calculations allow you to write ad-hoc formulas using a familiar spreadsheet interface. Creating a formula will add a new column to your table.
Calculations can be created wherever you use Tables (in a Table Display cell, or in the Table tab of a SQL cell or Chart cell). To get started, click the + icon at the right of a table. The formula bar will open and a new column will appear on the right. Then, type a formula using the syntax in the language documentation below. To reference columns, begin typing to bring up a list of matching column names. Use the arrow keys to move up and down the suggestions list, and select the desired column by hitting Tab or Enter. Alternatively, click a column in the table to reference it in your formula.
A preview of your calculated values will be rendered as you type. Hit Enter or ⌘ + Enter to run the calculation in ernest. The calculation will be applied to every row in the table.
To edit an existing calculation, either click the fx icon in the column header or click the column’s header and select Edit formula….
Calculated columns can be filtered, formatted, and sorted, just like a regular column. If a cell with a calculation has a cell-level filter applied to it, the calculation will run before the filter is applied.
Formulas
The Hex calculation language is designed to be familiar to spreadsheet users. You can perform basic arithmetic using mathematical operators:
numerator / denominator
You can compose functions to perform more sophisticated logic:
If(end_date < Today(), 'Closed', 'Active')
The data types, operators, and functions that are available in the Hex calculation language are documented below.
Parameterized calculations
It's possible to make calculations dynamic based on project variables. You can use Jinja to reference Python variables in calculation formulas.
Variables can be referenced in a formula using syntax like the following: {{variable_name}}. See Using Jinja for more details on Jinja usage.
Complex jinja logic such as if statements, for loops, and references to lists are not supported.
Changing an input parameter upstream will reactively update parameterized calculations downstream.
Data types
The calculation language presents four data types: Text, Number, Boolean, and Datetime. They map to the underlying dataframe data types as follows:
| Calcs Type | Pandas Type | SQL Type | Example Literals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Text | object | VARCHAR, CHAR | 'Hello!', '', null |
| Number | int64, float64 | INT, BIGINT, SMALLINT, FLOAT, DOUBLE, DECIMAL | 42, -42.0, 2.5e12, null |
| Boolean | bool | BOOLEAN | True, False, null |
| Datetime | datetime64 | DATE, DATETIME, TIMESTAMP | null |
Note that there are no datetime literals (besides null); datetime inputs to functions must be column references.
Operators
| Operator | Description | Input Data Types | Return Type |
|---|---|---|---|
& | Concatenates two text values. | Text & Text | Text |
+ | Adds two numbers. | Number + Number | Number |
- | Subtracts one number from another. | Number - Number | Number |
* | Multiplies one number by another. | Number * Number | Number |
/ | Divides one number by another. Hex automatically protects you from divide-by-zero errors. | Number / Number | Number |
^ | Raises one number to the power of another. | Number ^ Number | Number |
% | Modulo. Returns the remainder when dividing one number by another. | Number % Number | Number |
AND / && | Logical AND | Boolean AND Boolean | Boolean |
OR / || | Logical OR | Boolean OR Boolean | Boolean |
NOT / ! | Logical NOT | Boolean NOT Boolean | Boolean |
= | Evaluates if one value equals another. | Number = Number Text = Text Datetime = Datetime | Boolean |
>= | Evaluates if one number is greater than or equal to another. | Number >= Number Datetime >= Datetime | Boolean |
> | Evaluates if one number is strictly greater than another. | Number > Number Datetime > Datetime | Boolean |
<= | Evaluates if one number is less than or equal to another. | Number <= Number Datetime <= Datetime | Boolean |
< | Evaluates if one number is strictly less than another. | Number < Number Datetime < Datetime | Boolean |
!= / <> | Evaluates if one value is not equal to another. | Number != Number Text != Text Datetime != Datetime | Boolean |
Functions
📝 Text
| Function | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
Concat(text_1, ..., text_n) | Concatenates multiple text values together into one. Equivalent to the & operator.Inputs text: A text value to concatenate. Any number of additional text values can be added. Return type text Example Concat('Jane', ' ', 'Doe') → ‘Jane Doe’ | Concat('Jane', ' ', 'Doe') → ‘Jane Doe’ |
Length(text) | Counts the number of characters in text. Inputs text: A text value to measure the length of. Return type number | Length('Hex') → 3 |
Left(text, n) | Returns the first n characters of text. Inputs text: A text value to take the first n characters of.n: The number of characters to take.Return type text | Left('abcd', 3) → ‘abc’ |
Right(text, n) | Returns the last n characters of text. Inputs text: A text value to take the last n characters of. n: The number of characters to take.Return type text | Right('abcd', 3) → ‘bcd’ |
Lower(text) | Converts a text value to lowercase. Inputs text: A text value to make lowercase.Return type text | Lower('Jane Doe') → ‘jane doe’ |
Upper(text) | Converts a text value to uppercase. Inputs text: A text value to make uppercase.Return type text | Upper('Jane Doe') → ‘JANE DOE’ |
Contains(text, search_text) | Returns True if text contains search_text, and False otherwise. Inputs text: A text value to search in.search_text: A text literal to search for withintext. Cannot be an expression or reference.Return type boolean | Contains('abcd', 'abc') → True |
StartsWith(text, search_text) | Returns True if text starts with search_text, and False otherwise. Inputs text: A text value to search in.search_text: A text literal to search for at the start of text. Cannot be an expression or reference.Return type boolean | StartsWith('abcd', 'abc') → True |
EndsWith(text, search_text) | Returns True if text ends with search_text, and False otherwise. Inputs text: A text value to search in.search_text: A text literal to search for at the end of text. Cannot be an expression or reference.Return type boolean | EndsWith('abcd', 'bcd') → True |
🧮 Math
| Function | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
Abs(number) | Computes the absolute value of number. Inputs number: A number to take the absolute value of. Return type number | Abs(-3) → 3 |
Ceiling(number) | Rounds up number to the nearest integer. Inputs number: A number to round up. Return type number | Ceiling(3.14) → 4 |
Floor(number) | Rounds down number to the nearest integer. Inputs number: A number to round down. Return type number | Floor(3.14) → 3 |
Power(number, power) | Raises number to the power of power. Functionally equivalent to ^. Inputs number: A number to raise by the power of power.power: The power to raise number by.Return type number | Power(3, 2) → 9 |
Sqrt(number) | Takes the square root of number. Inputs number: The number to take the square root of.Return type number | Sqrt(9) → 3 |
Exp(power) | Raises the mathematical constant e to the power of power. Inputs power: The power to raise e by.Return type number | Exp(1) → 2.718281828459045 |
Round(number) | Rounds number up or down to the nearest integer. Inputs number: The number to round.Return type number | Round(3.14) → 3 |
🔀 Logical
| Function | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
If(condition, value_if_true, value_if_otherwise) | Returns value_if_true if condition is True, and value_if_otherwise otherwise. Inputs condition: An expression resulting in True or False.value_if_true: A value to return if condition is True.value_if_otherwise: A value to return if condition is not True. Must be the same data type as value_if_true.Return type text, number, boolean, datetime | If(num % 2 = 0, 'Even', 'Odd') |
Switch(switch_value, if_matches_1, result_1, ..., if_matches_n, result_n) | A more succinct and readable way of nesting many If() statements based on one single input value. Returns the result value corresponding to the paired if_matches value that equals the switch_value. Inputs switch_value: The value to compare against all the if_matches values.if_matches_1: The first value to compare against switch_value. If they are equal, the function returns result_1. Otherwise, it compares switch_value to the next if_matches value.result_1: The value to return if switch_value equals if_matches_1.Return type text, number, boolean, datetime | Switch(status_code, 1, 'Processing', 2, 'Confirmed', 3, 'Shipped', 4, 'Delivered') |
Coalesce(value_1, ..., value_n) | Returns the first non-null value. Inputs value_1: A value to return if not null. If null, the next value input is considered, and so on.Return type text, number, boolean, datetime | Coalesce(null, 0, 42) → 0 |
IsFinite(number) | Returns True if number is not null, not NaN, and not Inf. Otherwise, returns False. Inputs number: A number to check for being finite.Return type boolean | IsFinite(42) → True |
IsOneOf(value, match_1, ..., match_n) | Returns True if value equals any of match. Inputs value: A value to compare against all the match values.match_1: The first value to compare against value. If they are equal, the function returns True. Otherwise, it compares value to the next match value.Return type boolean | IsOneOf(1, 2, 3, 4) → False (1 is not equal to 2, 3, or 4) |
IsNull(value) | Returns True if value is null, and False otherwise. Inputs value: A text, number, boolean, or datetime value to check for being null.Return type boolean | IsNull(null) → True |
🪄 Casting
| Function | Description |
|---|---|
ToText(number) | Converts number into a text data type. Inputs number: A number to convert to text. Return type text Example ToText(123) → ‘123’ |
ToNumber(text) | Converts text into a number data type. Inputs text: A text value to convert to a number. Return type number Example ToNumber('123') → 123 |
ToDatetime(text) | Converts text into a datetime data type. Inputs text: A text value to convert to a datetime. Return type datetime Example ToDatetime('2024-02-19') → 2024-02-19T00:00:00 |
ToBoolean(number) | Converts number into a boolean data type, where 0 is False and 1 is True. Inputs number: A number to convert to a boolean. Return type boolean Example ToBoolean(0) → False |
📅 Date & Time
| Function | Description |
|---|---|
Year(datetime) Quarter(datetime) Month(datetime) Day(datetime) Hour(datetime) Minute(datetime) Second(datetime) Millisecond(datetime) | Extracts the date part specified in the function name from datetime. Inputs datetime: A datetime value to extract from. Return type number Example Day('2024-02-14') → 14 |
DayOfWeek(datetime) | Extracts the day of the week from datetime (1 for Sunday, 7 for Saturday). Inputs datetime: A datetime value to extract from. Return type number Example DayOfWeek(ToDatetime('2024-01-02')) → 3 |
TruncYear(datetime) TruncMonth(datetime) TruncDay(datetime) TruncHour(datetime) TruncMinute(datetime) TruncSecond(datetime) | Truncates datetime down to the nearest datepart as specified in the function name. Inputs datetime: A datetime value to be truncated. Return type datetime Example TruncMonth('2024-02-14 10:31:50') → 2024-02-01 00:00:00 |
Now() | Returns the current date and time. Inputs None Return type datetime Example Now() → 2024-02-15 13:04:56 |
Today() | Returns the current date. Inputs None Return type datetime Example Today() → 2024-02-15 |
➕ Aggregates
| Function | Description |
|---|---|
Avg(number) | Computes the mean of the input column. Inputs number: A numeric column you want to compute the average of. Return type number Example Avg(column) → 2.53 |
Count(column) | Counts the number of all values in the input column. Inputs column: A column (of any type) whose values you want to count. Return type number Example Count(column) → 1640 |
Max(number) | Returns the maximum number in the input column. Inputs number: A numeric column you want to compute the maximum of. Return type number Example Max(column) → 5007 |
Median(number) | Returns the median number from the input column. Inputs number: A numeric column you want to compute the median of. Return type number Example Median(column) → 52 |
Min(number) | Returns the minimum number in the input column. Inputs number: A numeric column you want to compute the minimum of. Return type number Example Min(column) → -47 |
StdDev(number) | Returns the sample standard deviation of the input column. Inputs number: A numeric column you want to compute the sample standard deviation of. Return type number Example StdDev(column) → 1.43 |
StdDevPop(number) | Returns the population standard deviation of the input column. Inputs number: A numeric column you want to compute the population standard deviation of. Return type number Example StdDevPop(column) → 1.47 |
Sum(number) | Returns the sum of all the values in the input column. Inputs number: A numeric column whose values you want to take the sum of. Return type number Example Sum(column) → 387 |
Variance(number) | Returns the sample variance of the input column. Inputs number: A numeric column you want to compute the sample variance of. Return type number Example Variance(column) → 2.12 |
VariancePop(number) | Returns the population variance of the input column. Inputs number: A numeric column you want to compute the population variance of. Return type number Example VariancePop(column) → 2.42 |
Other Syntax
| Syntax | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| () | Grouping, mostly used for order of operations on arithmetic. | (a+b)/c |
| `` | Wrapper for column references. Only required if the column name contains special characters such as a whitespace. | `My Column` |
Nulls
The result of a calculation will be null if null is one of the formula's arguments, and substituting the null argmument with different values would produce different outcomes. For example, startswith(null, 'Hello') returns null because substituting null with different values produces different outcomes (substituting with Hello produces True, while substituting with Hi returns False). Some more examples are below:
| Example | Outcome |
|---|---|
| 1 + null | null |
| If(null, b, c) | c |
| Switch(null, b, c) | null |
| True OR null | null |
| False OR null | null |
| True AND null | null |
| False AND null | False |
| null OR null | null |
| null AND null | null |
Null values are ignored for all aggregate calculations. For example, Count(column) will ignore null values when calculating count of values in column.
Known limitations
- Not all databases support calculations with Query mode: It is not possible to configure calculations on query objects from certain connections. See the table below to understand which connections are supported.
- No windows: Window operations (
Rank(),PercentOfTotal(), offset range inputs, etc.) are not currently supported. - Column-level, not cell-level: Calculations happen on the column level. It is not possible to perform a calculation on a single row without applying it to the rest of the column. Similarly, you must reference whole columns in your formulas. It is not possible to reference an individual row, or range of rows, in your formula.
Supported connections
The below table details which data connections are supported when using Calculations on query objects.
| Database | Supported? |
|---|---|
| AlloyDB | ✅ |
| Athena | ✅ |
| BigQuery | ✅ |
| ClickHouse | ✅ |
| CloudSQL (MySQL) | ✅ |
| CloudSQL (PostgreSQL) | ✅ |
| CloudSQL (MS SQL Server) | ❌ |
| Databricks | ✅ |
| Dremio | ❌ |
| DuckDB | ✅ |
| MS SQL Server | ❌ |
| MariaDB | ✅ |
| Materialize | ❌ |
| Motherduck | ✅ |
| MySQL | ✅ |
| PostgreSQL | ✅ |
| Presto | ❌ |
| Redshift | ✅ |
| Snowflake | ✅ |
| Starburst | ❌ |
| Trino | ❌ |