sample-distinct operator
Applies to: ✅ Microsoft Fabric ✅ Azure Data Explorer ✅ Azure Monitor ✅ Microsoft Sentinel
Returns a single column that contains up to the specified number of distinct values of the requested column.
The operator tries to return an answer as quickly as possible rather than trying to make a fair sample.
Syntax
T | sample-distinct NumberOfValues of ColumnName
Learn more about syntax conventions.
Parameters
| Name | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| T | string |
✔️ | The input tabular expression. |
| NumberOfValues | int, long, or real | ✔️ | The number distinct values of T to return. You can specify any numeric expression. |
| ColumnName | string |
✔️ | The name of the column from which to sample. |
Tip
- Use the top-hitters operator to get the top values.
- Refer to the sample operator to sample data rows.
Examples
The example in this section shows how to use the syntax to help you get started.
The examples in this article use publicly available tables in the help cluster, such as the
StormEventstable in the Samples database.
The examples in this article use publicly available tables, such as the
StormEventstable in the Weather analytics sample data.
Get 10 distinct values from a population
StormEvents | sample-distinct 10 of EpisodeId
Output
| EpisodeId |
|---|
| 11074 |
| 11078 |
| 11749 |
| 12554 |
| 12561 |
| 13183 |
| 11780 |
| 11781 |
| 12826 |
Further compute the sample values
let sampleEpisodes = StormEvents | sample-distinct 10 of EpisodeId;
StormEvents
| where EpisodeId in (sampleEpisodes)
| summarize totalInjuries=sum(InjuriesDirect) by EpisodeId
Output
| EpisodeId | totalInjuries |
|---|---|
| 11091 | 0 |
| 11074 | 0 |
| 11078 | 0 |
| 11749 | 0 |
| 12554 | 3 |
| 12561 | 0 |
| 13183 | 0 |
| 11780 | 0 |
| 11781 | 0 |
| 12826 | 0 |