Aggregate data using QueryExpression
QueryExpression includes grouping and aggregation features that let you calculate sum, average, min, max, and count across multiple rows of data.
To return an aggregate value, you must:
Leave the ColumnSet.AllColumns property set to
false. Don't set it using the ColumnSet(Boolean) constructor.Add instances of the XrmAttributeExpression class to the ColumnSet.AttributeExpressions collection
For each column that you want to return, set these properties:
XrmAttributeExpression Property Description AttributeName The LogicalNameof the columnAlias The alias value for the column For each column that you want to aggregate, set the AggregateType to the type of aggregation you want to perform. Learn about types of aggregation
For each column that you want to group the results by, set these properties:
XrmAttributeExpression Property Description AggregateType Set to XrmAggregateType .NoneHasGroupBy Set to true.DateTimeGrouping When the grouping involves datetime values, specify the type of datetime grouping to apply using the XrmDateTimeGrouping enum members. Learn about grouping by parts of a date
Types of aggregation
The types of aggregation you can do are members of the XrmAggregateType enum.
| XrmAggregateType member | Description |
|---|---|
Avg |
The average value of the column values with data. |
Count |
The number of rows. |
CountColumn |
The number of rows with data in that column. |
Max |
The maximum value of the rows in that column. |
Min |
The minimum value of the rows in that column. |
None |
Use this when the column is used to group the aggregated data. The HasGroupBy value must be set to true. |
Sum |
The total value of the column values with data. |
Note the following points:
- Null values aren't considered when calculating aggregate values.
- You can use data from tables joined using the LinkEntity class.
- You can apply filters to limit the results as with any query.
Example
Let's say you have 10 account records with the following data:
| Number of Employees | Name | Address 1 City | Created On |
|---|---|---|---|
| NULL | Example Account | NULL | 8/25/2023 |
| 1,500 | Contoso Pharmaceuticals (sample) | Redmond | 3/25/2023 |
| 2,700 | Fabrikam, Inc. (sample) | Lynnwood | 3/25/2023 |
| 2,900 | Blue Yonder Airlines (sample) | Los Angeles | 3/25/2023 |
| 2,900 | City Power & Light (sample) | Redmond | 3/25/2023 |
| 3,900 | Coho Winery (sample) | Phoenix | 3/25/2023 |
| 4,300 | Adventure Works (sample) | Santa Cruz | 3/25/2023 |
| 4,800 | Alpine Ski House (sample) | Missoula | 3/25/2023 |
| 6,000 | Litware, Inc. (sample) | Dallas | 3/25/2023 |
| 6,200 | A. Datum Corporation (sample) | Redmond | 3/25/2023 |
The following query returns aggregate data for the numberofemployees column.
QueryExpression query = new()
{
EntityName = "account",
ColumnSet = new ColumnSet(false)
{
AttributeExpressions = {
{
new XrmAttributeExpression(
attributeName: "numberofemployees",
alias: "Average",
aggregateType: XrmAggregateType.Avg)
},
{
new XrmAttributeExpression(
attributeName: "numberofemployees",
alias: "Count",
aggregateType: XrmAggregateType.Count)
},
{
new XrmAttributeExpression(
attributeName: "numberofemployees",
alias: "ColumnCount",
aggregateType: XrmAggregateType.CountColumn)
},
{
new XrmAttributeExpression(
attributeName: "numberofemployees",
alias: "Maximum",
aggregateType: XrmAggregateType.Max)
},
{
new XrmAttributeExpression(
attributeName: "numberofemployees",
alias: "Minimum",
aggregateType: XrmAggregateType.Min)
},
{
new XrmAttributeExpression(
attributeName: "numberofemployees",
alias: "Sum",
aggregateType: XrmAggregateType.Sum)
}
}
}
};
The results are a single row:
--------------------------------------------------------------
| Average | Count | ColumnCount | Maximum | Minimum | Sum |
--------------------------------------------------------------
| 3,911 | 10 | 9 | 6,200 | 1,500 | 35,200 |
--------------------------------------------------------------
Grouping
Group the results of an aggregate query by adding an XrmAttributeExpression with the HasGroupBy property AggregateType set to XrmAggregateType.None.
When grouping, you should specify a QueryExpression.Orders with an OrderExpression that has the Alias property set to the alias of the group.
For example the following query returns the sum of employees, and count by city:
QueryExpression query = new()
{
EntityName = "account",
ColumnSet = new ColumnSet(false)
{
AttributeExpressions = {
{
new XrmAttributeExpression(
attributeName: "numberofemployees",
alias: "Total",
aggregateType: XrmAggregateType.Sum)
},
{
new XrmAttributeExpression(
attributeName: "address1_city",
alias: "Count",
aggregateType: XrmAggregateType.Count)
},
{
new XrmAttributeExpression(
attributeName: "address1_city",
alias: "City",
aggregateType: XrmAggregateType.None){
HasGroupBy = true
}
}
}
}
};
query.Orders.Add(new OrderExpression(
attributeName: "address1_city",
alias: "City",
orderType: OrderType.Ascending));
The query groups the results by City value, combining the results for the three rows where city is 'Redmond'.
| Total | Count | City |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1 | NULL |
| 6,000 | 1 | Dallas |
| 2,900 | 1 | Los Angeles |
| 2,700 | 1 | Lynnwood |
| 4,800 | 1 | Missoula |
| 3,900 | 1 | Phoenix |
| 10,600 | 3 | Redmond |
| 4,300 | 1 | Santa Cruz |
Grouping by parts of a date
You can select which part of the date to use when grouping by date. Set the XrmAttributeExpression.DateTimeGrouping to one of the XrmDateTimeGrouping enum members.
| XrmDateTimeGrouping member | Description |
|---|---|
None |
No DateTime grouping |
Day |
Group by Day |
Week |
Group by Week |
Month |
Group by Month |
Quarter |
Group by Quarter |
Year |
Group by Year |
FiscalPeriod |
Group by FiscalPeriod |
FiscalYear |
Group by FiscalYear |
The following query groups account records showing number of employees by when the records were created:
QueryExpression query = new()
{
EntityName = "account",
ColumnSet = new ColumnSet(false)
{
AttributeExpressions = {
{
new XrmAttributeExpression(
attributeName: "numberofemployees",
alias: "Total",
aggregateType: XrmAggregateType.Sum)
},
{
new XrmAttributeExpression(
attributeName: "createdon",
alias: "Day",
aggregateType: XrmAggregateType.None){
HasGroupBy = true,
DateTimeGrouping = XrmDateTimeGrouping.Day
}
},
{
new XrmAttributeExpression(
attributeName: "createdon",
alias: "Week",
aggregateType: XrmAggregateType.None){
HasGroupBy = true,
DateTimeGrouping = XrmDateTimeGrouping.Week
}
},
{
new XrmAttributeExpression(
attributeName: "createdon",
alias: "Month",
aggregateType: XrmAggregateType.None){
HasGroupBy = true,
DateTimeGrouping = XrmDateTimeGrouping.Month
}
},
{
new XrmAttributeExpression(
attributeName: "createdon",
alias: "Year",
aggregateType: XrmAggregateType.None){
HasGroupBy = true,
DateTimeGrouping = XrmDateTimeGrouping.Year
}
},
{
new XrmAttributeExpression(
attributeName: "createdon",
alias: "FiscalPeriod",
aggregateType: XrmAggregateType.None){
HasGroupBy = true,
DateTimeGrouping = XrmDateTimeGrouping.FiscalPeriod
}
},
{
new XrmAttributeExpression(
attributeName: "createdon",
alias: "FiscalYear",
aggregateType: XrmAggregateType.None){
HasGroupBy = true,
DateTimeGrouping = XrmDateTimeGrouping.FiscalYear
}
}
}
}
};
query.Orders.Add(new OrderExpression(
attributeName: "createdon",
alias: "Month",
orderType: OrderType.Ascending));
The following table shows the result using the example data set mentioned previously:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
| Total | Day | Week | Month | Year | FiscalPeriod | FiscalYear |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
| 35,200 | 25 | 12 | 3 | 2,023 | Quarter 1 FY2023 | FY2023 |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
| 0 | 27 | 35 | 8 | 2,023 | Quarter 3 FY2023 | FY2023 |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Fiscal period date grouping example
The following example shows a QueryExpression that sums the total number of orders fulfilled and groups the result by fiscal semester and fiscal year.
QueryExpression query = new()
{
EntityName = "salesorder",
ColumnSet = new ColumnSet(false)
{
AttributeExpressions = {
{
new XrmAttributeExpression(
attributeName: "totalamount",
alias: "total",
aggregateType: XrmAggregateType.Sum)
},
{
new XrmAttributeExpression(
attributeName: "datefulfilled",
alias: "date",
aggregateType: XrmAggregateType.None){
HasGroupBy = true,
DateTimeGrouping = XrmDateTimeGrouping.FiscalPeriod
}
}
}
}
};
query.Orders.Add(new OrderExpression(
attributeName: "datefulfilled",
alias: "Date",
orderType: OrderType.Ascending));
QueryExpression aggregation limitations
This section describes capabilities that are available using aggregation with FetchXml that are not currently available using QueryExpression.
Get distinct number with CountColumn
You can't get a distinct number of values using CountColumn with QueryExpression. Learn about distinct column values using FetchXml
Time zone when grouping by date
Grouping by parts of a date always uses UTC time and there is no way to specify that the user's time zone should be used instead available in FetchXml
Row aggregate
When a table has a hierarchical relationship defined, you can't return a row aggregate on the lookup column for the hierarchical relationship. Learn about row aggregates using FetchXml
Per query limit
There is no way to specify a configurable aggregate limit. Learn about per query limits using FetchXml
Limitations
Queries that return aggregate values are limited to 50,000 records. This limit helps maintain system performance and reliability. If the filter criteria in your query returns more than 50,000 records, you get the following error:
Number:
-2147164125
Code:8004E023
Message:AggregateQueryRecordLimit exceeded. Cannot perform this operation.
Client error message: The maximum record limit is exceeded. Reduce the number of records.
To avoid this error, add appropriate filters to your query to make sure it doesn't evaluate more than 50,000 records. Then run your query multiple times and combine the results. Appropriate filters depend on the nature of your data, but they could be a date range or a subset of values in a choice column.
Next steps
Learn how to count rows.