CREATE STATISTICS

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Use the CREATE STATISTICS statement to generate table statistics for the cost-based optimizer to use.

Once you create a table and load data into it (e.g., INSERT, IMPORT), table statistics can be generated. Table statistics help the cost-based optimizer determine the cardinality of the rows used in each query, which helps to predict more accurate costs.

New in v20.2: For compatibility with PostgreSQL, CockroachDB supports the ANALYZE/ANALYSE statement as an alias for CREATE STATISTICS. For syntax, see below.

Note:

By default, CockroachDB automatically generates statistics on all indexed columns, and up to 100 non-indexed columns. As a result, most users do not need to issue CREATE STATISTICS statements directly.

New in v20.2: CockroachDB also automatically collects multi-column statistics on columns that prefix each index.

Syntax

Parameters

Parameter	Description
`statistics_name`	The name of the set of statistics you are creating.
`opt_stats_columns`	The name of the column(s) you want to create statistics for.
`create_stats_target`	The name of the table you want to create statistics for.
`opt_as_of_clause`	Used to create historical stats using the `AS OF SYSTEM TIME` clause. For instructions, see Create statistics as of a given time.

Required Privileges

The user must have the CREATE privilege on the parent database.

Aliases

New in v20.2: For PostgreSQL compatibility, CockroachDB supports ANALYZE/ANALYSE as an alias for CREATE STATISTICS.

Alias syntax

Alias parameters

Parameter	Description
`analyze_target`	The name of the table for which you want to create statistics.

Examples

Setup

The following examples use MovR, a fictional vehicle-sharing application, to demonstrate CockroachDB SQL statements. For more information about the MovR example application and dataset, see MovR: A Global Vehicle-sharing App.

To follow along, run cockroach demo to start a temporary, in-memory cluster with the movr dataset preloaded:

$ cockroach demo

Create statistics on a single column

> CREATE STATISTICS revenue_stats ON revenue FROM rides;

> SHOW STATISTICS FOR TABLE rides;

  statistics_name |       column_names        |             created              | row_count | distinct_count | null_count |    histogram_id
------------------+---------------------------+----------------------------------+-----------+----------------+------------+---------------------
  __auto__        | {city}                    | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.725089+00:00 |       500 |              9 |          0 | 584550071425531905
  __auto__        | {id}                      | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.725089+00:00 |       500 |            500 |          0 | 584550071432740865
  __auto__        | {city,id}                 | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.725089+00:00 |       500 |            500 |          0 |               NULL
  __auto__        | {rider_id}                | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.725089+00:00 |       500 |             50 |          0 | 584550071446732801
  __auto__        | {city,rider_id}           | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.725089+00:00 |       500 |             50 |          0 |               NULL
  __auto__        | {vehicle_city}            | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.725089+00:00 |       500 |              9 |          0 | 584550071461019649
  __auto__        | {vehicle_id}              | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.725089+00:00 |       500 |             15 |          0 | 584550071467966465
  __auto__        | {vehicle_city,vehicle_id} | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.725089+00:00 |       500 |             15 |          0 |               NULL
  __auto__        | {start_address}           | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.725089+00:00 |       500 |            500 |          0 | 584550071482122241
  __auto__        | {end_address}             | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.725089+00:00 |       500 |            500 |          0 | 584550071489167361
  __auto__        | {start_time}              | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.725089+00:00 |       500 |             30 |          0 | 584550071496671233
  __auto__        | {end_time}                | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.725089+00:00 |       500 |            367 |          0 | 584550071504437249
  __auto__        | {revenue}                 | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.725089+00:00 |       500 |            100 |          0 | 584550071512137729
  revenue_stats   | {revenue}                 | 2020-08-26 16:55:33.986698+00:00 |       500 |            100 |          0 | 584550101775384577
(14 rows)

Note that statistics are automatically collected for all columns in the rides table, making the revenue_stats statistics a duplicate of the statistics automatically collected on the revenue column.

Create statistics on multiple columns

> CREATE STATISTICS city_revenue_stats ON city, revenue FROM rides;

> SHOW STATISTICS FOR TABLE rides;

   statistics_name   |       column_names        |             created              | row_count | distinct_count | null_count |    histogram_id
---------------------+---------------------------+----------------------------------+-----------+----------------+------------+---------------------
  __auto__           | {city}                    | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.725089+00:00 |       500 |              9 |          0 | 584550071425531905
  __auto__           | {id}                      | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.725089+00:00 |       500 |            500 |          0 | 584550071432740865
  __auto__           | {city,id}                 | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.725089+00:00 |       500 |            500 |          0 |               NULL
  __auto__           | {rider_id}                | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.725089+00:00 |       500 |             50 |          0 | 584550071446732801
  __auto__           | {city,rider_id}           | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.725089+00:00 |       500 |             50 |          0 |               NULL
  __auto__           | {vehicle_city}            | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.725089+00:00 |       500 |              9 |          0 | 584550071461019649
  __auto__           | {vehicle_id}              | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.725089+00:00 |       500 |             15 |          0 | 584550071467966465
  __auto__           | {vehicle_city,vehicle_id} | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.725089+00:00 |       500 |             15 |          0 |               NULL
  __auto__           | {start_address}           | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.725089+00:00 |       500 |            500 |          0 | 584550071482122241
  __auto__           | {end_address}             | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.725089+00:00 |       500 |            500 |          0 | 584550071489167361
  __auto__           | {start_time}              | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.725089+00:00 |       500 |             30 |          0 | 584550071496671233
  __auto__           | {end_time}                | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.725089+00:00 |       500 |            367 |          0 | 584550071504437249
  __auto__           | {revenue}                 | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.725089+00:00 |       500 |            100 |          0 | 584550071512137729
  revenue_stats      | {revenue}                 | 2020-08-26 16:55:33.986698+00:00 |       500 |            100 |          0 | 584550101775384577
  city_revenue_stats | {city,revenue}            | 2020-08-26 16:55:52.539795+00:00 |       500 |            372 |          0 |               NULL
(15 rows)

New in v20.2: Multi-column statistics are automatically collected for all columns that prefix an index. In this example, city and revenue are not an index prefix, making the city_revenue_stats statistics unique for the table.

Create statistics on a default set of columns

The CREATE STATISTICS statement shown below automatically figures out which columns to get statistics on.

> CREATE STATISTICS users_stats FROM users;

This statement creates statistics identical to the statistics that CockroachDB creates automatically.

> SHOW STATISTICS FOR TABLE users;

  statistics_name | column_names  |             created              | row_count | distinct_count | null_count |    histogram_id
------------------+---------------+----------------------------------+-----------+----------------+------------+---------------------
  __auto__        | {city}        | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.765331+00:00 |        50 |              9 |          0 | 584550071556964353
  __auto__        | {id}          | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.765331+00:00 |        50 |             50 |          0 | 584550071563976705
  __auto__        | {city,id}     | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.765331+00:00 |        50 |             50 |          0 |               NULL
  __auto__        | {name}        | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.765331+00:00 |        50 |             49 |          0 | 584550071577477121
  __auto__        | {address}     | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.765331+00:00 |        50 |             50 |          0 | 584550071583997953
  __auto__        | {credit_card} | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.765331+00:00 |        50 |             50 |          0 | 584550071591141377
  users_stats     | {city}        | 2020-08-26 16:56:12.802308+00:00 |        50 |              9 |          0 | 584550228973027329
  users_stats     | {id}          | 2020-08-26 16:56:12.802308+00:00 |        50 |             50 |          0 | 584550228985905153
  users_stats     | {city,id}     | 2020-08-26 16:56:12.802308+00:00 |        50 |             50 |          0 |               NULL
  users_stats     | {name}        | 2020-08-26 16:56:12.802308+00:00 |        50 |             49 |          0 | 584550229015625729
  users_stats     | {address}     | 2020-08-26 16:56:12.802308+00:00 |        50 |             50 |          0 | 584550229028765697
  users_stats     | {credit_card} | 2020-08-26 16:56:12.802308+00:00 |        50 |             50 |          0 | 584550229043937281
(12 rows)

Create statistics as of a given time

To create statistics as of a given time (in this example, 1 minute ago to avoid interfering with the production workload), run a statement like the following:

> CREATE STATISTICS vehicle_stats_1 FROM vehicles AS OF SYSTEM TIME '-1m';

For more information about how the AS OF SYSTEM TIME clause works, including supported time formats, see AS OF SYSTEM TIME.

Delete statistics

To delete statistics for all tables in all databases:

> DELETE FROM system.table_statistics WHERE true;

To delete a named set of statistics (e.g, one named "users_stats"), run a query like the following:

> DELETE FROM system.table_statistics WHERE name = 'users_stats';

After deleting statistics, restart the nodes in your cluster to clear the statistics caches.

For more information about the DELETE statement, see DELETE.

View statistics jobs

Every time the CREATE STATISTICS statement is executed, it kicks off a background job. This is true for queries issued by your application as well as queries issued by the automatic stats feature.

To view statistics jobs, there are two options:

Use SHOW JOBS to see all statistics jobs that were created by user queries (i.e., someone entering CREATE STATISTICS at the SQL prompt or via application code):

> SELECT * FROM [SHOW JOBS] WHERE job_type LIKE '%CREATE STATS%';

        job_id       |   job_type   |                                           description                                            | statement | user_name |  status   | running_status |             created              |             started              |             finished             |             modified             | fraction_completed | error | coordinator_id
---------------------+--------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+----------------+----------------------------------+----------------------------------+----------------------------------+----------------------------------+--------------------+-------+-----------------
  584550101732950017 | CREATE STATS | CREATE STATISTICS revenue_stats ON revenue FROM movr.public.rides                                |           | root      | succeeded | NULL           | 2020-08-26 16:55:33.976113+00:00 | 2020-08-26 16:55:33.979043+00:00 | 2020-08-26 16:55:33.990197+00:00 | 2020-08-26 16:55:33.989405+00:00 |                  1 |       |           NULL
  584550162508382209 | CREATE STATS | CREATE STATISTICS city_revenue_stats ON city, revenue FROM movr.public.rides                     |           | root      | succeeded | NULL           | 2020-08-26 16:55:52.523299+00:00 | 2020-08-26 16:55:52.527194+00:00 | 2020-08-26 16:55:52.544301+00:00 | 2020-08-26 16:55:52.543148+00:00 |                  1 |       |           NULL
  584550228891500545 | CREATE STATS | CREATE STATISTICS users_stats FROM movr.public.users                                             |           | root      | succeeded | NULL           | 2020-08-26 16:56:12.781808+00:00 | 2020-08-26 16:56:12.789111+00:00 | 2020-08-26 16:56:12.830659+00:00 | 2020-08-26 16:56:12.82907+00:00  |                  1 |       |           NULL
  584550307147874305 | CREATE STATS | CREATE STATISTICS vehicle_stats_1 FROM movr.public.vehicles WITH OPTIONS AS OF SYSTEM TIME '-1m' |           | root      | succeeded | NULL           | 2020-08-26 16:56:36.663773+00:00 | 2020-08-26 16:56:36.668101+00:00 | 2020-08-26 16:56:36.705743+00:00 | 2020-08-26 16:56:36.704696+00:00 |                  1 |       |           NULL
(5 rows)

Use SHOW AUTOMATIC JOBS to see statistics jobs that were created by the automatic statistics feature:

> SELECT * FROM [SHOW AUTOMATIC JOBS] WHERE job_type LIKE '%CREATE STATS%';

        job_id       |     job_type      |                             description                             |                                         statement                                         | user_name |  status   | running_status |             created              |             started              |             finished             |             modified             | fraction_completed | error | coordinator_id
---------------------+-------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+-----------+-----------+----------------+----------------------------------+----------------------------------+----------------------------------+----------------------------------+--------------------+-------+-----------------
  584550071026876417 | AUTO CREATE STATS | Table statistics refresh for movr.public.user_promo_codes           | CREATE STATISTICS __auto__ FROM [58] WITH OPTIONS THROTTLING 0.9 AS OF SYSTEM TIME '-30s' | root      | succeeded | NULL           | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.605364+00:00 | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.608296+00:00 | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.632626+00:00 | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.631635+00:00 |                  1 |       |           NULL
  584550071124131841 | AUTO CREATE STATS | Table statistics refresh for movr.public.vehicle_location_histories | CREATE STATISTICS __auto__ FROM [56] WITH OPTIONS THROTTLING 0.9 AS OF SYSTEM TIME '-30s' | root      | succeeded | NULL           | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.635051+00:00 | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.636861+00:00 | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.672699+00:00 | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.671777+00:00 |                  1 |       |           NULL
  584550071255498753 | AUTO CREATE STATS | Table statistics refresh for movr.public.promo_codes                | CREATE STATISTICS __auto__ FROM [57] WITH OPTIONS THROTTLING 0.9 AS OF SYSTEM TIME '-30s' | root      | succeeded | NULL           | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.675136+00:00 | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.677263+00:00 | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.709619+00:00 | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.708881+00:00 |                  1 |       |           NULL
  584550071376281601 | AUTO CREATE STATS | Table statistics refresh for movr.public.rides                      | CREATE STATISTICS __auto__ FROM [55] WITH OPTIONS THROTTLING 0.9 AS OF SYSTEM TIME '-30s' | root      | succeeded | NULL           | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.712003+00:00 | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.713674+00:00 | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.754449+00:00 | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.753735+00:00 |                  1 |       |           NULL
  584550071523082241 | AUTO CREATE STATS | Table statistics refresh for movr.public.users                      | CREATE STATISTICS __auto__ FROM [53] WITH OPTIONS THROTTLING 0.9 AS OF SYSTEM TIME '-30s' | root      | succeeded | NULL           | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.756802+00:00 | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.758638+00:00 | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.77889+00:00  | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.777899+00:00 |                  1 |       |           NULL
  584550071604314113 | AUTO CREATE STATS | Table statistics refresh for movr.public.vehicles                   | CREATE STATISTICS __auto__ FROM [54] WITH OPTIONS THROTTLING 0.9 AS OF SYSTEM TIME '-30s' | root      | succeeded | NULL           | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.781594+00:00 | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.783519+00:00 | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.815104+00:00 | 2020-08-26 16:55:24.814103+00:00 |                  1 |       |           NULL
(6 rows)

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