# Group values into bins Shape / columns discretise, bucket, tile, histogram bins Page: ## Status Runs as a SQL step. arcform carries it as a `sql:` step today. ## The DuckDB step equal-width bins It reads the `orders` table the proofs share. Create it first: ```sql CREATE TABLE orders AS SELECT * FROM (VALUES (1, 'Alice Ng', 'north', DATE '2026-01-03', 120.00, 'widget', 'a|b', '{"channel":"web","items":[1,2]}'), (2, 'alice ng', 'north', DATE '2026-01-05', 80.50, 'gadget', 'b', '{"channel":"shop","items":[3]}'), (3, 'Bob Okafor', 'south', DATE '2026-01-05', 300.00, 'widget', 'a|c', '{"channel":"web","items":[4,5,6]}'), (4, 'Carla Díaz', 'east', DATE '2026-01-09', NULL, 'gizmo', NULL, '{"channel":"web","items":[]}'), (5, 'Bob Okafor', 'south', DATE '2026-01-12', 45.25, 'gadget', 'c', '{"channel":"phone","items":[7]}'), (6, 'Dev Patel', 'west', DATE '2026-01-12', 510.00, 'widget', 'a', '{"channel":"web","items":[8,9]}'), (7, 'Carla Diaz', 'east', DATE '2026-01-20', 99.99, 'gizmo', 'b|c', '{"channel":"shop","items":[10]}'), (8, 'Dev Patel', 'west', DATE '2026-02-02', 510.00, 'widget', 'a', '{"channel":"web","items":[8,9]}'), (9, 'Eve Larsen', NULL, DATE '2026-02-03', 15.00, 'gadget', NULL, '{"channel":"web","items":[11]}'), (10, 'Alice Ng', 'north', DATE '2026-02-10', 220.00, 'gizmo', 'a|b|c', '{"channel":"phone","items":[12,13]}') ) t(order_id, customer, region, order_date, amount, product, tags, meta); ``` Then run the statement: ```sql CREATE TEMP TABLE result AS SELECT order_id, amount, floor(amount / 100) * 100 AS bin_floor FROM orders WHERE amount IS NOT NULL; SELECT * FROM result; SELECT equi_width_bins(min(amount), max(amount), 5, true) AS edges FROM orders; SELECT CASE WHEN ((SELECT count(*) FILTER (WHERE bin_floor = 0) = 4 AND count(*) FILTER (WHERE bin_floor = 500) = 2 AND max(bin_floor) FILTER (WHERE order_id = 10) = 200 FROM result)) THEN 'as expected' ELSE error('the amounts did not fall in the bins expected') END AS verdict; ``` It needs nothing installed beyond DuckDB itself. ## Variants - [Bin by chosen boundaries](https://meridian.online/operations/group-values-into-bins/bin-by-chosen-boundaries): Assign values to named ranges set by given break points, bounds or a threshold. - [Bin into groups of equal size](https://meridian.online/operations/group-values-into-bins/bin-into-groups-of-equal-size): Assign each row to a tile or quantile so that each bin holds about the same number of rows. - Bin into equal-width ranges: Assign each value to one of a number of ranges of the same width. - Bin against a target column: Choose bin boundaries that best separate the values of a class or label column. ## What other tools call it Meridian's classification; an independent blind rating agreed on 86.2% of 312 rows (exact class, version 2). - Alteryx Designer: [`Multi-Field Binning`](https://help.alteryx.com/current/en/designer/tools/preparation/multi-field-binning-tool.html) (read 2026-09-27) - Alteryx Designer: [`Tile`](https://help.alteryx.com/current/en/designer/tools/preparation/tile-tool.html) (read 2026-09-27) - Bruin: [`bruin.width_bucket(expr, min_value, max_value, num_buckets)`](https://getbruin.com/docs/bruin/assets/templating/macros.html) (read 2026-09-27) - dbt-utils: [`width_bucket`](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dbt-labs/dbt-utils/main/README.md) (read 2026-09-27) - Duckle: [`Bucketize`](https://github.com/slothflowlabs/duckle/blob/f85f8960edfb6efbf4cb89d58a7b32e16df0e867/website/docs/components.html) (read 2026-09-25) - EasyMorph: [`Create buckets`](https://help.easymorph.com/doku.php?id=transformations:createbuckets) (read 2026-09-27) - Apache Hop: [`Number range`](https://hop.apache.org/manual/latest/pipeline/transforms/numberrange.html) (read 2026-09-27) - Ibis: [`Bucket`](https://github.com/ibis-project/ibis/blob/05d2b293344e86cb41c1a426071734f7e270335a/ibis/expr/operations/histograms.py) (read 2026-09-27) - KNIME Analytics Platform: [`Binner`](https://api.hub.knime.com/nodes/*f6JNvzVp3pcflXaI?details=full) (read 2026-09-27) - KNIME Analytics Platform: [`Binner (Apply)`](https://api.hub.knime.com/nodes/*EB2Tw7Zk6xnooB9m?details=full) (read 2026-09-27) - KNIME Analytics Platform: [`Binner (Dictionary)`](https://api.hub.knime.com/nodes/*CpXT9JnZ2bDjUPeT?details=full) (read 2026-09-27) - KNIME Analytics Platform: [`CAIM Applier`](https://api.hub.knime.com/nodes/*ZHq1NFAmnayQvZBk?details=full) (read 2026-09-27) - KNIME Analytics Platform: [`CAIM Binner`](https://api.hub.knime.com/nodes/*IFxccsQELocGGQWE?details=full) (read 2026-09-27) - KNIME Analytics Platform: [`DB Binner`](https://api.hub.knime.com/nodes/*Sd8c1CzpChHCo_Qn?details=full) (read 2026-09-27) - KNIME Analytics Platform: [`DB Binner (Apply)`](https://api.hub.knime.com/nodes/*fyJKtYKjBMLx8ima?details=full) (read 2026-09-27) - KNIME Analytics Platform: [`Numeric Binner`](https://api.hub.knime.com/nodes/*_y-V6DTqskd8w-IM?details=full) (read 2026-09-27) - KNIME Analytics Platform: [`Numeric Binner (PMML)`](https://api.hub.knime.com/nodes/*7TlC9PN9CJf1djTS?details=full) (read 2026-09-27) - mlpack: [`mlpack_preprocess_binarize`](https://www.mlpack.org/doc/user/bindings/cli.html) (read 2026-09-27) - Pentaho Data Integration: [`Number range`](https://docs.pentaho.com/pdia-data-integration/9.3-data-integration/pdi-transformation-steps-reference-overview) (read 2026-09-27) - Polars: [`Expr.cut`](https://docs.pola.rs/api/python/stable/reference/expressions/modify_select.html) (read 2026-09-27) - Polars: [`Expr.qcut`](https://docs.pola.rs/api/python/stable/reference/expressions/modify_select.html) (read 2026-09-27) - RapidMiner Studio: [`Discretize by Binning`](https://docs.rapidminer.com/latest/studio/operators/cleansing/binning/discretize_by_bins.html) (read 2026-09-27) - RapidMiner Studio: [`Discretize by Entropy`](https://docs.rapidminer.com/latest/studio/operators/cleansing/binning/discretize_by_entropy.html) (read 2026-09-27) - RapidMiner Studio: [`Discretize by Frequency`](https://docs.rapidminer.com/latest/studio/operators/cleansing/binning/discretize_by_frequency.html) (read 2026-09-27) - RapidMiner Studio: [`Discretize by Size`](https://docs.rapidminer.com/latest/studio/operators/cleansing/binning/discretize_by_size.html) (read 2026-09-27) - RapidMiner Studio: [`Discretize by User Specification`](https://docs.rapidminer.com/latest/studio/operators/cleansing/binning/discretize_by_user_specification.html) (read 2026-09-27) - RapidMiner Studio: [`Numerical to Binominal`](https://docs.rapidminer.com/latest/studio/operators/blending/attributes/types/numerical_to_binominal.html) (read 2026-09-27) - Tableau Prep: [`NTILE`](https://help.tableau.com/current/prep/en-us/prep_function_reference.htm) (read 2026-09-27) - Tableau Prep: [`Tile`](https://help.tableau.com/current/prep/en-us/prep_calculations.htm) (read 2026-09-27) - Trifacta: [`Bin column`](https://help.alteryx.com/aac/en/trifacta-classic/reference/transformation-reference.html) (read 2026-09-27)