Prerequisites
This skill requires hologres-cli to be installed first:
pip install hologres-cli
export HOLOGRES_SKILL=hologres-uv-compute
All SQL execution and Dynamic Table operations depend on hologres-cli commands (hologres sql run --write, hologres dt create).
Hologres UV/PV Computation with Dynamic Table & RoaringBitmap
Build real-time, incremental UV/PV computation pipelines using Dynamic Tables and RoaringBitmap in Hologres. This approach supports flexible time-range aggregation over billions of records with low latency.
Why This Approach
| Traditional COUNT DISTINCT | RoaringBitmap + Dynamic Table |
|---------------------------|-------------------------------|
| Full scan on every query | Pre-aggregated bitmaps, incremental refresh |
| Slow with high-cardinality UIDs | Compressed bitmap, sub-second UV queries |
| Cannot merge across time ranges | RB_OR_AGG merges bitmaps for any date range |
| Heavy resource usage | Incremental computation, minimal resources |
Quick Start
-- 1. Enable RoaringBitmap extension
CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS roaringbitmap;
-- 2. Create ODS detail table (source data)
BEGIN;
CREATE TABLE ods_app_detail (
uid int,
country text,
prov text,
city text,
ymd text NOT NULL
) LOGICAL PARTITION BY LIST (ymd);
CALL set_table_property('ods_app_detail', 'orientation', 'column');
CALL set_table_property('ods_app_detail', 'distribution_key', 'uid');
CALL set_table_property('ods_app_detail', 'clustering_key', 'ymd');
CALL set_table_property('ods_app_detail', 'event_time_column', 'ymd');
CALL set_table_property('ods_app_detail', 'bitmap_columns', 'country,prov,city,ymd');
COMMIT;
-- 3. Create DWS Dynamic Table (bitmap aggregation layer)
CREATE DYNAMIC TABLE dt_dws_app_rb (
country, prov, city, rb_uid, pv, ymd
)
LOGICAL PARTITION BY LIST (ymd)
WITH (
freshness = '5 minutes',
auto_refresh_mode = 'incremental',
auto_refresh_partition_active_time = '2 days',
partition_key_time_format = 'YYYYMMDD'
)
AS
SELECT country, prov, city,
RB_BUILD_AGG(uid) AS rb_uid,
COUNT(1) AS pv,
ymd
FROM ods_app_detail
GROUP BY country, prov, city, ymd;
-- 4. Query UV/PV for a single day
SELECT country, prov, city,
RB_CARDINALITY(RB_OR_AGG(rb_uid)) AS uv,
SUM(pv) AS pv
FROM dt_dws_app_rb
WHERE ymd = '20251223'
GROUP BY country, prov, city;
Architecture Overview
ODS (Detail) DWS (Bitmap Aggregation) Query
┌─────────────┐ Dynamic ┌──────────────────────┐ ┌─────────────┐
│ods_app_detail│──Table────>│ dt_dws_app_rb │───>│ RB_OR_AGG │
│ uid, dims, │ incremental│ rb_uid (bitmap), │ │ + CARDINALITY│
│ ymd │ refresh │ pv, dims, ymd │ │ = UV for any │
└─────────────┘ └──────────────────────┘ │ time range │
└─────────────┘
Data flow:
- Raw events flow into
ods_app_detail(partitioned by day) - Dynamic Table
dt_dws_app_rbincrementally aggregates UIDs into bitmaps per dimension per day - Queries merge bitmaps across any date range using
RB_OR_AGGfor exact UV
ODS Detail Table Design
The source table stores raw event data, partitioned by date.
BEGIN;
CREATE TABLE ods_app_detail (
uid int,
country text,
prov text,
city text,
ymd text NOT NULL
) LOGICAL PARTITION BY LIST (ymd);
CALL set_table_property('ods_app_detail', 'orientation', 'column');
CALL set_table_property('ods_app_detail', 'distribution_key', 'uid');
CALL set_table_property('ods_app_detail', 'clustering_key', 'ymd');
CALL set_table_property('ods_app_detail', 'event_time_column', 'ymd');
CALL set_table_property('ods_app_detail', 'bitmap_columns', 'country,prov,city,ymd');
COMMIT;
Key design choices:
| Property | Value | Reason |
|----------|-------|--------|
| orientation | column | Columnar storage for analytical queries |
| distribution_key | uid | Distribute by user for aggregation locality |
| clustering_key | ymd | Optimize time-range scans |
| event_time_column | ymd | Segment key for partition pruning |
| bitmap_columns | dimension columns | Accelerate dimension filtering |
DWS Dynamic Table (Bitmap Aggregation)
The Dynamic Table pre-aggregates UIDs into RoaringBitmaps per dimension per day using incremental refresh.
CREATE DYNAMIC TABLE dt_dws_app_rb (
country, prov, city, rb_uid, pv, ymd
)
LOGICAL PARTITION BY LIST (ymd)
WITH (
freshness = '5 minutes',
auto_refresh_mode = 'incremental',
auto_refresh_partition_active_time = '2 days',
partition_key_time_format = 'YYYYMMDD'
)
AS
SELECT country, prov, city,
RB_BUILD_AGG(uid) AS rb_uid,
COUNT(1) AS pv,
ymd
FROM ods_app_detail
GROUP BY country, prov, city, ymd;
Key Dynamic Table parameters:
| Parameter | Value | Description |
|-----------|-------|-------------|
| freshness | 5 minutes | Target data freshness |
| auto_refresh_mode | incremental | Only compute new/changed data |
| auto_refresh_partition_active_time | 2 days | Only auto-refresh recent 2 days |
| partition_key_time_format | YYYYMMDD | Parse partition key as date |
Refresh Historical Partitions
Auto-refresh only covers active partitions. For historical data, trigger manually:
-- Full refresh a specific partition
REFRESH DYNAMIC TABLE dt_dws_app_rb
PARTITION(20251201)
WITH (refresh_mode = 'full');
-- Full refresh a date range (one by one)
REFRESH DYNAMIC TABLE dt_dws_app_rb
PARTITION(20251201)
WITH (refresh_mode = 'full');
UV/PV Queries
Single Day
SELECT country, prov, city,
RB_CARDINALITY(RB_OR_AGG(rb_uid)) AS uv,
SUM(pv) AS pv
FROM dt_dws_app_rb
WHERE ymd = '20251223'
GROUP BY country, prov, city;
Date Range (e.g., Monthly)
SELECT country, prov, city,
RB_CARDINALITY(RB_OR_AGG(rb_uid)) AS uv,
SUM(pv) AS pv
FROM dt_dws_app_rb
WHERE ymd >= '20251201' AND ymd <= '20251231'
GROUP BY country, prov, city;
Global UV (All Dimensions)
SELECT RB_CARDINALITY(RB_OR_AGG(rb_uid)) AS total_uv,
SUM(pv) AS total_pv
FROM dt_dws_app_rb
WHERE ymd >= '20251201' AND ymd <= '20251231';
How it works: RB_OR_AGG merges daily bitmaps with bitwise OR — a user appearing on multiple days is counted only once. RB_CARDINALITY returns the count of distinct bits (= distinct users).
Text UID Encoding
When UIDs are text type (e.g., device IDs, UUIDs), they must be mapped to integers for RoaringBitmap. Two approaches:
Approach 1: Mapping Table (Manual)
-- Create mapping table
BEGIN;
CREATE TABLE uid_mapping (
uid text NOT NULL,
uid_int32 serial,
PRIMARY KEY (uid)
);
CALL set_table_property('uid_mapping', 'orientation', 'row');
CALL set_table_property('uid_mapping', 'distribution_key', 'uid');
CALL set_table_property('uid_mapping', 'clustering_key', 'uid');
COMMIT;
-- Use in Dynamic Table
CREATE DYNAMIC TABLE dt_dws_app_rb (...)
AS
SELECT country, prov, city,
RB_BUILD_AGG(m.uid_int32) AS uid_rb,
COUNT(1) AS pv, ymd
FROM ods_app_detail o
JOIN uid_mapping m ON o.uid_text = m.uid
GROUP BY country, prov, city, ymd;
Approach 2: hg_id_encoding (V4.1+, Recommended)
Built-in function that auto-manages the mapping table.
-- Create mapping table (single text PK + one serial column)
BEGIN;
CREATE TABLE uid_mapping (
uid text NOT NULL,
uid_int32 serial,
PRIMARY KEY (uid)
);
CALL set_table_property('uid_mapping', 'orientation', 'row');
CALL set_table_property('uid_mapping', 'distribution_key', 'uid');
COMMIT;
-- Use hg_id_encoding_int4 in Dynamic Table query
CREATE DYNAMIC TABLE dt_dws_app_rb (...)
AS
SELECT country, prov, city,
RB_BUILD_AGG(hg_id_encoding_int4(uid_text, 'uid_mapping')) AS uid_rb,
COUNT(1) AS pv, ymd
FROM ods_app_detail
GROUP BY country, prov, city, ymd;
Constraints for hg_id_encoding_int4:
- Mapping table must have exactly: one
textPK column + oneserialcolumn - Input UID must not be NULL
- Requires Hologres V4.1+
- Supports incremental refresh in Dynamic Tables
Core RoaringBitmap Functions
| Function | Description | Example |
|----------|-------------|---------|
| RB_BUILD_AGG(int) | Aggregate integers into a bitmap | RB_BUILD_AGG(uid) |
| RB_OR_AGG(roaringbitmap) | Merge bitmaps (union / deduplicate) | RB_OR_AGG(rb_uid) |
| RB_AND_AGG(roaringbitmap) | Intersect bitmaps (common users) | RB_AND_AGG(rb_uid) |
| RB_CARDINALITY(roaringbitmap) | Count distinct elements in bitmap | RB_CARDINALITY(rb) |
| RB_OR(rb, rb) | Union two bitmaps | RB_OR(a, b) |
| RB_AND(rb, rb) | Intersect two bitmaps | RB_AND(a, b) |
| RB_ANDNOT(rb, rb) | Difference (in A but not in B) | RB_ANDNOT(a, b) |
| RB_TO_ARRAY(roaringbitmap) | Convert bitmap to integer array | RB_TO_ARRAY(rb) |
| RB_BUILD(int[]) | Build bitmap from integer array | RB_BUILD(ARRAY[1,2,3]) |
| RB_CONTAINS(rb, int) | Check if bitmap contains a value | RB_CONTAINS(rb, 42) |
| RB_IS_EMPTY(roaringbitmap) | Check if bitmap is empty | RB_IS_EMPTY(rb) |
For complete function reference, see references/roaringbitmap-functions.md.
References
| Document | Content | |----------|---------| | roaringbitmap-functions.md | Complete RoaringBitmap function reference | | dynamic-table-patterns.md | Dynamic Table configuration patterns for UV | | advanced-scenarios.md | Advanced UV scenarios: retention, funnel, cross-platform |
Best Practices
- Always use
LOGICAL PARTITION BY LIST (ymd)on both ODS and DWS tables for time-range partition pruning - Set
auto_refresh_mode = 'incremental'to avoid recomputing all data on each refresh - Configure
auto_refresh_partition_active_timeto limit auto-refresh to recent partitions only - Manually refresh historical partitions with
REFRESH DYNAMIC TABLE ... PARTITION(...) WITH (refresh_mode = 'full') - Use
RB_OR_AGGfor cross-day UV — it merges daily bitmaps for exact deduplication over any date range - For text UIDs, use
hg_id_encoding_int4(V4.1+) instead of manual mapping tables - Set
distribution_key = 'uid'on ODS table for aggregation locality - Install extension first —
CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS roaringbitmapbefore any bitmap operations
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