divide ↗

Use the divide() function to perform arithmetic division, calculating the quotient of two numbers.

Syntax

divide (<string> | <integer> | <float>, <string> | <integer> | <float>)

Parameters

Name Type Required Description
numerator integer, float, string Yes The number to be divided (the dividend).
denominator integer, float, string Yes The number by which to divide (the divisor).

Returns

The divide() function returns the numerical quotient of the two input parameters.

Usage notes

  • The function accepts numeric literals (integers, floating-point numbers) or field values that represent numbers.
  • The function supports input values provided as a string data type (for example, an integer stored as a string).
  • The function can handle negative numbers.
  • This function is typically used within the alter stage to create or modify fields.

Examples

Example 1: Dividing an integer field by an integer literal

Goal: Calculate a new field by dividing an existing integer field (event_id) by a fixed integer value.

XQL code:

config timeframe = 1d 
| dataset = sample_xql_raw 
| alter divided_event_id = divide(event_id, 2)
| fields event_id, divided_event_id 
| limit 3

Explanation: This query calculates a new field, divided_event_id, by dividing each event_id (an integer) by 2.

Output:

event_id divided_event_id
101 50.5
102 51.0
103 51.5

Example 2: Dividing a floating-point field by an integer literal

Goal: Calculate a new field by dividing a floating-point field (duration_seconds) by an integer literal.

XQL code:

config timeframe = 1d 
| dataset = sample_xql_raw 
| alter divided_duration = divide(duration_seconds, 5)
| fields event_id, duration_seconds, divided_duration 
| limit 3

Explanation: This query divides duration_seconds (which contains decimal values) by 5, producing a new floating-point value in divided_duration.

Output:

event_id duration_seconds divided_duration
101 1.5 0.3
102 0.8 0.16
103 10.2 2.04

Example 3: Dividing a floating-point field by a floating-point literal

Goal: Divide a floating-point number field by a decimal literal.

XQL code:

config timeframe = 1d 
| dataset = sample_xql_raw 
| alter precise_division = divide(duration_seconds, 0.25)
| fields event_id, duration_seconds, precise_division 
| limit 3

Explanation: This query divides duration_seconds by 0.25, resulting in precise_division which will also be a floating-point number.

Output:

event_id duration_seconds precise_division
101 1.5 6.0
102 0.8 3.2
103 10.2 40.8

Example 4: Dividing a numeric literal by a negative literal

Goal: Perform division using a negative literal value.

XQL code:

config timeframe = 1d 
| dataset = sample_xql_raw 
| alter negative_literal_division = divide(100, -4)
| fields event_id, negative_literal_division 
| limit 3

Explanation: This query divides the positive literal 100 by the negative literal -4, producing a constant -25.0 for the negative_literal_division field across all records.

Output:

event_id negative_literal_division
101 -25.0
102 -25.0
103 -25.0

Example 5: Dividing a string-converted-to-number field

Goal: Divide a numeric value that was extracted as a string from a JSON field and converted to a number.

XQL code:

config timeframe = 1d 
| dataset = sample_xql_raw 
| filter simple_json_data != null 
| alter json_code_string = simple_json_data -> code 
| alter json_code_number = to_number(json_code_string) 
| alter divided_json_code = divide(json_code_number, 100) 
| fields event_id, simple_json_data, json_code_number, divided_json_code 
| limit 3

Explanation: The query extracts the code "200" as a string, converts it to a number, and then divides it by 100, resulting in divided_json_code of 2.0. Records where the field is null will result in NULL.

Output:

event_id simple_json_data json_code_number divided_json_code
101 {"status": "ok", "code": 200} 200 2.0
102 {"status": "fail", "error": "access_denied"} NULL NULL
103 {"connection_id": "CONN-001", "protocol": "TCP"} NULL NULL