Pulse Documentation

name: op-win-rank
description: Sparse rank with gaps after ties (1, 2, 2, 4, ...) within the ordered partition.
kind: operator
category: WIN
operator: WIN_RANK
type: reference
applies_to: process, compose, predict
examples_tags: [cohort-analysis, top-n, window-operator, buffered-pipeline]

Window operators emit row-level values; they do not produce Response.Components.

Use when

Ranks rows within each partition in the chosen order; rows with equal values share a rank and the next skips: 1, 2, 2, 4.

Questions it answers:

• Where does each store rank on revenue within its region?
• Which product came first in each month by units sold?

Use something else:

• WIN_DENSE_RANK when equal values should share a rank with no gap after them.

Params

None. partition_by (carve), order_by (≥1, required, numeric / date — tie comparison reads these keys), frame (forbidden), field (forbidden — no value read).

Inputs

Output

One int64 per row written to Label (default WIN_RANK). Ties (rows equal on every order_by key) share a rank; next distinct row advances by the tie count — (1, 2, 2, 4, 5). Rank resets per partition.

Reading the output

• value: The row’s position in order_by order within its partition, starting at 1. Rows equal on every order_by key share a rank, and the next rank skips past them: 1, 2, 2, 4. A row’s rank is 1 plus the number of rows strictly before it.
  • Caveat: Rank 1 is the first row in order_by order: the smallest value with an ascending key, the largest with desc. Say which when reporting a ‘top’ rank.
  • Caveat: Rows tie only when equal on every order_by key; rows with a missing order_by value sort last and tie with each other, so they share the last rank.

Gotchas

• Not weightable: a request weight is PROCESSING_CONFIG (windows carry no slot weight); Options.DefaultWeight is skipped.
• order_by defines BOTH scan order AND tie key — same field choice changes the answer.
• Multiple order_by keys: tie only when ALL keys equal.
• Result rows are NOT reordered — use Request.Sort for response order.
• Forces buffered execution (Streamable=false).

See

• pulse_examples_search tags=[top-n]
• Skills: window-design, op-win-dense-rank, op-win-row-number