> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.pinot.apache.org/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.pinot.apache.org/functions/sketch/distinctcountrawcpcsketch.md).

# DISTINCTCOUNTRAWCPCSKETCH

This section contains reference documentation for the DISTINCTCOUNTRAWCPCSKETCH function.

The [Compressed Probability Counting(CPC) Sketch](https://datasketches.apache.org/docs/CPC/CPC.html) enables extremely space-efficient cardinality estimation. The stored CPC sketch can consume about 40% less space than an HLL sketch of comparable accuracy. Pinot can aggregate multiple existing CPC sketches together to get a total distinct count or estimated directly from raw values. This function call returns the sketch encoded as hexadecimal to the user.

## Signature

> distinctCountRawCpcSketch(**\<cpcSketchColumn>, \<cpcSketchParams>**) -> HexEncoded

* `cpcSketchColumn` (required): Name of the column to aggregate on.
* `cpcSketchParams` (required): Semicolon-separated parameter string for constructing the intermediate CPC sketches.
  * The supported parameters are:
  * `nominalEntries`: The nominal entries used to create the sketch. (Default 4096)
  * `accumulatorThreshold`: How many sketches should be kept in memory before merging. (Default 2)

## Usage Examples

These examples are based on the [Batch Quick Start](/start-here/quick-start.md#batch-processing).

```sql
select distinctCountRawCpcSketch(teamID) AS value
from baseballStats 
```

| value                                |
| ------------------------------------ |
| CAEQDAAOzJOVAAAAJwAAAAAAAAAMm69Al... |

```sql
select distinctCountRawCpcSketch(teamID, 'nominalEntries=256;accumulatorThreshold=10') AS value
from baseballStats 
```

| value                               |
| ----------------------------------- |
| CAEQCAAWzJOIAAAAEwAAAAAAAADAbGpA... |

We can also combine CPC sketches together via `cpcSketchUnion` for more complex use cases:

```sql
select
  cpcSketchUnion(
	  distinctCountRawCpcSketch(teamID) FILTER (WHERE yearID = 2004),
	  distinctCountRawCpcSketch(teamID) FILTER (WHERE league = 'NL')
  ) AS value
from baseballStats
```

| value                              |
| ---------------------------------- |
| 0401100c000acc933a000000120000e... |

This function can also be used with the multi-stage engine (MSE).


---

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