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title: "GROUPING (Transact-SQL) | Microsoft Docs"
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  - "null values [SQL Server], GROUPING function"
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  - "ROLLUP operator"
  - "GROUP BY clause, GROUPING function"
  - "GROUPING function"
  - "CUBE operator"
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# GROUPING (Transact-SQL)
[!INCLUDE[tsql-appliesto-ss2008-asdb-xxxx-xxx_md](../../includes/tsql-appliesto-ss2008-asdb-xxxx-xxx-md.md)]

  Indicates whether a specified column expression in a GROUP BY list is aggregated or not. GROUPING returns 1 for aggregated or 0 for not aggregated in the result set. GROUPING can be used only in the SELECT \<select> list, HAVING, and ORDER BY clauses when GROUP BY is specified.  
  
 ![Topic link icon](../../database-engine/configure-windows/media/topic-link.gif "Topic link icon") [Transact-SQL Syntax Conventions](../../t-sql/language-elements/transact-sql-syntax-conventions-transact-sql.md)  
  
## Syntax  
  
```  
  
GROUPING ( <column_expression> )  
```  
  
## Arguments  
 \<column_expression>  
 Is a column or an expression that contains a column in a [GROUP BY](../../t-sql/queries/select-group-by-transact-sql.md) clause.  
  
## Return Types  
 **tinyint**  
  
## Remarks  
 GROUPING is used to distinguish the null values that are returned by ROLLUP, CUBE or GROUPING SETS from standard null values. The NULL returned as the result of a ROLLUP, CUBE or GROUPING SETS operation is a special use of NULL. This acts as a column placeholder in the result set and means all.  
  
## Examples  
 The following example groups `SalesQuota` and aggregates `SaleYTD` amounts in the [!INCLUDE[ssSampleDBnormal](../../includes/sssampledbnormal-md.md)] database. The `GROUPING` function is applied to the `SalesQuota` column.  
  
```  
SELECT SalesQuota, SUM(SalesYTD) 'TotalSalesYTD', GROUPING(SalesQuota) AS 'Grouping'  
FROM Sales.SalesPerson  
GROUP BY SalesQuota WITH ROLLUP;  
GO  
```  
  
 The result set shows two null values under `SalesQuota`. The first `NULL` represents the group of null values from this column in the table. The second `NULL` is in the summary row added by the ROLLUP operation. The summary row shows the `TotalSalesYTD` amounts for all `SalesQuota` groups and is indicated by `1` in the `Grouping` column.  
  
 [!INCLUDE[ssResult](../../includes/ssresult-md.md)]  
  
 `SalesQuota     TotalSalesYTD       Grouping`  
  
 `------------   -----------------   --------`  
  
 `NULL           1533087.5999          0`  
  
 `250000.00      33461260.59           0`  
  
 `300000.00      9299677.9445          0`  
  
 `NULL           44294026.1344         1`  
  
 `(4 row(s) affected)`  
  
## See Also  
 [GROUPING_ID &#40;Transact-SQL&#41;](../../t-sql/functions/grouping-id-transact-sql.md)   
 [GROUP BY &#40;Transact-SQL&#41;](../../t-sql/queries/select-group-by-transact-sql.md)