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What is CUBE in SQL Server?

Anubhav Sharma 41 19 Apr 2026

Anubhav Sharma

Student

The Anubhav portal was launched in March 2015 at the behest of the Hon'ble Prime Minister for retiring government officials to leave a record of their experiences while in Govt service .

1 Answers

Anubhav Sharma 19 Apr 2026

In SQL Server, CUBE is used in GROUP BY to generate all possible combinations of aggregations across multiple columns.

Simple Meaning

CUBE = multi-dimensional totals (all combinations)

Syntax

SELECT column1, column2, SUM(amount)
FROM table
GROUP BY CUBE (column1, column2);

Example

Suppose you have sales data:

Region	Product	Amount
North	A	100
North	B	200
South	A	150

Query:

SELECT Region, Product, SUM(Amount) AS Total
FROM Sales
GROUP BY CUBE (Region, Product);

Output Explained

CUBE will generate:

Region + Product (normal grouping)
Region total (Product = NULL)
Product total (Region = NULL)
Grand total (both NULL)

Result:

Region	Product	Total
North	A	100
North	B	200
South	A	150
North	NULL	300
South	NULL	150
NULL	A	250
NULL	B	200
NULL	NULL	450

Key Point

NULL means total (aggregation)
CUBE creates 2ⁿ combinations
- 2 columns → 4 combinations
- 3 columns → 8 combinations

Query Using CUBE

SELECT Region, Product, SUM(Amount) AS Total
FROM Sales
GROUP BY CUBE (Region, Product);

Understanding

(Region, Product) → Normal grouping
(Region, NULL) → Total per Region
(NULL, Product) → Total per Product
(NULL, NULL) → Overall total

Difference from ROLLUP

CUBE → all combinations
ROLLUP → hierarchical totals only

When to Use

Use CUBE when you need:

Full reports
Pivot-style summaries
Multi-dimensional analysis

One-Line Summary

CUBE = automatic subtotal + grand total for every column combination

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