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Use the ceiling function to round a numeric value up to the smallest integer greater than or equal to the input. This function is useful when you need to ensure that fractional values always round up, such as when calculating resource allocations, pagination counts, or bucket sizes. Use ceiling when you want to convert decimal numbers to whole numbers by rounding up. For example, if you have 7.2 requests per second and need to provision whole server instances, ceiling ensures you allocate 8 instances rather than 7.

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For users of other query languages

If you come from other query languages, this section explains how to adjust your existing queries to achieve the same results in APL.
In Splunk SPL, you use the ceil or ceiling function to round up values. APL’s ceiling function works the same way.
| eval rounded_up = ceil(request_time)
In ANSI SQL, the CEILING or CEIL function performs the same operation. APL’s syntax is nearly identical.
SELECT CEILING(request_duration) AS rounded_up FROM logs

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Usage

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Syntax

ceiling(number)

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Parameters

NameTypeDescription
numberrealThe numeric value to round up.

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Returns

An integer representing the smallest whole number greater than or equal to the input value.

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Use case examples

Round request durations up to whole milliseconds for consistent bucketing.Query
['sample-http-logs']
| extend duration_bucket = ceiling(req_duration_ms) * 100
| summarize request_count = count() by duration_bucket
| order by duration_bucket asc
Run in PlaygroundOutput
duration_bucketrequest_count
1001250
2003420
3002180
400890
This query groups requests into 100ms buckets using ceiling to ensure all fractional durations round up to the next bucket boundary.
  • floor: Rounds down to the largest integer less than or equal to the input. Use ceiling when you need to round up instead.
  • bin: Rounds values down to a multiple of a specified bin size. Use ceiling for simple upward rounding to integers.
  • round: Rounds to the nearest integer or specified precision. Use ceiling when you always need to round up.