---
id: bin
title: bin Search Operator
sidebar_label: bin
description: Use the bin operator to assign numeric values to user-defined bins for histogram visualization and distribution analysis.
slug: /help/docs/search/search-query-language/search-operators/bin/
canonical: https://www.sumologic.com/help/docs/search/search-query-language/search-operators/bin/
---

import useBaseUrl from '@docusaurus/useBaseUrl';

The `bin` operator assigns output results to user defined bins. A bin is configured to hold a range of values that can be used for sorting results in a histogram and further aggregation. It is a quick and effective way to visualize the distribution of data.

## Syntax

`bin <numeric field> width=<#>[, min=<#>][, max=<#>]`

Where:

* `<numeric field>` is the field you want to assign to bins. The data type needs to be numerical. **Required**.
* `<width>` is the bin width as a floating point number. **Required**.
* `<min>` is the lower boundary of the results as a floating point number. All data points with values less than the **min** are assigned to the first bin. **Optional**.
* `<max>` is the upper boundary of the results as a floating point number. All data points with values more than the **max** are assigned to the last bin. **Optional**.

### Output Fields

* `_bin_label` is the default alias field, which has a standard interval representation.
* `_bin_lower` is the lower boundary of the bin interval.
* `_bin_upper` is the upper boundary of the bin interval.

:::tip
You can sort by the lower or upper boundary of the bin interval.
:::

## Examples

### Distribution of error counts

A query counting error messages and using the bin operator to see the
distribution of error counts based on bins with a width of 100:

```sumo
_sourceCategory=stream error
| timeslice 1m
| count by _timeslice
| bin _count width=100.0
| count by _bin_label, _bin_lower
| sort by _bin_lower
```

<img src={useBaseUrl('img/search/searchquerylanguage/search-operators/bin-operator-charted.png')} alt="Bin operator charted" style={{border: '1px solid gray'}} width="800" />

### Latency distribution

A query parsing the latency of a function call and using the bin
operator to see latency distribution over time:

```sumo
_sourceCategory=analytics
| parse "ms: *" as time
| bin time width=10.0, min = 0.0, max = 500.0
```

You can aggregate bins further:

```sumo
_sourceCategory=analytics
| parse "ms: *" as time
| bin time width=10, min = 0, max = 500
| count by _bin_label, _bin_upper
| sort by _bin_upper
```

<img src={useBaseUrl('img/search/searchquerylanguage/search-operators/example-bin.png')} alt="Example bin" style={{border: '1px solid gray'}} width="800" />