Need a function equivalent to PERCENTILE_CONT for Oracle 8i

Question

I have been using PERCENTILE_CONT in Oracle 9i to find median and quantiles. Now, I need to run similar queries on a different database that is only Oracle 8i. Is there an equivalent function that I can use to give Quantiles?

Answer 1

I've read the description of percentile_cont several times now, and I still don't understand it (never was good at statistics anyway, still don't understand why a flush beats a straight). there was no function in 8i, but is it possible to do it by combining other functions? not understanding what it does, I don't know.
otherwise, all the analytics I've used can be solved by joining or outer-joining a table to itself - that's how we used to do them. for example, for SUM() OVER you join the table to itself, using = on all the selected columns expect the column you want to sum, that column becomes a <=. then group by all the columns in one isntance of the table, and sum the column from the other instance of it.
some things might need to join the table 3 times, or use outer-joins. doing that give you the ability to know, on any given row, the total number of rows, it's RANK or ROW_NUMBER, etc.
hope this helps. if you understand how percentile_cont works, you could probably construct a query yourself