Top K Cutoff Tie Partitioner

Partition a numeric top-K cutoff into strict selections and all tied candidates, reporting how many ties are needed without arbitrarily breaking them.

Description

Partition a numeric top-K cutoff into strict selections and all tied candidates, reporting how many ties are needed without arbitrarily breaking them.

A top-k cutoff may contain more tied observations than available slots. This tool exposes that boundary instead of choosing among equals.

When to use this tool

Partition a numeric top-K cutoff into strict selections and all tied candidates, reporting how many ties are needed without arbitrarily breaking them.

Prepare the supplied values, k fields for this operation.
Compare the complete example with the representation used by your own input before carrying the result into another step.

How to use the tool and how it works

Enter values, k. Use the exact text syntax, units and index conventions explained below.
Run the tool. If input validation fails, correct the supplied fields before interpreting any result.
Read result.cutoff, result.strict, result.ties, result.neededFromTies. Interpret false, null and empty lists using the distinctions below; they can be valid outputs.

Find the kth descending value for k within list length. Return original indexes strictly above it, every equal-cutoff index and the number still needed from ties. At k zero return null cutoff and empty groups.^[1]

Input field	Meaning and representation	Accepted input
values	values.	List of finite numbers; at most 128 entries
k	k.	Integer from 0 to values.length inclusive

Output field	Interpretation
result	Object containing the named outputs below.
result.cutoff	The cutoff value under the stated formula or text convention.
result.strict	The strict list in the ordering and representation described above.
result.ties	The ties list in the ordering and representation described above.
result.neededFromTies	The needed from ties value under the stated formula or text convention.

json

{
  "input": {
    "values": [
      3,
      2,
      2,
      1
    ],
    "k": 2
  },
  "output": {
    "result": {
      "cutoff": 2,
      "strict": [
        0
      ],
      "ties": [
        1,
        2
      ],
      "neededFromTies": 1
    }
  }
}

Limitations and assumptions

The tool does not resolve ties or rank by additional keys. Exact equality defines the tie block.
All declared input fields are required and unexpected top-level fields are rejected. Numbers must be finite; lists are limited to 128 entries and ordinary text fields to 8,192 UTF-16 code units, with tighter limits where stated.
JSON text inputs must parse within bounded nesting and size limits. Numeric outputs outside the safe finite range are rejected; large exact integer results use decimal strings. Indexes and half-open spans are zero-based unless a rank is explicitly described as one-based.

Alternative or Complementary methods

Choose the tie policy and whether you need values, original indexes, sorted positions or one-based ranks. Use a complete sort verifier when a local stability or adjacent-comparison check is insufficient.

References

Tool behavior and example: Top K Cutoff Tie Partitioner — tool.io

Similar or alternative tools

Bottom K Cutoff Tie Partitioner
Partition a numeric bottom-K cutoff into strict selections and all tied candidates, reporting how many ties are needed without arbitrarily breaking them.
Competition Rank Tie Table
Assign one-based ascending competition numeric ranks; exact numeric ties are preserved according to the stated policy.