ABS
The ABS function in SQL is used to return the absolute value of a number, i.e., the numeric value without its sign. The function takes a single argument which must be a number (integer, float, etc.) and returns the absolute, non-negative equivalent.
The general syntax for the ABS function is as follows:
ABS(expression)
In the syntax above, the expression is required and can either be a literal number, a column name, the result of another function, or any valid SQL expression that resolves to a numeric value.
Examples
Consider a database table Orders:
| OrderID | Product | Quantity |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Apple | -5 |
| 2 | Banana | 10 |
| 3 | Cherry | -15 |
If you want to get the absolute value of the 'Quantity' column, you could use the ABSfunction like this:
SELECT OrderID, Product, ABS(Quantity) as 'Absolute Quantity'
FROM Orders;
The output will be:
| OrderID | Product | Absolute Quantity |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Apple | 5 |
| 2 | Banana | 10 |
| 3 | Cherry | 15 |
As you can see, the negative values in the 'Quantity' column have been converted to positive values by the ABS function.