ARRAY_MAX¶

Syntax¶

ARRAY_MAX( <array> )

Arguments¶

array

The input ARRAY.

Returns¶

This function returns a VARIANT that contains the element with the highest value that is not a SQL NULL.

The function returns NULL if array is NULL, empty, or contains only SQL NULL elements.

Usage notes¶

• A SQL NULL is distinct from an explicit null value in semi-structured data (for example, a JSON null in JSON data). Explicit null values are considered when identifying the element with the highest value.

• The function determines the element to return by comparing the elements in the array. The function supports comparing elements of the same data type or of the following data types:

  • Elements of the NUMBER and FLOAT data types.

  • Elements of the TIMESTAMP_LTZ and TIMESTAMP_TZ data types.

  If the array contains elements of other data types, cast the elements to a common data type, as shown in the example below.

Examples¶

The following example returns a VARIANT containing the element with the highest value in an ARRAY constant:

SELECT ARRAY_MAX([20, 0, NULL, 10, NULL]);

+------------------------------------+
| ARRAY_MAX([20, 0, NULL, 10, NULL]) |
|------------------------------------|
| 20                                 |
+------------------------------------+

The following example demonstrates that a JSON null is handled differently than a SQL NULL. If array contains a JSON null, the function returns the JSON null.

SELECT ARRAY_MAX([NULL, PARSE_JSON('null'), NULL]);

+--------------------------------------------------+
| ARRAY_MAX([20, 0, PARSE_JSON('NULL'), 10, NULL]) |
|--------------------------------------------------|
| null                                             |
+--------------------------------------------------+

The following example demonstrates that the function returns NULL if the input ARRAY is empty:

SELECT ARRAY_MAX([]);

+---------------+
| ARRAY_MAX([]) |
|---------------|
| NULL          |
+---------------+

The following example demonstrates that the function returns NULL if the input ARRAY contains only SQL NULLs:

SELECT ARRAY_MAX([NULL, NULL, NULL]);

+-------------------------+
| ARRAY_MAX([NULL, NULL]) |
|-------------------------|
| NULL                    |
+-------------------------+

To determine the maximum value in an array with elements of different data types, cast the elements to the same data type. The following example casts a DATE element to a TIMESTAMP element to determine the maximum value in the array:

SELECT ARRAY_MAX([date1::TIMESTAMP, timestamp1]) AS array_max
  FROM (
      VALUES ('1999-01-01'::DATE, '2023-12-09 22:09:26.000000000'::TIMESTAMP),
             ('2023-12-09'::DATE, '1999-01-01 22:09:26.000000000'::TIMESTAMP)
          AS t(date1, timestamp1)
      );

+---------------------------+
| ARRAY_MAX                 |
|---------------------------|
| "2023-12-09 22:09:26.000" |
| "2023-12-09 00:00:00.000" |
+---------------------------+