Categories:

Numeric Functions (Rounding and Truncation)

# CEIL¶

Returns values from input_expr rounded to the nearest equal or larger integer, or to the nearest equal or larger value with the specified number of places after the decimal point.

## Syntax¶

CEIL( <input_expr> [, <scale_expr> ] )


## Arguments¶

input_expr

The value or expression to operate on. The data type should be one of the numeric data types, such as FLOAT or NUMBER.

scale_expr

The number of digits the output should include after the decimal point. The expression should evaluate to an integer from -38 to +38.

The default scale_expr is zero, meaning that the function removes all digits after the decimal point.

For information about negative scales, see the Usage Notes below.

## Returns¶

The data type of the returned value is NUMBER(precision, scale).

If the input scale was greater than or equal to zero, then the output scale generally matches the input scale.

If the input scale was negative, then the output scale is 0.

For example:
• The data type returned by CEIL(3.14, 1) is NUMBER(4, 1).

• The data type returned by CEIL(3.14, 0) is NUMBER(4, 0).

• The data type returned by CEIL(33.33, -1) is NUMBER(5, 0).

If the scale is zero, then the value is effectively an integer.

## Usage Notes¶

• If scale_expr is negative, then it specifies the number of places before the decimal point to which to adjust the number. For example, if the scale is -2, then the result is a multiple of 100.

• If scale_expr is larger than the input expression scale, the function does not have any effect.

• If either the input_expr or the scale_expr is NULL, then the result is NULL.

• When negative numbers are rounded up, the value is closer to 0; e.g. CEIL(-1.9) is -1, not -2.

• If rounding the number upward brings the number outside of the range of values of the data type, then an error is returned.

## Examples¶

This example demonstrates the function without the scale_expr parameter:

SELECT CEIL(135.135), CEIL(-975.975);
+---------------+----------------+
| CEIL(135.135) | CEIL(-975.975) |
|---------------+----------------|
|           136 |           -975 |
+---------------+----------------+


This example demonstrates the function with the scale_expr parameter, including with the scale set to negative numbers:

Create and fill a table:

CREATE TRANSIENT TABLE test_ceiling (n FLOAT, scale INTEGER);
INSERT INTO test_ceiling (n, scale) VALUES
(-975.975, -1),
(-975.975,  0),
(-975.975,  2),
( 135.135, -2),
( 135.135,  0),
( 135.135,  1),
( 135.135,  3),
( 135.135, 50),
( 135.135, NULL)
;


Output:

SELECT n, scale, ceil(n, scale)
FROM test_ceiling
ORDER BY n, scale;
+----------+-------+----------------+
|        N | SCALE | CEIL(N, SCALE) |
|----------+-------+----------------|
| -975.975 |    -1 |       -970     |
| -975.975 |     0 |       -975     |
| -975.975 |     2 |       -975.97  |
|  135.135 |    -2 |        200     |
|  135.135 |     0 |        136     |
|  135.135 |     1 |        135.2   |
|  135.135 |     3 |        135.135 |
|  135.135 |    50 |        135.135 |
|  135.135 |  NULL |           NULL |
+----------+-------+----------------+