Categories:

Conditional Expression Functions

LEAST_IGNORE_NULLS¶

Returns the smallest non-NULL value from a list of expressions. LEAST_IGNORE_NULLS supports all data types, including VARIANT.

Note

To use function, you must enable the 2024_03 behavior change bundle in your account.

To enable this bundle in your account, execute the following statement:

SELECT SYSTEM$ENABLE_BEHAVIOR_CHANGE_BUNDLE('2024_03');
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See also:

LEAST

Syntax¶

LEAST_IGNORE_NULLS( <expr1> [ , <expr2> ... ] )
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Arguments¶

exprN

The arguments must include at least one expression. All the expressions should be of the same type or compatible types.

Returns¶

  • The first argument determines the return type:

    • If the first type is numeric, then the return type is ‘widened’ according to the numeric types in the list of all arguments.

    • If the first type is not numeric, then all other arguments must be convertible to the first type.

Collation Details¶

  • The collation specifications of all input arguments must be compatible.

  • The comparisons follow the collation based on the input arguments’ collations and precedences.

  • The collation of the result of the function is the highest-precedence collation of the inputs.

Examples¶

Create a table and insert some values:

CREATE TABLE test_least_ignore_nulls (
  col_1 INTEGER,
  col_2 INTEGER,
  col_3 INTEGER,
  col_4 FLOAT);

INSERT INTO test_least_ignore_nulls (col_1, col_2, col_3, col_4) VALUES
  (1, 2,    3,  4.25),
  (2, 4,   -1,  NULL),
  (3, 6, NULL,  -2.75);
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Run a SELECT statement that returns the lowest non-null value in each row of the table:

SELECT col_1,
       col_2,
       col_3,
       col_4,
       LEAST_IGNORE_NULLS(col_1, col_2, col_3, col_4) AS least_ignore_nulls
 FROM test_least_ignore_nulls
 ORDER BY col_1;
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+-------+-------+-------+-------+--------------------+
| COL_1 | COL_2 | COL_3 | COL_4 | LEAST_IGNORE_NULLS |
|-------+-------+-------+-------+--------------------|
|     1 |     2 |     3 |  4.25 |               1    |
|     2 |     4 |    -1 |  NULL |              -1    |
|     3 |     6 |  NULL | -2.75 |              -2.75 |
+-------+-------+-------+-------+--------------------+