Categories:

Conditional Expression Functions

LEAST

Returns the smallest value from a list of expressions. LEAST supports all data types, including VARIANT.

Syntax

LEAST( <expr> , ... )
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Arguments

expr

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

Usage Notes

  • 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.

    • If any of the argument values is NULL, the result is NULL.

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

Basic examples:

SELECT LEAST(1, 3, 0, 4);
+-------------------+
| LEAST(1, 3, 0, 4) |
|-------------------|
|                 0 |
+-------------------+
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SELECT
      col_1,
      col_2,
      col_3,
      LEAST(col_1, col_2, col_3) AS least
    FROM (SELECT 1 AS col_1, 2 AS col_2, 3 AS col_3
          UNION ALL
          SELECT 2, 4, -1
          UNION ALL
          SELECT 3, 6, NULL
         );
+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| COL_1 | COL_2 | COL_3 | LEAST |
|-------+-------+-------+-------|
|     1 |     2 |     3 |     1 |
|     2 |     4 |    -1 |    -1 |
|     3 |     6 |  NULL |  NULL |
+-------+-------+-------+-------+
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