Return the absolute value of a numeric expression.
ABS(expr)## Overview Returns the absolute value (magnitude without sign) of the numeric input. ABS is the most common primitive for converting a signed quantity into a magnitude: distances, amounts, error measurements, and absolute deviations all go through ABS. ABS preserves the input type: ABS of an INTEGER is an INTEGER, ABS of a DECIMAL(10, 2) is a DECIMAL(10, 2), ABS of a DOUBLE is a DOUBLE. This type preservation makes ABS a cheap, non-coercing operator that rarely introduces type surprises downstream. ## Behavior - Accepts any numeric type (INTEGER, BIGINT, FLOAT, DOUBLE, DECIMAL). - Returns a value of the same type as the input. - Returns NULL if the argument is NULL. - ABS(0) is 0, not -0. Negative zero in floating-point is canonicalized to positive zero. - ABS of the minimum representable signed integer (for example, BIGINT -9223372036854775808) overflows because the positive counterpart is not representable. Engines typically raise an error in that case. ## Numeric precision - For INTEGER and BIGINT, ABS is exact except at the signed minimum value. - For DOUBLE, ABS flips only the sign bit and introduces no rounding. - For DECIMAL, ABS preserves the declared scale and precision. ## Compatibility - Conforms to the SQL standard scalar function ABS. - Matches typical mathematical library implementations.
| Name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
expr | Specifies the numeric expression to evaluate. Accepts any numeric type including INTEGER, BIGINT, DOUBLE, FLOAT, and DECIMAL. The return type matches the input type. |
-- Basic literal: absolute value of a negative integer
SELECT ABS(-42);
-- Result: 42-- Positive value is unchanged
SELECT ABS(17);
-- Result: 17-- ABS of zero
SELECT ABS(0);
-- Result: 0-- Floating-point input preserves DOUBLE type
SELECT ABS(-3.14159);
-- Result: 3.14159-- NULL propagation
SELECT ABS(NULL);
-- Result: NULL-- Column use: magnitude of price change per trade
SELECT trade_id, ABS(close_price - open_price) AS intra_day_move
FROM finance.trades.orders;