GREATEST Function in SQL

What is GREATEST Function in SQL

SQL greatest function will give the greatest string.

Description

This function returns the highest value in a list of expressions.

Syntax: greatest (strng1, string2, string3 … stringn)

Parameters

strng1

The first expression to be evaluated whether it is the greatest.

string2… stringn

Optional. Additional expressions that are to be evaluated.

Ex:

select greatest('a', 'b', 'c'), greatest('satish','srinu','saketh') from dual;

output will be

greatest('a', 'b', 'c')
------------------------
c

greatest('satish','srinu','saketh')
--------------------------
srinu

Here, this function work based on ASCII value.

output on tool

Some more Example

Let’s look at some of this function examples and explore how to use in the Oracle SQL

 greatest(10,12,50,3,5)
----------------------------------
50

GREATEST('apples', 'oranges', 'bananas')
-----------------------------------------
oranges

Note:-

• In this If all parameters are null then it will display nothing. or If any parameters is null it will display nothing .
• If the datatypes of the expressions are different, all expressions will be converted to whatever datatype strng1 is before comparing.
• If the comparison is based on a character comparison, one character is considered greater than another if it has a higher character set value.

Used in

• This function can be used in the following versions of Oracle:   Oracle 12c, Oracle 11g, Oracle 10g, Oracle 9i, Oracle 8i

Advantage:
This function is used to find the greatest expression out of the given input expressions. This expression might be any numbers or alphabets.