A mathematical function that returns the absolute (positive) value of the specified numeric expression. (ABS
changes negative values to positive values. ABS
has no effect on zero or positive values.)
Transact-SQL Syntax Conventions
numeric_expression
An expression of the exact numeric or approximate numeric data type category.
Returns the same type as numeric_expression.
This example shows the results of using the ABS
function on three different numbers.
Here is the result set.
The ABS
function can produce an overflow error when the absolute value of a number exceeds the largest number that the specified data type can represent. For example, the int
data type has a value range from -2,147,483,648
to 2,147,483,647
. Computing the absolute value for the signed integer -2,147,483,648
will cause an overflow error because its absolute value exceeds the positive range limit for the int
data type.
Returns this error message:
“Msg 8115, Level 16, State 2, Line 3”
“Arithmetic overflow error converting expression to data type int.”
CAST and CONVERT (Transact-SQL)
Data Types (Transact-SQL)
Mathematical Functions (Transact-SQL)
Built-in Functions (Transact-SQL)