Unary Operators - Positive

**APPLIES TO:** ![yes](media/yes.png)SQL Server (starting with 2008) ![yes](media/yes.png)Azure SQL Database ![no](media/no.png)Azure SQL Data Warehouse ![no](media/no.png)Parallel Data Warehouse

Returns the value of a numeric expression (a unary operator). Unary operators perform an operation on only one expression of any one of the data types of the numeric data type category.

Operator	Meaning
+ (Positive)	Numeric value is positive.
- (Negative)	Numeric value is negative.
~ (Bitwise NOT)	Returns the ones complement of the number.

The + (Positive) and - (Negative) operators can be used on any expression of any one of the data types of the numeric data type category. The ~ (Bitwise NOT) operator can be used only on expressions of any one of the data types of the integer data type category.

Topic link icon Transact-SQL Syntax Conventions

Syntax

  
+ numeric_expression

Arguments

numeric_expression
Is any valid expression of any one of the data types in the numeric data type category, except the datetime and smalldatetime data types.

Result Types

Returns the data type of numeric_expression.

Remarks

Although a unary plus can appear before any numeric expression, it performs no operation on the value returned from the expression. Specifically, it will not return the positive value of a negative expression. To return positive value of a negative expression, use the ABS function.

Examples

A. Setting a variable to a positive value

The following example sets a variable to a positive value.

DECLARE @MyNumber decimal(10,2);  
SET @MyNumber = +123.45;  
SELECT @MyNumber;  
GO

Here is the result set:

-----------   
123.45            
  
(1 row(s) affected)

B. Using the unary plus operator with a negative value

The following example shows using the unary plus with a negative expression and the ABS() function on the same negative expression. The unary plus does not affect the expression, but the ABS function returns the positive value of the expression.

USE tempdb;  
GO  
DECLARE @Num1 int;  
SET @Num1 = -5;  
SELECT +@Num1, ABS(@Num1);  
GO