SQLite sign() Function

The SQLite sign() function returns the sign of the specified number, and returns 1, -1, or 0 respectively if the parameter is positive, negative, or zero.

Syntax

Here is the syntax of the SQLite sign() function:

sign(num)

Parameters

num

Required. a number.

Return value

The return value of the SQLite sign() function is 1, -1, 0, which represent positive, negative, and zero parameters, respectively:

  • If num is greater than 0, the sign() function will return 1.
  • If num equals 0, the sign() function will return 0.
  • If num is less than 0, the sign() function will return -1.

If the parameter is a NULL or a string or other value that cannot be converted to a number, this function will return NULL.

Examples

This example shows how to use sign() the basic usage of the SQLite function:

SELECT
    sign(123),
    sign(123.123),
    sign(-123),
    sign(-123.123),
    sign(0);

     sign(123) = 1
 sign(123.123) = 1
    sign(-123) = -1
sign(-123.123) = -1
       sign(0) = 0