SQLite abs() Function

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The SQLite abs() function returns the absolute value of an argument.

If the argument is NULL, the ABS function returns NULL.

If you pass an argument with the BLOB or string type to the ABS function, SQLite will try to convert it to a number. If the conversion fails, the abs() function returns 0.

If the argument is an integer with the value -9223372036854775808, the ABS function throws an integer overflow exception because there is no positive 64-bit integer for that value.

Syntax #

abs(x)Copy

Arguments #

x
x is a number or an expression that can be evaluated to a number.

Return Type #

abs function returns the data type of the argument

Examples #

The following statement uses the abs() function to calculate the absolute value of -1000:

SELECT abs(-1000) result;Copy

result
------
1000Copy

The following example illustrates how to calculate the value of a string that can be converted into a number:

SELECT abs('2000') result;Copy

result
-------
2000Copy

The same for the following example:

SELECT abs('3000abs') resultCopy

result
------
3000.0Copy

However, the following statement returns 0 because the function cannot convert the string into a number.

SELECT abs('sqlite4000')result;Copy

ABS('sqlite4000')
-----------------
0.0Copy

The following example illustrates how to use an expression with the abs() function.

SELECT abs(10-200) result;Copy

result
-------
190Copy

If you execute the following statement, you will get an error message:

SELECT abs(-9223372036854775808);Copy

Error:

Error while executing SQL query on database 'sampledb': integer overflowCopy