abs function

Applies to: check marked yes Databricks SQL check marked yes Databricks Runtime 10.1 and above

Returns the absolute value of the numeric value in expr.

Syntax 

abs(expr)

Arguments

  • expr: An expression that evaluates to a numeric or interval.

Returns

A numeric or interval of the same type as expr.

For integral numeric types the function can return an ARITHMETIC_OVERFLOW error.

Warning

In Databricks Runtime if spark.sql.ansi.enabled is false, an overflow does not cause an error but “wraps” the result instead.

Examples 

> SELECT abs(-1);
 1

> SELECT abs(cast(-32768 AS Smallint))
 Error: ARITHMETIC_OVERFLOW