SIGN (Transact-SQL)

Returns the positive (+1), zero (0), or negative (-1) sign of the specified expression.

Transact-SQL Syntax Conventions

Syntax

SIGN ( numeric_expression )

Arguments

• numeric_expression
  Is an expression of the exact numeric or approximate numeric data type category, except for the bit data type.

Return Types

Specified expression	Return type
bigint	bigint
int/smallint/tinyint	int
money/smallmoney	money
numeric/decimal	numeric/decimal
Other types	float

Examples

The following example returns the SIGN values of numbers from -1 to 1.

DECLARE @value real
SET @value = -1
WHILE @value < 2
   BEGIN
      SELECT SIGN(@value)
      SET NOCOUNT ON
      SELECT @value = @value + 1
      SET NOCOUNT OFF
   END
SET NOCOUNT OFF
GO

Here is the result set.

(1 row(s) affected)

                         
------------------------ 
-1.0                     

(1 row(s) affected)

                         
------------------------ 
0.0                      

(1 row(s) affected)

                         
------------------------ 
1.0                      

(1 row(s) affected)

See Also

Reference

Mathematical Functions (Transact-SQL)

Help and Information

Getting SQL Server 2005 Assistance