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SIGN (Transact-SQL)

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

Topic link iconTransact-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)