Algebraic Functions

Algebraic functions take one or more arguments of numeric data types. Besides supporting numeric arguments, the CEIL and FLOOR functions can also take character string arguments that can be converted to DECIMAL values, and the ROUND and TRUNC functions can also take DATE or DATETIME arguments.

Algebraic Functions


Element	Description	Restrictions	Syntax
base	Value to be raised to the power specified in exponent	Must return a real number	Expression
date_expression	Expression that evaluates to (or is cast to) a DATE value	Must return a DATE value	Expression
datetime_expression	Expression that evaluates to (or is cast to) a DATETIME value	Must return a DATETIME value	Expression
dividend	Value to be divided by divisor	A real number	Expression
divisor	Value by which to divide dividend	A nonzero real number	Expression
exponent	Power to which to raise base	A real number	Expression
factor	Number of significant digits to replace with zero in the returned value. Default is to return the rounded or truncated integer part of the first argument.	Integer in range +32 to -32. Positive or unsigned values are applied to the right of the decimal point, and negative values are applied to the left.	Literal Number
index	Root to extract. The default is 2.	A nonzero real number	Expression
num_expression	Expression that evaluates to (or is cast to) a numeric value	A real number	Expression
radicand	Value whose root is to be returned	A real number	Expression
sqrt_radicand	Number with a real square root	A nonnegative real number	Expression