Scalar functions

Scalar functions transform individual values and can be used in SELECT, WHERE, GROUP BY, HAVING, and ORDER BY clauses.

---

Core functions

coalesce

Returns the first non-NULL argument.

SELECT coalesce(department, region, 'unknown') AS first_val
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 5

nullif

Returns NULL if both arguments are equal, otherwise returns the first argument.

SELECT nullif(department, 'Unknown') AS dept
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 5

nvl

Returns the second argument if the first is NULL. Alias: ifnull.

SELECT nvl(department, 'N/A') AS dept
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 5

nvl2

Returns the second argument if the first is not NULL, otherwise returns the third.

SELECT nvl2(department, 'has_dept', 'no_dept') AS dept_status
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 5

greatest

Returns the largest value from a list of arguments.

SELECT greatest(total_amount, unit_price, quantity) AS max_val
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
WHERE total_amount IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 5

least

Returns the smallest value from a list of arguments.

SELECT least(total_amount, unit_price, quantity) AS min_val
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
WHERE total_amount IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 5

arrow_typeof

Returns the Arrow data type name of an expression.

SELECT arrow_typeof(total_amount) AS amount_type,
       arrow_typeof(customer_id) AS id_type
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1

arrow_cast

Casts an expression to a specific Arrow data type by string name.

SELECT arrow_cast(total_amount, 'Float32') AS amount_f32
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
WHERE total_amount IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 1

named_struct

Creates a struct with named fields from key-value pairs.

SELECT named_struct('customer', customer_id, 'amount', total_amount) AS info
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
WHERE total_amount IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 1

get_field

Extracts a field from a struct by name.

SELECT get_field(named_struct('customer', customer_id, 'amount', total_amount), 'amount') AS amt
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
WHERE total_amount IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 1

struct

Creates a struct with positional fields. Alias: row.

SELECT struct(customer_id, total_amount, region) AS info
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
WHERE total_amount IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 1

overlay

Replaces a substring at a given position.

SELECT customer_id,
       overlay(customer_id PLACING 'XX' FROM 1 FOR 2) AS masked
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 3

---

Datetime functions

now

Returns the current timestamp. Aliases: current_timestamp.

Precision is quantized to 10ms boundaries.

SELECT now() AS current_ts
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1

current_date

Returns today's date. Alias: today.

SELECT current_date() AS today_date
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1

current_time

Returns the current time. Precision is quantized to 10ms boundaries.

SELECT current_time() AS now_time
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1

date_part

Extracts a component from a timestamp. Alias: datepart.

Supported fields: year, month, day, hour, minute, second, millisecond, microsecond, week, dow, doy, quarter, epoch.

SELECT date_part('hour', timestamp) AS hr,
       date_part('minute', timestamp) AS mn
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1

date_trunc

Truncates a timestamp to a specified unit. Alias: datetrunc.

Supported units: year, month, week, day, hour, minute, second.

SELECT date_trunc('day', timestamp) AS day_trunc, COUNT(*) AS cnt
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
GROUP BY date_trunc('day', timestamp)
ORDER BY day_trunc
LIMIT 5

date_bin

Bins a timestamp into fixed-size intervals aligned to an origin.

SELECT date_bin(INTERVAL '1 hour', timestamp, '2025-01-01T00:00:00Z') AS hour_bin,
       COUNT(*) AS cnt
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
GROUP BY date_bin(INTERVAL '1 hour', timestamp, '2025-01-01T00:00:00Z')
ORDER BY hour_bin
LIMIT 5

from_unixtime

Converts a Unix epoch (seconds) to a timestamp.

SELECT from_unixtime(1770000000) AS ts
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1

make_date

Constructs a date from year, month, and day components.

SELECT make_date(2026, 3, 1) AS d
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1

make_time

Constructs a time from hour, minute, and second components.

SELECT make_time(14, 30, 0) AS t
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1

to_char

Formats a timestamp as a string using strftime format. Alias: date_format.

SELECT to_char(timestamp, '%Y-%m-%d %H:%M') AS formatted
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1

to_date

Parses a date from a string using a format pattern.

SELECT to_date('2026-03-01', '%Y-%m-%d') AS d
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1

to_timestamp

Parses a timestamp from a string using a format pattern.

SELECT to_timestamp('2026-03-01 12:00:00', '%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S') AS ts
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1

to_timestamp_seconds

Converts seconds since Unix epoch to a timestamp.

SELECT to_timestamp_seconds(1770000000) AS ts
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1

to_timestamp_millis

Converts milliseconds since Unix epoch to a timestamp.

SELECT to_timestamp_millis(1770000000000) AS ts
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1

to_timestamp_micros

Converts microseconds since Unix epoch to a timestamp.

SELECT to_timestamp_micros(1770000000000000) AS ts
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1

to_timestamp_nanos

Converts nanoseconds since Unix epoch to a timestamp. Large values may overflow.

SELECT to_timestamp_nanos(1770000000000000000) AS ts
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1

to_unixtime

Converts a timestamp to a Unix epoch (seconds).

SELECT to_unixtime(timestamp) AS epoch
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1

to_local_time

Strips timezone information from a timestamp.

SELECT to_local_time(timestamp) AS local_ts
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1

to_time

Parses a time from a string using a format pattern.

SELECT to_time('14:30:00', '%H:%M:%S') AS t
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1

---

Math functions

abs

Returns the absolute value of a number.

SELECT abs(total_amount - 500) AS distance_from_500
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
WHERE total_amount IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 5

ceil

Returns the smallest integer greater than or equal to a number.

SELECT ceil(total_amount) AS rounded_up
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
WHERE total_amount IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 5

floor

Returns the largest integer less than or equal to a number.

SELECT floor(total_amount) AS rounded_down
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
WHERE total_amount IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 5

round

Rounds a number to a specified number of decimal places.

SELECT round(total_amount, 2) AS rounded
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
WHERE total_amount IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 5

trunc

Truncates a number to a specified number of decimal places.

SELECT trunc(total_amount, 0) AS truncated
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
WHERE total_amount IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 5

sqrt

Returns the square root of a number.

SELECT sqrt(CAST(quantity AS DOUBLE)) AS sqrt_qty
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
WHERE quantity IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 5

cbrt

Returns the cube root of a number.

SELECT cbrt(CAST(quantity AS DOUBLE)) AS cbrt_qty
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
WHERE quantity IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 5

power

Raises a number to a power. Alias: pow.

SELECT power(total_amount, 2.0) AS amount_squared
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
WHERE total_amount IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 5

exp

Returns e raised to the given power.

SELECT exp(total_amount / 1000.0) AS exp_val
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
WHERE total_amount IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 5

ln

Returns the natural logarithm.

SELECT ln(total_amount) AS ln_val
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
WHERE total_amount > 0
LIMIT 5

log

Returns the logarithm of a value for a given base.

SELECT log(10.0, total_amount) AS log10_val
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
WHERE total_amount > 0
LIMIT 5

log2

Returns the base-2 logarithm.

SELECT log2(total_amount) AS log2_val
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
WHERE total_amount > 0
LIMIT 5

log10

Returns the base-10 logarithm.

SELECT log10(total_amount) AS log10_val
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
WHERE total_amount > 0
LIMIT 5

Trigonometric functions

sin, cos, tan, asin, acos, atan, atan2, cot

SELECT sin(1.0) AS s, cos(1.0) AS c, tan(1.0) AS t,
       asin(0.5) AS as_val, acos(0.5) AS ac_val, atan(1.0) AS at_val
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1

Hyperbolic functions

sinh, cosh, tanh, asinh, acosh, atanh

SELECT sinh(1.0) AS sh, cosh(1.0) AS ch, tanh(1.0) AS th
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1

degrees

Converts radians to degrees.

SELECT degrees(pi()) AS full_circle
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1

radians

Converts degrees to radians.

SELECT radians(180.0) AS pi_val
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1

pi

Returns the value of pi.

SELECT pi() AS pi_val
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1

random

Returns a random float between 0 and 1.

SELECT random() AS rnd
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1

factorial

Returns the factorial of a non-negative integer.

SELECT factorial(5) AS fact5
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1

gcd

Returns the greatest common divisor of two integers.

SELECT gcd(12, 8) AS gcd_val
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1

lcm

Returns the least common multiple of two integers.

SELECT lcm(4, 6) AS lcm_val
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1

signum

Returns the sign of a number: -1, 0, or 1.

SELECT signum(total_amount - 500) AS sign_val
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
WHERE total_amount IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 5

isnan

Returns true if the value is NaN.

SELECT isnan(0.0 / 0.0) AS is_nan
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1

iszero

Returns true if the value is zero.

SELECT iszero(0.0) AS is_zero
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1

nanvl

Returns the first argument if it is not NaN, otherwise returns the second.

SELECT nanvl(0.0 / 0.0, -1.0) AS safe_val
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1

---

String functions

ascii

Returns the ASCII code of the first character.

SELECT customer_id, ascii(customer_id) AS first_code
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 3

bit_length

Returns the length of a string in bits.

SELECT customer_id, bit_length(customer_id) AS bits
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 3

octet_length

Returns the length of a string in bytes.

SELECT customer_id, octet_length(customer_id) AS bytes
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 3

lower

Converts a string to lowercase.

SELECT lower(department) AS dept_lower
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 5

upper

Converts a string to uppercase.

SELECT upper(region) AS region_upper
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 5

concat

Concatenates two or more strings.

SELECT concat(department, ' - ', region) AS label
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
WHERE department IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 5

concat_ws

Concatenates strings with a separator.

SELECT concat_ws('/', region, department) AS path
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
WHERE department IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 5

contains

Returns true if a string contains a substring.

SELECT customer_id, contains(department, 'Sales') AS is_sales
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
WHERE department IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 5

starts_with

Returns true if a string starts with a prefix.

SELECT customer_id, starts_with(department, 'Eng') AS is_eng
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
WHERE department IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 5

ends_with

Returns true if a string ends with a suffix.

SELECT customer_id, ends_with(department, 'ing') AS ends_ing
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
WHERE department IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 5

btrim

Trims characters from both sides of a string. Alias: trim.

SELECT btrim('  hello  ') AS trimmed
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1

ltrim

Trims characters from the left side of a string.

SELECT ltrim('  hello') AS trimmed
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1

rtrim

Trims characters from the right side of a string.

SELECT rtrim('hello  ') AS trimmed
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1

replace

Replaces all occurrences of a substring.

SELECT department, replace(department, ' ', '_') AS underscored
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
WHERE department IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 5

repeat

Repeats a string a given number of times.

SELECT repeat(region, 2) AS doubled
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 3

split_part

Splits a string by a delimiter and returns the specified part (1-indexed).

SELECT customer_id, split_part(customer_id, '-', 1) AS first_part
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
WHERE customer_id IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 5

levenshtein

Returns the Levenshtein edit distance between two strings.

SELECT department, levenshtein(department, 'Engineering') AS dist
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
WHERE department IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 5

chr

Returns the character for a given ASCII code.

SELECT chr(65) AS letter
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1

to_hex

Converts an integer to a hexadecimal string.

SELECT to_hex(255) AS hex_ff
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1

uuid

Generates a random UUID.

SELECT uuid() AS new_id
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1

---

Unicode functions

character_length

Returns the number of characters in a string. Aliases: length, char_length.

SELECT department, character_length(department) AS len
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
WHERE department IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 5

left

Returns the leftmost n characters of a string.

SELECT department, left(department, 5) AS prefix
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
WHERE department IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 5

right

Returns the rightmost n characters of a string.

SELECT department, right(department, 3) AS suffix
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
WHERE department IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 5

substr

Returns a substring starting at a position for a given length. Alias: substring.

SELECT department, substr(department, 1, 8) AS first_eight
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
WHERE department IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 5

lpad

Left-pads a string to a specified length.

SELECT region, lpad(region, 15, '.') AS padded
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 5

rpad

Right-pads a string to a specified length.

SELECT region, rpad(region, 15, '.') AS padded
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 5

reverse

Reverses a string.

SELECT department, reverse(department) AS rev
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
WHERE department IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 5

strpos

Returns the position of a substring (1-indexed). Aliases: instr, position.

SELECT department, strpos(department, 'a') AS a_pos
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
WHERE department IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 5

initcap

Capitalizes the first letter of each word.

SELECT initcap('hello world') AS capped
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1

translate

Replaces characters in a string based on a mapping.

SELECT department, translate(department, 'aeiou', '12345') AS coded
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
WHERE department IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 5

find_in_set

Returns the position of a string within a comma-separated list.

SELECT find_in_set('North', 'South,North,East,West') AS pos
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1

substr_index

Returns the substring before the n-th occurrence of a delimiter. Alias: substring_index.

SELECT customer_id, substr_index(customer_id, '-', 1) AS first_segment
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
WHERE customer_id IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 5

---

Regex functions

regexp_like

Returns true if a string matches a regular expression pattern.

SELECT department, regexp_like(department, '^[A-Z]{2}') AS starts_two_caps
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
WHERE department IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 5

regexp_count

Returns the number of matches of a pattern in a string.

SELECT department, regexp_count(department, '[aeiou]') AS vowels
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
WHERE department IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 5

regexp_replace

Replaces matches of a pattern with a replacement string.

SELECT department, regexp_replace(department, '[0-9]', '#') AS no_digits
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
WHERE department IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 5

regexp_match

Returns the first match of a pattern as an array.

SELECT department, regexp_match(department, '([A-Z][a-z]+)') AS first_word
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
WHERE department IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 3

regexp_instr

Returns the position of the first match of a pattern.

SELECT department, regexp_instr(department, '[0-9]') AS digit_pos
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
WHERE department IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 5

---

Crypto functions

md5

Returns the MD5 hash of a string.

SELECT customer_id, md5(customer_id) AS hash
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1

sha224

Returns the SHA-224 hash of a string.

SELECT sha224(customer_id) AS hash
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1

sha256

Returns the SHA-256 hash of a string.

SELECT customer_id, sha256(customer_id) AS hash
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1

sha384

Returns the SHA-384 hash of a string.

SELECT sha384(customer_id) AS hash
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1

sha512

Returns the SHA-512 hash of a string.

SELECT sha512(customer_id) AS hash
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1

digest

Returns a hash of a string using a specified algorithm. Supported algorithms: md5, sha224, sha256, sha384, sha512.

SELECT customer_id, digest(customer_id, 'sha256') AS hash
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1

---

Encoding functions

encode

Encodes binary data to a string. Supported encoding: base64.

SELECT encode(CAST('hello' AS BYTEA), 'base64') AS b64
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1

decode

Decodes a string to binary data. Supported encoding: base64.

SELECT decode('aGVsbG8=', 'base64') AS raw
FROM my_namespace.sales_data
LIMIT 1