GREATEST: Returning the Largest Value

How to:

With two or more arguments, GREATEST returns the largest (maximum-valued) argument. The arguments are compared using the following rules:

If any argument is NULL, the result is NULL. No comparison is needed.
If the return value is used in an INTEGER context, or all arguments are integer-valued, they are compared as integers.
If the return value is used in a floating-point context, or all arguments are floating-point-valued, they are compared as floating-point values.
If the arguments comprise a mix of numbers and strings, they are compared as numbers.
If any argument is a character string, the arguments are compared as character strings. In all other cases, the arguments are compared as binary strings.

Syntax: How to Return the Largest Value

GREATEST(value1, value2, ... , valuen)

where:

value1, value2, ... , valuen

Numeric or alphanumeric

Are the values to be compared.

GREATEST returns the largest argument.

GREATEST(X,Y,Z)

For X=2, Y=0, and Z=-1, the result is 2.

For X='B', Y='A', and Z='C', the result is 'C'.

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