LEAST(...)

All functions > COMPARISON > LEAST(...)

Returns the least (minimum) value from a list of arguments.

Signatures

Returns: Least of the arguments, or NULL if any argument is NULL

LEAST_FN(exprs: T, ...) → T

Notes

• All arguments must be of the same or compatible types
• If any argument is NULL, the result is NULL
• For strings, uses lexicographic (dictionary) ordering
• For dates/timestamps, returns the earliest date/time
• For ARRAY and ROW, uses the same ordering as < / > (see Related operators for variadic LEAST(...) examples)
• Can accept any number of arguments (not just two)
• Equivalent to finding the minimum value across multiple columns
• Opposite of GREATEST function

Related operators

• LEAST(...)

Examples

LEAST_FN — single-array encoding

SELECT
    f1 := LEAST_FN(ARRAY[1, 5, 3]), -- Same semantics as variadic `LEAST`
    f2 := LEAST_FN(ARRAY['a', 'z', 'm']) -- Lexicographic min via array encoding
;

LEAST_FN — NULL propagation

SELECT
    f1 := LEAST_FN(ARRAY[NULL::BIGINT, 3]), -- Any NULL in the list → NULL result
    f2 := LEAST_FN(ARRAY[1, NULL::BIGINT, 3]) -- NULL anywhere → NULL result
;

LEAST_FN — arrays of arrays

SELECT
    f1 := LEAST_FN(ARRAY[ARRAY(1, 2), ARRAY(1, 0)]) -- Lexicographic min of two array values
;