Mathematical operators are provided for many
PostgreSQL types. For types without
common mathematical conventions for all possible permutations
(e.g., date/time types) we
describe the actual behavior in subsequent sections.
Table 9-2 shows the available mathematical operators.
Table 9-2. Mathematical Operators
Operator
Description
Example
Result
+
addition
2 + 3
5
-
subtraction
2 - 3
-1
*
multiplication
2 * 3
6
/
division (integer division truncates results)
4 / 2
2
%
modulo (remainder)
5 % 4
1
^
exponentiation
2.0 ^ 3.0
8
|/
square root
|/ 25.0
5
||/
cube root
||/ 27.0
3
!
factorial
5 !
120
!!
factorial (prefix operator)
!! 5
120
@
absolute value
@ -5.0
5
&
bitwise AND
91 & 15
11
|
bitwise OR
32 | 3
35
#
bitwise XOR
17 # 5
20
~
bitwise NOT
~1
-2
<<
bitwise shift left
1 << 4
16
>>
bitwise shift right
8 >> 2
2
The bitwise operators work only on integral data types, whereas
the others are available for all numeric data types. The bitwise
operators are also available for the bit
string types bit and bit varying, as
shown in Table 9-10.
Table 9-3 shows the available
mathematical functions. In the table, dp
indicates double precision. Many of these functions
are provided in multiple forms with different argument types.
Except where noted, any given form of a function returns the same
data type as its argument.
The functions working with double precision data are mostly
implemented on top of the host system's C library; accuracy and behavior in
boundary cases may therefore vary depending on the host system.
Table 9-3. Mathematical Functions
Function
Return Type
Description
Example
Result
abs(x)
(same as x)
absolute value
abs(-17.4)
17.4
cbrt(dp)
dp
cube root
cbrt(27.0)
3
ceil(dp or numeric)
(same as input)
smallest integer not less than argument
ceil(-42.8)
-42
ceiling(dp or numeric)
(same as input)
smallest integer not less than argument (alias for ceil)
ceiling(-95.3)
-95
degrees(dp)
dp
radians to degrees
degrees(0.5)
28.6478897565412
exp(dp or numeric)
(same as input)
exponential
exp(1.0)
2.71828182845905
floor(dp or numeric)
(same as input)
largest integer not greater than argument
floor(-42.8)
-43
ln(dp or numeric)
(same as input)
natural logarithm
ln(2.0)
0.693147180559945
log(dp or numeric)
(same as input)
base 10 logarithm
log(100.0)
2
log(bnumeric,
xnumeric)
numeric
logarithm to base b
log(2.0, 64.0)
6.0000000000
mod(y,
x)
(same as argument types)
remainder of y/x
mod(9,4)
1
pi()
dp
"π" constant
pi()
3.14159265358979
power(adp,
bdp)
dp
a raised to the power of b
power(9.0, 3.0)
729
power(anumeric,
bnumeric)
numeric
a raised to the power of b
power(9.0, 3.0)
729
radians(dp)
dp
degrees to radians
radians(45.0)
0.785398163397448
random()
dp
random value between 0.0 and 1.0
random()
round(dp or numeric)
(same as input)
round to nearest integer
round(42.4)
42
round(vnumeric, sint)
numeric
round to s decimal places
round(42.4382, 2)
42.44
setseed(dp)
int
set seed for subsequent random() calls (value between 0 and 1.0)