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Documentation Index

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The System supports these miscellaneous functions and expressions.

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CASE

CASE operates similarly to conditional scripting in other programming languages, allowing it to function like an if / then / else statement or as a switch statement. CASE sets one or more WHEN conditions to be evaluated. When a condition is evaluated as true, the database applies the specified action in a THEN clause. If no matches are found, the database applies the action in the ELSE clause. If no ELSE clause is specified and no matches are found, the result is NULL. This evaluation creates a new column where the values are expressions inside the THEN clause. Syntax
SQL
--To use CASE like an if / then statement:

CASE <caseCondition> ELSE expression | NULL END

<caseCondition> ::=
WHEN search_condition | expression THEN expression | NULL

--To use CASE like a switch statement:
CASE switch_expression <switchCondition> ELSE expression | NULL END

<switchCondition> ::=
WHEN switch_value THEN expression | NULL
ArgumentsDescription
search_conditionA condition including a column name and a Boolean expression to evaluate.
switch_expressionA column name to be used to evaluate a switch_value.
switch_valueA value to be evaluated for the switch_expression.
expressionAn expression to return based on evaluating the search_condition or switch_expression.
Example This example uses conditional logic with CASE to categorize individuals into different groups based on their ages.
SQL
SELECT age,
  CASE
    WHEN age < 13 THEN 'child'
    WHEN age < 19 THEN 'teen'
    ELSE 'adult'
  END AS age_grp
FROM sys.people
ORDER BY age;
Example This example uses switch conditions to categorize age groups.
SQL
SELECT age,
  CASE age
    WHEN 13 THEN 'thirteen'
    WHEN 14 THEN 'fourteen'
    WHEN 15 THEN 'fifteen'
    WHEN 16 THEN 'sixteen'
    WHEN 17 THEN 'seventeen'
    WHEN 18 THEN 'eighteen'
    WHEN 19 THEN 'nineteen'
    ELSE 'not teens'
  END
FROM sys.people;

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COALESCE

Returns the first argument that is not NULL or NULL if all arguments are NULL. Arguments must be the same type, and the returned value is the most compatible type. COALESCE can work with mixed-type numeric arguments, which means the lower precedence types are cast to the highest one. For example, when using TIMESTAMP and DATE data types, all values are cast to a timestamp. Syntax
SQL
COALESCE(value1, value2 [,...])
ArgumentData TypeDescription
value [,...]All data types are supported.
All values must be of the same type.		Values for comparison to find the value that is not NULL.
Example
SQL
SELECT COALESCE(null,null,13,null,8);
Output: 13

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COMMIT

Returns the most recent commit hash of the database to which the client is currently connected. Syntax
SQL
COMMIT()
Example
SQL
SELECT COMMIT();
Output: cd0d53e3aa

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CURRENT_DATABASE

Alias for DATABASE.

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CURRENT_NODE

Returns the name of the SQL Node where the current query executes. The name of the node corresponds to the name column in the sys.nodes system catalog table. Syntax
SQL
CURRENT_NODE()
Example
SQL
SELECT CURRENT_NODE();
Output: sql0

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CURRENT_GROUPS

Returns the fully qualified names of groups to which the current user belongs. You can query the sys.groups system catalog table to view the group information. Syntax
SQL
CURRENT_GROUPS()
Example
SQL
SELECT CURRENT_GROUPS();
Output: ['sso_users@system', 'analysts@system']

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CURRENT_NODE_ID

Returns the identifier of the SQL Node where the current query executes. The name of the node corresponds to the id column in the sys.nodes system catalog table. Syntax
SQL
CURRENT_NODE_ID()
Example
SQL
SELECT CURRENT_NODE_ID();
Output: f690c14a-4e4f-4143-8e5e-20c90b60e15c

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CURRENT_SCHEMA

Returns the name of the current schema. Syntax
SQL
CURRENT_SCHEMA()
Example
SQL
SELECT CURRENT_SCHEMA();
Output: schema@database

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CURRENT_SESSION_ID

Returns the identifier of the current session as a Universally Unique IDentifier (UUID) that matches the id column in the sys.sessions system catalog table. Syntax
SQL
CURRENT_SESSION_ID()
Example
SQL
SELECT CURRENT_SESSION_ID();
Output: 6ffe8383-e894-44c0-91c5-38d5925f51ec

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CURRENT_SYSTEM

Returns the name of the system. You can set the name using the ALTER SYSTEM RENAME TO SQL statement.
If you never set the system name, the Ocient System initializes the name of the system as a random identifier, the UUID.
Syntax
SQL
CURRENT_SYSTEM()
Example
SQL
SELECT CURRENT_SYSTEM();
Output: 2677b88c-7f07-470c-be3e-e1bafddc1221

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CURRENT_USER

Returns the user for the current connection. Syntax
SQL
CURRENT_USER()
Example
SQL
SELECT CURRENT_USER();
Output: user@database

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DATABASE

Alias for CURRENT_DATABASE. Returns the name of the database to which the client is currently connected. Syntax
SQL
DATABASE()
Example
SQL
SELECT DATABASE();
Output: test

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GREATEST

Returns the largest non-NULL value of all the arguments, or NULL if all the arguments are NULL. All values must be comparable to each other. Syntax
SQL
GREATEST(value [,...])
ArgumentData TypeDescription
value [,...]All data types are supported.

All values must either be of the same type or comparable to each other.		A series of values to compare to find the largest value of the set.
Example
SQL
SELECT GREATEST(12,13,5,8);
Output: 13

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IF_NULL

Returns the first argument that is not NULL or NULL if all arguments are NULL. Arguments must be the same type, and the returned value is the most compatible type. IF_NULL can work with mixed-type numeric arguments, which means the lower precedence types are cast to the highest one. For example, when using TIMESTAMP and DATE data types, all values are cast to a timestamp. Syntax
SQL
IF_NULL(value1, value2)
ArgumentData TypeDescription
value [,...]All data types are supported.
All values must be of the same type.		Values for comparison to find the value that is not NULL.
Example
SQL
SELECT IF_NULL(null, 5)
Output: 5

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LEAST

Returns the smallest non-NULL value of all arguments, or NULL if all arguments are NULL. All values must be comparable to each other. Syntax
SQL
LEAST(value [,...])
ArgumentData TypeDescription
value [,...]All data types are supported.

All values must either be of the same type or comparable to each other.		A series of values to compare to find the smallest value of the set.
Example
SQL
SELECT LEAST(12,13,5,8);
Output: 5

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MURMUR3

Returns a 32-bit MurmurHash3 hash of the input value as an INTEGER data type. If you specify a NULL input value, the function returns 0. This function is primarily useful for partitioning data. Syntax
SQL
MURMUR3(value)
ArgumentData TypeDescription
valueAll SQL data types are supported.Specified value for the MurmurHash3 hash function.
Example
SQL
SELECT MURMUR3(null);
Output: 0 Example
SQL
SELECT MURMUR3('fred');
Output: 331477181

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NULL_IF

Returns the NULL value if two arguments are equal; otherwise, returns the first argument. Syntax
SQL
NULL_IF(value1, value2)
Example
SQL
SELECT NULL_IF(13,12);
Output: 13 Example
SQL
SELECT NULL_IF(13,13);
Output: NULL

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RAND_UUID

Alias for UUID_GENERATE.

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SHOW

The SHOW function lets you explore the database and its metadata for user-defined items. For details, see Information Schema. Syntax
SQL
SHOW <item>;

-- <item> can be any of the following:
{   COLUMNS,
    DATA_TYPES,
    DATABASES,
    GROUPS,
    INDEXES,
    RESERVED_WORDS,
    SCHEMATA,
    TABLES,
    USERS,
    VIEWS }
Examples This example uses SHOW to explore databases on the system.
SQL
SHOW DATABASES;
Output
SQL
database_name
created
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
test
2022-12-19 19:52:34.576426348
This example explores table data.
SQL
SHOW TABLES;
Output
SQL
table_catalog
table_schema
table_name
table_type
is_insertable_into
created_at
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
test
test_schema
test_table
BASE TABLE
YES
2022-12-20 14:45:13.858144104

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UUID_GENERATE

Alias for RAND_UUID. Generates a random UUID value (version 4). For details about the UUID data type, see Data Types. Syntax
SQL
UUID_GENERATE()
Example Generate one UUID value.
SQL
SELECT UUID_GENERATE();
Output: 3f6b2b58-4c9a-4a32-9b6a-b2f9b8e2a41e

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TYPE_STRIP

Returns the SQL type of the specified value. Syntax
SQL
TYPE_STRIP(value)
ArgumentData TypeDescription
valueAll data types are supported.Specified value for the determination of the type.
You can specify columns, literals, and expressions.
Examples
SQL
SELECT TYPE_STRIP(_R{1,2,3});
Output: MATRIX[1][3]
SQL
SELECT TYPE_STRIP(current_user());
Output: CHAR
SQL
SELECT TYPE_STRIP(NULL);
Output: NULL
SQL
SELECT TYPE_STRIP(NULL::INT[]);
Output: INT[]

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VERSION

Returns the version of the database to which the client is currently connected. Syntax
SQL
VERSION()
Example
SQL
SELECT VERSION();
Output: 22.0.0-20230105.2353

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ZN

If x is NULL, returns 0. Otherwise, returns x. Syntax
SQL
ZN(x)
Example
SQL
SELECT ZN(null);
Output: 0 Example
SQL
SELECT ZN(12);
Output: 12 Databases System Catalog Database Administration
Last modified on May 21, 2026