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The System supports these miscellaneous functions and expressions.

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
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Example This example uses conditional logic with CASE to categorize individuals into different groups based on their ages.
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Example This example uses switch conditions to categorize age groups.
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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
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Example
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Output: 13

COMMIT

Returns the most recent commit hash of the database to which the client is currently connected. Syntax
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Example
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Output: cd0d53e3aa

CURRENT_DATABASE

Alias for DATABASE.

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
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Example
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Output: sql0

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
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Example
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Output: ['sso_users@system', 'analysts@system']

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
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Example
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Output: f690c14a-4e4f-4143-8e5e-20c90b60e15c

CURRENT_SCHEMA

Returns the name of the current schema. Syntax
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Example
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Output: schema@database

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
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Example
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Output: 6ffe8383-e894-44c0-91c5-38d5925f51ec

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
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Example
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Output: 2677b88c-7f07-470c-be3e-e1bafddc1221

CURRENT_USER

Returns the user for the current connection. Syntax
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Example
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Output: user@database

DATABASE

Alias for CURRENT_DATABASE. Returns the name of the database to which the client is currently connected. Syntax
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Example
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Output: test

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
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Example
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Output: 13

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
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Example
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Output: 5

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
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Example
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Output: 5

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
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Example
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Output: 0 Example
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Output: 331477181

NULL_IF

Returns the NULL value if two arguments are equal; otherwise, returns the first argument. Syntax
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Example
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Output: 13 Example
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Output: NULL

RAND_UUID

Alias for UUID_GENERATE.

SHOW

The SHOW function lets you explore the database and its metadata for user-defined items. For details, see Information Schema. Syntax
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Examples This example uses SHOW to explore databases on the system.
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Output
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This example explores table data.
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Output
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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
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Example Generate one UUID value.
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Output: 3f6b2b58-4c9a-4a32-9b6a-b2f9b8e2a41e

TYPE_STRIP

Returns the SQL type of the specified value. Syntax
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Examples
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Output: MATRIX[1][3]
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Output: CHAR
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Output: NULL
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Output: INT[]

VERSION

Returns the version of the database to which the client is currently connected. Syntax
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Example
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Output: 22.0.0-20230105.2353

ZN

If x is NULL, returns 0. Otherwise, returns x. Syntax
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Example
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Output: 0 Example
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Output: 12 Databases System Catalog Database Administration
Last modified on May 20, 2026