Mathematical operators are provided for many
PostgreSQL types. For types without
standard mathematical conventions
(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 the result)
4 / 2
2
%
modulo (remainder)
5 % 4
1
^
exponentiation (associates left to right)
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 9-11.
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 can therefore vary depending on the host system.
Table 9-3. Mathematical Functions
Function
Return Type
Description
Example
Result
abs(x)
(same as input)
absolute value
abs(-17.4)
17.4
cbrt(dp)
dp
cube root
cbrt(27.0)
3
ceil(dp or numeric)
(same as input)
nearest integer greater than or equal to argument
ceil(-42.8)
-42
ceiling(dp or numeric)
(same as input)
nearest integer greater than or equal to argument (same as ceil)
return the bucket to which operand would
be assigned in an equidepth histogram with count
buckets, in the range b1 to b2
width_bucket(5.35, 0.024, 10.06, 5)
3
width_bucket(opdp, b1dp, b2dp, countint)
int
return the bucket to which operand would
be assigned in an equidepth histogram with count
buckets, in the range b1 to b2
width_bucket(5.35, 0.024, 10.06, 5)
3
Table 9-4 shows functions for
generating random numbers.
Table 9-4. Random Functions
Function
Return Type
Description
random()
dp
random value in the range 0.0 <= x < 1.0
setseed(dp)
void
set seed for subsequent random() calls (value between -1.0 and
1.0, inclusive)
The characteristics of the values returned by
random() depend
on the system implementation. It is not suitable for cryptographic
applications; see pgcrypto module for an alternative.
Finally, Table 9-5 shows the
available trigonometric functions. All trigonometric functions
take arguments and return values of type double
precision. Trigonometric functions arguments are expressed
in radians. Inverse functions return values are expressed in
radians. See unit transformation functions
radians() and
degrees() above.