Language reference
Abs (absolute value)
Syntax
Abs(<number>)
π Abs(delta) → magnitude (Readings)Description
Abs returns the size of a number ignoring its sign — −7 and 7 both become 7. Use it to measure how far a value is from zero regardless of direction (e.g. the size of an error or a price change).
Technical Description
Abs(x: NUMBER) → NUMBER. Returns |x| with full BigDecimal precision. NULL input returns NULL. PURE, DETERMINISTIC, IDEMPOTENT.
Examples
Magnitude of a signed delta:
π Abs(delta) → magnitude (Readings)PROJECT Abs(delta) -> magnitude (Readings)Filter on absolute deviation:
σ Abs(forecast - actual) > 100 (Forecasts)SELECT Abs(forecast - actual) > 100 (Forecasts)Smallest absolute error per sensor:
γ sensor, MIN(Abs(error)) → best (Readings)GROUP sensor, MIN(Abs(error)) -> best (Readings)Pushdown
SQL: folds to ABS(<e>) on all dialects. The result is exact on an exact numeric column, so the database's answer and the engine's are the same digits.
Limitations
NUMBER only; NULL in → NULL out.