What are aggregate and scalar functions?

For doing operations on data SQL has many built-in functions, they are categorized in two categories and further sub-categorized in different seven functions under each category. The categories are: 

1. Aggregate functions: 
   These functions are used to do operations from the values of the column and a single value is returned. 
   1. AVG()
   2. COUNT()
   3. FIRST()
   4. LAST()
   5. MAX()
   6. MIN()
   7. SUM()
2. Scalar functions: 
   These functions are based on user input, these too returns single value. 
   1. UCASE()
   2. LCASE()
   3. MID()
   4. LEN()
   5. ROUND()
   6. NOW()
   7. FORMAT()

Students-Table  

ID	NAME	MARKS	AGE
1	Rajesh	90	19
2	Vishal	50	20
3	Subhash	80	19
4	Moin	95	21
5	Jaydip	85	18

Aggregate Functions

 

AVG(): It returns the average value after calculating from values in a numeric column. 

Syntax: 

SELECT AVG(column_name) FROM table_name;

Queries: 

• Computing average marks of students. 

SELECT AVG(MARKS) AS AvgMarks FROM Students; 

Output: 

AvgMarks

80

• Computing average age of students. 

SELECT AVG(AGE) AS AvgAge FROM Students; 

Output: 

AvgAge

19.4

COUNT(): It is used to count the number of rows returned in a SELECT statement. It can’t be used in MS ACCESS. 

Syntax: 

SELECT COUNT(column_name) FROM table_name;

Queries: 

• Computing total number of students. 

SELECT COUNT(*) AS NumStudents FROM Students;

Output: 

NumStudents

5

• Computing number of students with unique/distinct age. 

SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT AGE) AS NumStudents FROM Students;

Output: 

NumStudents

4

FIRST(): The FIRST() function returns the first value of the selected column. 

Syntax: 

SELECT FIRST(column_name) FROM table_name;

Queries: 

• Fetching marks of first student from the Students table. 

SELECT FIRST(MARKS) AS MarksFirst FROM Students;

Output: 

MarksFirst

90

• Fetching age of first student from the Students table. 

SELECT FIRST(AGE) AS AgeFirst FROM Students;

Output: 

AgeFirst

19

LAST(): The LAST() function returns the last value of the selected column. It can be used only in MS ACCESS. 

Syntax: 

SELECT LAST(column_name) FROM table_name;

Queries: 

• Fetching marks of last student from the Students table. 

SELECT LAST(MARKS) AS MarksLast FROM Students;

Output: 

MarksLast

85

• Fetching age of last student from the Students table. 

SELECT LAST(AGE) AS AgeLast FROM Students;

Output: 

AgeLast

18

MAX(): The MAX() function returns the maximum value of the selected column. 

Syntax: 

SELECT MAX(column_name) FROM table_name;

Queries: 

• Fetching maximum marks among students from the Students table. 

SELECT MAX(MARKS) AS MaxMarks FROM Students;

Output: 

MaxMarks

95

• Fetching max age among students from the Students table. 

SELECT MAX(AGE) AS MaxAge FROM Students;

Output: 

MaxAge

21

MIN(): The MIN() function returns the minimum value of the selected column. 

Syntax: 

SELECT MIN(column_name) FROM table_name;

Queries: 

• Fetching minimum marks among students from the Students table. 

SELECT MIN(MARKS) AS MinMarks FROM Students;

Output: 

MinMarks

50

• Fetching minimum age among students from the Students table. 

SELECT MIN(AGE) AS MinAge FROM Students;

Output: 

MinAge

18

SUM(): The SUM() function returns the sum of all the values of the selected column.

 Syntax: 

SELECT SUM(column_name) FROM table_name;

Queries: 

• Fetching summation of total marks among students from the Students table. 

SELECT SUM(MARKS) AS TotalMarks FROM Students;

Output: 

TotalMarks

400

• Fetching summation of total age among students from the Students table. 

SELECT SUM(AGE) AS TotalAge FROM Students;

Output: 

TotalAge

97

Scalar Functions

UCASE(): It converts the value of a field to uppercase. 

Syntax: 

SELECT UCASE(column_name) FROM table_name;

Queries: 

• Converting names of students from the table Students to uppercase. 

SELECT UCASE(NAME) FROM Students;

Output: 

NAME

RAJESH

VISHAL

SUBHASH

JAYDIP

MOIN

LCASE(): It converts the value of a field to lowercase. 

Syntax: 

SELECT LCASE(column_name) FROM table_name;

Queries: 

• Converting names of students from the table Students to lowercase. 

SELECT LCASE(NAME) FROM Students;

Output: 

NAME

rajesh

subhash

vishal

jaydip

moin

MID(): The MID() function extracts texts from the text field. 

Syntax: 

SELECT MID(column_name,start,length) AS some_name FROM table_name;

specifying length is optional here, and start signifies start position ( starting from 1 )

Queries: 

• Fetching first four characters of names of students from the Students table. 

SELECT MID(NAME,1,4) FROM Students; 

Output: 

NAME

RAJE

VISH

SUBH

MOIN

JAYD

LEN(): The LEN() function returns the length of the value in a text field. 

Syntax: 

SELECT LENGTH(column_name) FROM table_name;

Queries: 

• Fetching length of names of students from Students table. 

SELECT LENGTH(NAME) FROM Students;

Output: 

NAME

5

6

6

7

3

ROUND(): The ROUND() function is used to round a numeric field to the number of decimals specified.NOTE: Many database systems have adopted the IEEE 754 standard for arithmetic operations, which says that when any numeric .5 is rounded it results to the nearest even integer i.e, 5.5 and 6.5 both gets rounded off to 6. 

Syntax: 

SELECT ROUND(column_name,decimals) FROM table_name; 

decimals- number of decimals to be fetched.

Queries: 

• Fetching maximum marks among students from the Students table. 

SELECT ROUND(MARKS,0) FROM table_name; 

Output: 

MARKS

90

50

80

95

85

NOW(): The NOW() function returns the current system date and time. 

Syntax: 

SELECT NOW() FROM table_name;

Queries: 

• Fetching current system time. 

SELECT NAME, NOW() AS DateTime FROM Students; 

Output: 

NAME	DateTime
RAJESH	1/13/2017 1:30:11 PM
VISHAL	1/13/2017 1:30:11 PM
SUBHASH	1/13/2017 1:30:11 PM
MOIN	1/13/2017 1:30:11 PM
JAYDIP	1/13/2017 1:30:11 PM

FORMAT(): The FORMAT() function is used to format how a field is to be displayed. 

Syntax: 

SELECT FORMAT(column_name,format) FROM table_name; 

Queries: 

• Formatting current date as ‘YYYY-MM-DD’. 

SELECT NAME, FORMAT(Now(),'YYYY-MM-DD') AS Date FROM Students; 

Output: 

NAME	Date
RAJESH	2017-01-13
VISHAL	2017-01-13
SUBHASH	2017-01-13
MOIN	2017-01-13
JAYDIP	2017-01-13

Hi Naresh,

To know more about Aggregate and Scalar Functions in SQL, visit

• https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/sql-functions-aggregate-scalar-functions/

Thanks!

 

Aggregate functions operate against a collection of values and return a single summarizing value. Scalar functions return a single value based on scalar input arguments. Some scalar functions, such as CURRENT_TIME, do not require any arguments.

For doing operations on data SQL has many built-in functions, they are categorized in two categories and further sub-categorized in different seven functions under each category. The categories are: 

Aggregate functions:These functions are used to do operations from the values of the column and a single value is returned. 

1. AVG()
2. COUNT()
3. FIRST()
4. LAST()
5. MAX()
6. MIN()
7. SUM()

Scalar functions:These functions are based on user input, these too returns single value.

1. UCASE()
2. LCASE()
3. MID()
4. LEN()
5. ROUND()
6. NOW()
7. FORMAT()