This Oracle tutorial explains how to use the Oracle/PLSQL LEAST function.
The least function returns the smallest value in a list.
The syntax for the least function is:
least( expr1, expr2, ... expr_n )
If the data types of the expressions are different, all expressions are converted to expr1's data type.
If a NULL value is in the list, least function returns NULL.
The syntax for the Oracle/PLSQL LEAST function is:
LEAST( expr1, expr2, ... expr_n )
expr1, expr2, . expr_n are expressions that are evaluated by the LEAST function.
If the data types of the expressions are different, all expressions will be converted to what datatype expr1 is.
Having a NULL value in one of the expressions will return NULL as the least value.
SQL> select least(1, 2, 3, 4) from dual;
-- w ww . j a va2 s.c o m
LEAST(1,2,3,4)
--------------
1
SQL> select least('1', '2', 'a', 'b') from dual;
L
-
1
SQL> select least('a', 'b', 'c') from dual;
L
-
a
SQL> select least('a', 'b', 'c', null) from dual;
L
-