Getting the minimum of two values in SQL

Question

I have two variables, one is called PaidThisMonth, and the other is called OwedPast. They are both results of some subqueries in SQL. How can I select the smaller of the two and return it as a value titled PaidForPast?

The MIN function works on columns, not variables.

Answer 1

This works for up to 5 dates and handles nulls. Just couldn't get it to work as an Inline function.

CREATE FUNCTION dbo.MinDate(@Date1 datetime = Null,
                            @Date2 datetime = Null,
                            @Date3 datetime = Null,
                            @Date4 datetime = Null,
                            @Date5 datetime = Null)
RETURNS Datetime AS
BEGIN
--USAGE select dbo.MinDate('20120405',null,null,'20110305',null)
DECLARE @Output datetime;

WITH Datelist_CTE(DT)
AS (
        SELECT @Date1 AS DT WHERE @Date1 is not NULL UNION
        SELECT @Date2 AS DT WHERE @Date2 is not NULL UNION
        SELECT @Date3 AS DT WHERE @Date3 is not NULL UNION
        SELECT @Date4 AS DT WHERE @Date4 is not NULL UNION
        SELECT @Date5 AS DT WHERE @Date5 is not NULL
   )
Select @Output=Min(DT) FROM Datelist_CTE

RETURN @Output
END

Answer 2

SQL Server 2012 and 2014 supports IIF(cont,true,false) function. Thus for minimal selection you can use it like

SELECT IIF(first>second, second, first) the_minimal FROM table

Answer 3

Use Case:

   Select Case When @PaidThisMonth < @OwedPast 
               Then @PaidThisMonth Else @OwedPast End PaidForPast

As Inline table valued UDF

CREATE FUNCTION Minimum
(@Param1 Integer, @Param2 Integer)
Returns Table As
Return(Select Case When @Param1 < @Param2 
                   Then @Param1 Else @Param2 End MinValue)

Usage:

Select MinValue as PaidforPast 
From dbo.Minimum(@PaidThisMonth, @OwedPast)

ADDENDUM: This is probably best for when addressing only two possible values, if there are more than two, consider Craig's answer using Values clause.

Answer 4

I just had a situation where I had to find the max of 4 complex selects within an update. With this approach you can have as many as you like!

You can also replace the numbers with aditional selects

select max(x)
 from (
 select 1 as 'x' union
 select 4 as 'x' union
 select 3 as 'x' union
 select 2 as 'x' 
 ) a

More complex usage

 @answer = select Max(x)
           from (
                select @NumberA as 'x' union
                select @NumberB as 'x' union
                select @NumberC as 'x' union
                select (
                       Select Max(score) from TopScores
                       ) as 'x' 
     ) a

I'm sure a UDF has better performance.

Answer 5

Use a temp table to insert the range of values, then select the min/max of the temp table from within a stored procedure or UDF. This is a basic construct, so feel free to revise as needed.

For example:

CREATE PROCEDURE GetMinSpeed() AS
BEGIN

    CREATE TABLE #speed (Driver NVARCHAR(10), SPEED INT);
    '
    ' Insert any number of data you need to sort and pull from
    '
    INSERT INTO #speed (N'Petty', 165)
    INSERT INTO #speed (N'Earnhardt', 172)
    INSERT INTO #speed (N'Patrick', 174)

    SELECT MIN(SPEED) FROM #speed

    DROP TABLE #speed

END

Answer 6

Here is a trick if you want to calculate maximum(field, 0):

SELECT (ABS(field) + field)/2 FROM Table

returns 0 if field is negative, else, return field.