Return largest value from multiple columns

[akselo]

Does anyone know a good way to compare several columns and return the largest value, somewhat like what MAX does for a single column?

[r035198x]

Does anyone know a good way to compare several columns and return the largest value, somewhat like what MAX does for a single column?

Depends on how many columns you are comparing against. You could try the IF function. Have a look at this

[CODE=mysql]select IF(max(co1a) > max(colb), max(cola), max(colb))[/CODE]

[akselo]

Depends on how many columns you are comparing against. You could try the IF function. Have a look at this

[CODE=mysql]select IF(max(co1a) > max(colb), max(cola), max(colb))[/CODE]

Thank you for the quick response. I have six fields with different square footage information for land use types (residential, commercial, office, etc), and hope to return the largest value for the parcel in question, and while I considered the if statement, this method seems cumbersome as I would need to test each field against all others and end up with 6 different nested if statements. Could one define an array of six columns and return the largest?

[Jason Hallums]

you can use the following:

select greatest(100,67 ,876,76,234,100 98) from dual;

can be used in any sql statement , just list the relevant comments inside the greatest () function