SMALLEST |
The SMALLEST function returns the smallest value of an expression. You can use this function to compare numeric values or date values.
Return Value
The data type of the expression. It can be INTEGER, LONGINT, DECIMAL, or DATE.
Syntax
SMALLEST(expression [dimensions])
Arguments
The expression whose smallest value is to be returned.
The dimensions of the result. By default, SMALLEST returns a single value. When you indicate one or more dimensions for the results, SMALLEST calculates the smallest value along the dimensions that are specified and returns an array of values. Each dimension must be either a dimension of expression or related to one of its dimensions. When it is a related dimension, you can specify the name of the relation instead of the dimension name. This enables you to choose which relation is used when there is more than one.
When expression is dimensioned by dimension of type DAY, WEEK, MONTH, QUARTER, or YEAR, you can specify any other DAY, WEEK, MONTH, QUARTER, or YEAR dimension as a related dimension. Oracle OLAP uses the implicit relation between the dimensions. For each time period in the related dimension, Oracle OLAP finds the smallest data value in any source time period that ends in the target time period. This method is used regardless of which dimension has the more aggregate periods. To control the mapping of one DAY, WEEK, MONTH, QUARTER, or YEAR dimension to another (for example, from weeks to months), you can define an explicit relation between the two dimensions and specify the name of the relation as the dimension argument.
Notes
NA Values and SMALLEST
SMALLEST is affected by the NASKIP option in the same manner as other aggregate functions. When NASKIP is set to YES (the default), SMALLEST ignores NA values and returns the smallest value or values that are not NA. When NASKIP is set to NO, SMALLEST returns NA when any value of the expression is NA. When all the values of the expression are NA, SMALLEST returns NA for either setting of NASKIP.
Examples
Finding the Month with the Least Amount of Sportswear Sales
This example uses the SMALLEST function to find the smallest monthly sportswear sales for three districts during the first half of 1996. To see the smallest sales figure for each district, specify district as the dimension of the results.
LIMIT product TO 'Sportswear' LIMIT district TO FIRST 3 LIMIT month TO 'Jan96' TO 'Jun96' REPORT HEADING 'Smallest Sales' SMALLEST(sales district)
The preceding statements produce the following output.
Smallest DISTRICT Sales -------------- ---------- Boston 57,079.10 Atlanta 129,616.08 Chicago 77,489.51