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SQL Server Aggregate Functions Ignore Nulls | Beginners Guide

by | Jul 18, 2023

Let’s read the article to learn more about SQL Server aggregate functions ignoring null values. Bobcares, as a part of our SQL Server Support offers solutions to every query that comes our way.

SQL Server Aggregate Functions Ignoring Nulls

SUM, COUNT, AVG, MIN, and MAX are just a few of the aggregation functions that are available in SQL Server for use in doing computations on collections of numbers. Depending on the part and the context in which it is used, these aggregate functions respond differently to NULL values in the input data.

sql server aggregate functions ignore nulls

The majority of aggregate functions ignore NULL values. The result will only be based on the non-NULL values if there are any NULL values in the input data; otherwise, they will be skipped over or not included in the calculation.

How SQL Server Aggregate Functions Ignore Nulls?

In this section, we’ll see how a few popular aggregation functions treat NULL values:

1. SUM: The SUM function adds up all of the input set’s non-NULL values. NULL values are not taken into account.

2. COUNT: The COUNT function counts the variety of non-NULL values in the input set. NULL values are not taken into account.

3. AVG: The AVG function determines the average of the input set’s non-NULL values. The calculation ignores NULL values.

4. MIN: The MIN function, which excludes NULL values, returns the lowest number from the input set.

5. MAX: The MAX function, which ignores NULL values, returns the highest value from the input set.

An Example Of SQL Server Aggregate Functions Ignoring Nulls

Consider a “Menu” table with the columns “Item” and “Price”:

Item Price
Espresso 100
Cappuccino null
Latte 300

1. SUM: The SUM of the “Price” column will be 400.

2. COUNT: The COUNT function of the “Price” returns 2 as a value as one value is null.

3. AVG: The AVG function returns 200 as a value for the “Price” table.

4. MIN: The MIN value will be 100.

5. MAX: The MAX value will be 300.

Before using aggregate functions, we can use the ISNULL or COALESCE functions to substitute NULL values with certain values if we need to handle NULL values differently in the calculations. We can include NULL values in SUM or AVG calculations, for instance, by using the ISNULL(Price, 0) function to substitute NULL values with 0.

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Conclusion

To conclude, we describe the SQL server aggregate functions along with ignoring Null values in this article.

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