CEIL

Syntax

Description of the illustration ceil.gif

Purpose

CEIL returns smallest integer greater than or equal to n. The number n can always be written as the difference of an integer k and a positive fraction f such that 0 <= f < 1 and n = k - f. The value of CEIL is the integer k. Thus, the value of CEIL is n itself if and only if n is precisely an integer.

This function takes as an argument any numeric data type or any nonnumeric data type that can be implicitly converted to a numeric data type. The function returns the same data type as the numeric data type of the argument.

See Also:

Table 3-10, "Implicit Type Conversion Matrix" for more information on implicit conversion and FLOOR

Examples

The following example returns the smallest integer greater than or equal to the order total of a specified order:

SELECT order_total, CEIL(order_total) FROM orders
   WHERE order_id = 2434;

ORDER_TOTAL CEIL(ORDER_TOTAL)
----------- -----------------
   268651.8            268652