PostgreSQL min_scale() Function

The PostgreSQL min_scale() function returns the minimum precision (number of decimal places) required to represent a given number accurately.

min_scale() Syntax

This is the syntax of the PostgreSQL min_scale() function:

min_scale(numeric_value) -> integer

Parameters

numeric_value

Required. a number.

Return value

The PostgreSQL min_scale() function returns the minimum precision (number of decimal places) required to represent the given number exactly, that is, the number of the fractional part with removing all trailing 0.

If the argument is an integer, the min_scale() function will return 0.

If the argument has fractional part, the min_scale() function returns the number of the fractional part with removing the trailing 0.

The min_scale() function will return NULL if the argument is NULL.

PostgreSQL will give an error if you supply a parameter that is not a numeric type.

min_scale() Examples

Here are a few examples of the min_scale() function:

If the argument is an integer, the min_scale() function will return 0.

SELECT
    min_scale(1) AS "min_scale(1)",
    min_scale(2) AS "min_scale(2)",
    min_scale(123) AS "min_scale(123)";

 min_scale(1) | min_scale(2) | min_scale(123)
--------------+--------------+----------------
            0 |            0 |              0

If the argument has fractional part, the min_scale() function returns the number of the fractional part with removing the trailing 0.

SELECT min_scale(1.23000) AS "min_scale(1.23000)";

 min_scale(1.23000)
--------------------
                  2

Here, the fractional part of 1.23000 is 23000. The 3 zeroes in the end are useless, so min_scale(1.23000)returned 2.