This Oracle tutorial explains how to use the Oracle/PLSQL FIRST_VALUE function with syntax and examples.
The Oracle/PLSQL FIRST_VALUE function returns the first value in an ordered set of values from an analytic window. It is similar to the LAST_VALUE and NTH_VALUE functions.
The ANSI compatible syntax for the FIRST_VALUE function in Oracle/PLSQL is:
FIRST_VALUE (expression)
[RESPECT NULLS | IGNORE NULLS]
OVER ([query_partition_clause] [order_by_clause [windowing_clause]])
The following syntax is also an accepted format:
FIRST_VALUE (expression
[RESPECT NULLS | IGNORE NULLS])
OVER ([query_partition_clause] [order_by_clause [windowing_clause]])
The column or expression that you wish to return the first value for.
Optional. It determines whether NULL values are included or ignored in the analytic window calculation. If this parameter is omitted, the default is RESPECT NULLS which includes NULL values.
Optional. It is used to partition the results into groups based on one or more expressions.
Optional. It is used to order the data within each partition.
Optional. It determines the rows in the analytic window to evaluate and it is important that you use the correct windowing_clause or you could get unexpected results. It can be a value such as:
windowing_clause | Description |
---|---|
RANGE BETWEEN UNBOUNDED PRECEDING AND CURRENT ROW | Last row in the window changes as the current row changes (default) |
RANGE BETWEEN CURRENT ROW AND UNBOUNDED FOLLOWING | First row in the window changes as the current row changes |
RANGE BETWEEN UNBOUNDED PRECEDING AND UNBOUNDED FOLLOWING | All rows are included in the window, regardless of the current row |
The FIRST_VALUE function returns the first value as represented by its datatype.
The FIRST_VALUE function can be used in the following versions of Oracle/PLSQL:
If you want to follow along with this tutorial, get the DDL to create the tables and the DML to populate the data. Then try the examples in your own database!
Let's look at some Oracle FIRST_VALUE function examples and explore how to use the FIRST_VALUE function in Oracle/PLSQL.
Let's start with a simple example and use the FIRST_VALUE function to return the highest salary in the employees table. In this example, we won't require a query_partition_clause because we are evaluating across the entire employees table.
In this example, we have a table called employees with the following data:
EMPLOYEE_ID LAST_NAME FIRST_NAME SALARY DEPT_ID
----------- --------- ---------- ------ -------
1000 Jackson Joe 2000 10
2000 Smith Jane 3500 10
3000 Jack Samantha 1900 10
4000 Reynolds Allen 4000 20
5000 James Paige 3250 20
6000 Johnson Derek 2750 20
7000 Nelson Sarah 5000 30
8000 Burke Russell 1500 30
To find the highest salary, enter the following SELECT statement:
SELECT DISTINCT FIRST_VALUE(salary)
OVER (ORDER BY salary DESC
RANGE BETWEEN UNBOUNDED PRECEDING AND UNBOUNDED FOLLOWING)
AS "HIGHEST"
FROM employees;
These are the results that you should see:
HIGHEST
-------
5000
In this example, the FIRST_VALUE returns the highest salary value as specified by FIRST_VALUE(salary). The analytic window will sort the data by salary in descending order as specified by ORDER BY salary DESC. The RANGE BETWEEN UNBOUNDED PRECEDING AND UNBOUNDED FOLLOWING windowing_clause is used to ensure that all rows are included regardless of the current row.
And because we want the highest salary for the table, we did not need to include a query_partition_clause to partition the data.
Now, let's show you how to use the FIRST_VALUE function with a query_partition_clause. In this next example, let's return the highest salary for dept_id 10 and 20.
Based on the same employees table, enter the following SQL statement:
SELECT DISTINCT dept_id, FIRST_VALUE(salary)
OVER (PARTITION BY dept_id ORDER BY salary DESC
RANGE BETWEEN UNBOUNDED PRECEDING AND UNBOUNDED FOLLOWING)
AS "HIGHEST"
FROM employees
WHERE dept_id in (10,20)
ORDER BY dept_id;
These are the results that you should see:
DEPT_ID HIGHEST
------- -------
10 3500
20 4000
In this example, the FIRST_VALUE returns the highest salary value as specified by FIRST_VALUE(salary). The analytic window will partition results by dept_id and order the data by salary in descending order as specified by PARTITION BY dept_id ORDER BY salary DESC.
Now, let's show you how to use the FIRST_VALUE function to return the lowest salary for dept_id 10 and 20.
Again based on the data in the employees table, enter the following SQL statement:
SELECT DISTINCT dept_id, FIRST_VALUE(salary)
OVER (PARTITION BY dept_id ORDER BY salary ASC
RANGE BETWEEN UNBOUNDED PRECEDING AND UNBOUNDED FOLLOWING)
AS "LOWEST"
FROM employees
WHERE dept_id in (10,20)
ORDER BY dept_id;
These are the results that you should see:
DEPT_ID LOWEST
------- ------
10 1900
20 2750
In this example, we have switched the sort order to ascending on the partition as specified by PARTITION BY dept_id ORDER BY salary ASC and now we get the lowest salary based on dept_id.