Simulation of TRUNC() in Derby

Derby is missing out a lot of functions from the set of functions that other databases usually provide. One example is the TRUNC(value, decimals) function. According to the Wikipedia, truncation can be achieved as such:


-- trunc(x, n) 
CASE WHEN x > 0 
THEN
  floor(power(10, n) * x) / power(10, n) 
ELSE 
  ceil(power(10, n) * x) / power(10, n) 
END

Unfortunately, there is no POWER(base, exponent) function in Derby either. But no problem, we can simulate that as well. Let’s consider the Wikipedia again and we’ll find:


power(b, x) = exp(x * ln(b))

If we substitute that into the original simulation, we get for Derby:


-- trunc(x, n) 
CASE WHEN x > 0 
THEN 
  floor(exp(n * ln(10)) * x) / exp(n * ln(10))
ELSE 
  ceil(exp(n * ln(10)) * x) / exp(n * ln(10)) 
END

Verbose, probably quite inefficient, but effective! Let’s run a short test, too:


create table test (x numeric(10, 5), n int);

insert into test values (11.111, 0);
insert into test values (11.111, 1);
insert into test values (11.111, 2);
insert into test values (11.111, -1);

select
  x, n, 
  case when x >= 0
  then
    floor(exp(n * ln(10)) * x) / exp(n * ln(10))
  else
    ceil(exp(n * ln(10)) * x) / exp(n * ln(10))
  end "trunc(x, n)"
from test;

The above yields

X	N	TRUNC(X, N)
11.111	0	11
11.111	1	11.1
11.111	2	11.11
11.111	-1	10

Simulation of TRUNC() in Derby

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Published by lukaseder

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