Sgn function

Returns a Variant (Integer) indicating the sign of a number.

Syntax

Sgn ( number )

The required numberargument can be any valid numeric expression.

Return Values

If number is	Sgn returns
Greater than zero	1
Equal to zero	0
Less than zero	-1

Remarks

The sign of the number argument determines the return value of the Sgn function.

Query example

Expression	Results
SELECT Unitprice,sgn(unitprice) AS PriceSign,Discount,sgn(Discount) as DiscountSign FROM productSales;	Returns the "unitprice" and "Discount" with their respective signs (1 for positive, -1 for negative and 0 for zero value) in the columns PriceSign and DiscountSign respectively.

VBA example

Note: Examples that follow demonstrate the use of this function in a Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) module. For more information about working with VBA, select Developer Reference in the drop-down list next to Search and enter one or more terms in the search box.

This example uses the Sgn function to determine the sign of a number.

Dim MyVar1, MyVar2, MyVar3, MySign
MyVar1 = 12: MyVar2 = -2.4: MyVar3 = 0
MySign = Sgn(MyVar1)    ' Returns 1.
MySign = Sgn(MyVar2)    ' Returns -1.
MySign = Sgn(MyVar3)    ' Returns 0.