FIRST_VALUE

The SQL FIRST_VALUE() function is a window function that returns the first value of an ordered set of values within a group. It is commonly used in data analysis and reporting to retrieve the first value in a series of values based on a specified ordering.

Syntax

The syntax of the FIRST_VALUE() function is as follows:

FIRST_VALUE(expression) OVER (
    [PARTITION BY partition_expression, ... ]
    ORDER BY sort_expression [ASC|DESC], ...
    [ROWS | RANGE frame_specification]
)

The expression parameter specifies the column or expression to be evaluated. The PARTITION BY clause divides the result set into partitions to which the function is applied separately. The ORDER BY clause specifies the column or expression used to sort the rows in each partition. The ROWS or RANGE clause defines the subset of rows to which the function is applied.

Example

For example, consider a table called sales with columns id, date, and amount. To retrieve the first sale amount for each date, we can use the following query:

SELECT 
date, 
FIRST_VALUE(amount) OVER (PARTITION BY date ORDER BY id) AS first_amount
FROM sales;

This query uses the FIRST_VALUE() function to return the first amount value for each date partition, sorted by id. The result set will include two columns, date and first_amount, where first_amount contains the first sale amount for each date.

In summary, the SQL FIRST_VALUE() function is a powerful window function that enables you to retrieve the first value of an ordered set of values within a group. By using this function, you can easily retrieve important information from your data and perform various data analysis tasks.