1.0

-- returns 0, since 'stove' is not found in 'clover':
VALUES LOCATE('stove', 'clover')
-- returns 5 (note the start position is 4):
VALUES LOCATE('iss', 'Mississippi', 4)
-- returns 1, because the empty string is a special case:
VALUES LOCATE('', 'ABC')
-- returns 0, because 'AAA' is not found in '':
VALUES LOCATE('AAA', '')
-- returns 3
VALUES LOCATE('', '', 3)
LTRIM function
LTRIM removes blanks from the beginning of a character string expression.
Syntax
LTRIM(CharacterExpression)
A CharacterExpression is a CHAR, VARCHAR, or LONG VARCHAR data type, any built-in type that is
implicitly converted to a string.
LTRIM returns NULL if CharacterExpression evaluates to null.
Example
-- returns 'asdf '
VALUES LTRIM(' asdf ')
MAX function
MAX is an aggregate function that evaluates the maximum of an expression over a set of rows. MAX is allowed
only on expressions that evaluate to built-in data types (including CHAR, VARCHAR, DATE, TIME, CHAR
FOR BIT DATA, etc.).
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SQL Language Reference