Numbers

In SurrealDB, numbers can be one of three types: 64-bit integers, 64-bit floating point numbers, or 128-bit decimal numbers.

Integer numbers

If a numeric value is specified without a decimal point and is within the range -9223372036854775808 to 9223372036854775807 then the value will be parsed, stored, and treated as a 64-bit integer.

CREATE event SET year = 2022;

Floating point numbers

If a number value is specified with a decimal point, or is outside of the maximum range specified above, then the number will automatically be parsed, stored, and treated as a 64-bit floating point value. This ensures efficiency when performing mathematical calculations within SurrealDB.

CREATE event SET temperature = 41.5;

Decimal numbers

To opt into 128-bit decimal numbers when specifying numeric values, you can use the dec suffix.

CREATE product SET price = 99.99dec;

The dec suffix is an instruction to the parser and not a cast, and is thus preferred when making a decimal.

-- Creates the imprecise float 3.888888888888889 and casts it into a decimal as 3.888888888888889dec
RETURN <decimal>3.8888888888888888;
-- Uses the input 3.8888888888888888 to directly create a decimal
RETURN 3.8888888888888888dec;

Using a specific numeric type

To use a specific type when specifying numeric values, you can cast the value to a specific numeric type or use the appropriate suffix.

CREATE event SET
	year = <int> 2022,
	temperature = <float> 41.5 + 5f,
	horizon = <decimal> 31 + 3dec
;

Numeric precision

Different numeric types can be compared and used together in calculations.

The benefits of floating point numeric values are speed and storage size, but there is a limit to the numeric precision.

RETURN 13.5719384719384719385639856394139476937756394756;


13.571938471938473

In addition, when using floating point numbers specifically, mathematical operations can result in a loss of precision (as is normal with other databases).

RETURN 0.3 + 0.3 + 0.3 + 0.1;
1.0000000000000002

Common rounding errors can be avoided by performing calculations using decimals.

RETURN 0.3dec + 0.3dec + 0.3dec + 0.1dec;

1.0

Mathematical constants

A set of floating point numeric constants are available in SurrealDB. Constant names are case insensitive, and can be specified with either lowercase or capital letters, or a mixture of both.

CREATE circle SET radius = circumference / ( 2 * MATH::PI );

Next steps

You’ve now seen how to use numeric values in SurrealDB. For more advanced functionality, take a look at the operators and math functions, which enable advanced calculations on numeric values and sets of numeric values.