SHIFTRIGHT

shiftright(value, n)

Function

Performs an arithmetic right bit-shift operation on an integer value. Arithmetic right shift preserves the sign bit, so negative numbers remain negative after the shift. Shifting right by n bits is equivalent to integer division by 2n (floor). Supports int and bigint types.

Parameters

• value: int or bigint type, the value to shift
• n: int type, the number of bit positions to shift; must be greater than or equal to 0

Return Value

• The same type as value (int or bigint)
• Returns the result after the right shift
• Returns NULL if value or n is NULL

Examples

SELECT shiftright(8, 2); -- Result: 2

SELECT shiftright(1, 2); -- Result: 0

SELECT shiftright(0, 2); -- Result: 0

SELECT shiftright(8L, 2); -- Result: 2

SELECT shiftright(32L, 2); -- Result: 8

SELECT shiftright(NULL, 2); -- Result: NULL

SELECT shiftright(8, NULL); -- Result: NULL

SELECT shiftright(-4, 2); -- Result: -1

SELECT shiftright(1024, 10); -- 1024 / 210 = 1 -- Result: 1

Notes

• shiftright is an arithmetic right shift that preserves the sign bit
• For positive numbers: shiftright(x, n) = floor(x / 2n)
• For negative numbers, arithmetic right shift preserves the sign bit; the result remains negative
• Right shift is equivalent to integer division (floor)
• Difference from shiftrightunsigned:
  • shiftright is arithmetic right shift, preserving the sign bit
  • shiftrightunsigned is logical right shift, filling the most significant bit with 0
• Example: for -4 (binary representation: 11111111111111111111111111111100)
  • shiftright(-4, 2) = -1 (sign bit preserved)
  • shiftrightunsigned(-4, 2) = 1073741823 (most significant bit filled with 0)
• Bit-shift operations are faster than division
• Common use cases:
  • Fast division by powers of 2
  • Bit flag and bit mask operations
  • Data encoding and decoding
• Related functions:
  • shiftleft — left shift
  • shiftrightunsigned — logical right shift (does not preserve sign bit)