If you’re getting SQL Server error number 189 that reads “The greatest function requires 1 to 254 arguments“, it’s probably because you’re either passing too few or too many arguments.

As the error message alludes to, you need to pass at least 1 argument, and no more than 254 arguments when using the GREATEST() function.

To fix this issue, be sure to pass at least 1 argument, and no more than 254 arguments.

Example of Error

Here’s an example of code that produces the error:

SELECT GREATEST();

Result:

Msg 189, Level 15, State 1, Server 1f9cf85f9e0f, Line 13
The greatest function requires 1 to 254 arguments.

In this case I didn’t pass any arguments.

We get the same error when we pass too many arguments:

SELECT GREATEST( 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50,51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58,59,60,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,69,70,71,72,73,74,75,76,77,78,79,80,81,82,83,84,85,86,87,88,89,90,91,92,93,94,95,96,97,98,99,100,101,102,103,104,105,106,107,108,109,110,111,112,113,114,115,116,117,118,119,120,121,122,123,124,125,126,127,128,129,130,131,132,133,134,135,136,137,138,139,140,141,142,143,144,145,146,147,148,149,150,151,152,153,154,155,156,157,158,159,160,161,162,163,164,165,166,167,168,169,170,171,172,173,174,175,176,177,178,179,180,181,182,183,184,185,186,187,188,189,190,191,192,193,194,195,196,197,198,199,200,201,202,203,204,205,206,207,208,209,210,211,212,213,214,215,216,217,218,219,220,221,222,223,224,225,226,227,228,229,230,231,232,233,234,235,236,237,238,239,240,241,242,243,244,245,246,247,248,249,250,251,252,253,254,255 );

Result:

Msg 189, Level 15, State 1, Server daadeaf43b74, Line 15
The greatest function requires 1 to 254 arguments.

In this case I passed 255 arguments, which is over the 254 limit.

And here’s and example that references a database table:

SELECT GREATEST() FROM Scores;

Result:

Msg 189, Level 15, State 1, Server c5d2629cc8b9, Line 12
The greatest function requires 1 to 254 arguments.

Same error, because I didn’t specify any columns in the GREATEST() function.

Solution

As mentioned, to fix this issue, be sure to pass at least 1 argument, and no more than 254 arguments when using the GREATEST() function in SQL Server.

Simple example:

SELECT GREATEST( 7, 9 );

Result:

9

And here’s an example that references a table:

SELECT 
  GREATEST( Game1, Game2, Game3 ) AS "Highest Score"
FROM Scores;

Result:

Highest Score
-------------
           30
           40
           50

In this case Game1, Game2, and Game3 are the names of columns in the Scores table.