## Syntax
```mermaid
%%{init: {
'theme': 'base',
'flowchart': { 'padding': '7', 'nodeSpacing': '20', 'rankSpacing': '20' },
'themeVariables': {
'fontSize': '11px',
'fontFamily': 'Arial'
}
}}%%
flowchart LR
maxAggregateFunction_start((START))
maxAggregateFunction_start --> maxAggregateFunction_0_0[MAX]:::quoted
maxAggregateFunction_0_0 --> maxAggregateFunction_0_1["("]:::quoted
maxAggregateFunction_0_1 --> maxAggregateFunction_0_2[<a href="Invantive UniversalSQL/Grammar/Expression" class="internal-link">expression</a>]
maxAggregateFunction_0_2 --> maxAggregateFunction_0_3[")"]:::quoted
maxAggregateFunction_0_3 --> maxAggregateFunction_end((END))
```
## Purpose
Group function to find the maximum value from a group of numerical values or text values. Occurrences of `null` are ignored; when solely `null` values are present, the outcome is `null`.
## Examples
The following example retrieves the highest credit limit across a customer base of five customers:
```sql
select max(cus.credit_limit)
from csvtable
( passing 'Acme Industries#Manufacturing#12500#50000|Bergmann GmbH#Manufacturing#0#25000|Carlson Ltd#Wholesale#2500#10000|Dubois SA#Wholesale#7500#10000|Everest BV#Services##5000'
row delimiter '|'
column delimiter '#'
columns name varchar2 position next
, segment varchar2 position next
, balance number position next
, credit_limit number position next
) cus
-------------------
50000
```
The following example retrieves the highest outstanding balance per customer segment; the balance of the sole Services customer is `null`, so the outcome for that segment is empty:
```sql
select cus.segment
, max(cus.balance)
from csvtable
( passing 'Acme Industries#Manufacturing#12500#50000|Bergmann GmbH#Manufacturing#0#25000|Carlson Ltd#Wholesale#2500#10000|Dubois SA#Wholesale#7500#10000|Everest BV#Services##5000'
row delimiter '|'
column delimiter '#'
columns name varchar2 position next
, segment varchar2 position next
, balance number position next
, credit_limit number position next
) cus
group
by cus.segment
order
by cus.segment
-------------------
Manufacturing 12500
Services
Wholesale 7500
```