# FIRST

A function that returns the first value of a set of input values, defined as the value associated with the minimum time.

## Syntax

```sql
FIRST (value[, time]);

```

## Arguments

* value: column value to return
* time: time expression for comparison. The expression should be one of the following types: `DATETIME`, `DATETIME(6)`, `TIMESTAMP`, `TIMESTAMP(6)`. If no time expression is specified, then the `SERIES TIMESTAMP` is used to defined the time order. Only one `SERIES TIMESTAMP` can appear in tables used in the query if the `time` argument is omitted.

## Return Type

The first value of a set of input rows, as ordered by the time column.

## Remarks

* If there are multiple instances of the same minimum time expression, then this function returns an arbitrary value from among the values corresponding with that minimum.
* The function returns an error if there are multiple `SERIES TIMESTAMP` columns involved, or one is needed due to omission of the `time` argument but none is present. For example, if more than one table in the `FROM` clause has a `SERIES TIMESTAMP`, then it becomes ambiguous which timestamp to use. Hence, the `SERIES TIMESTAMP` to be used must be specified in the second argument of the `FIRST` function.

## Example

The following examples display the use of `FIRST` function.

```sql
CREATE TABLE f_table (a INT, b DATETIME SERIES TIMESTAMP);
INSERT INTO f_table values (1, '2019-03-14 06:28:00'), (2, '2019-04-14 06:28:00'), (3, '2018-03-14 06:28:00');

```

```sql
SELECT FIRST (a) FROM f_table;

```

```output

+--------------+
| FIRST (a)    |
+--------------+
|            3 |
+--------------+

```

```sql
SELECT FIRST (a, b) FROM f_table;

```

```output

+--------------+
| FIRST (a, b) |
+--------------+
|            3 |
+--------------+

```

***

Modified at: February 27, 2023

Source: [/db/v9.1/reference/sql-reference/time-series-functions/first/](https://docs.singlestore.com/db/v9.1/reference/sql-reference/time-series-functions/first/)

(An index of the documentation is available at /llms.txt)