abs function reference

This topic provides reference information about the abs function. The abs function returns the absolute value of the given number.

Introduction

The abs function returns the absolute value of the given number. If the number is zero or positive, the function returns the value as-is, but if it is negative, it is multiplied by -1 to make it positive before returning it.

Syntax

Use the abs function with the following syntax:

abs(number) 

The number argument is the number you want the absolute value of.

In the following example, the function returns the absolute value of 23, 0, and -12.4.

$ abs(23)
23
$ abs(0)
0
$ abs(-12.4)
12.4

Example use case

The following example defines a variable num that is negative. The function outputs the absolute value of num, which is 10.

variable "num" {
  default = -10
}

output "absolute_value" {
  value = abs(var.num)
}

Related Functions

• signum determines the sign of a number, returning a number between -1 and 1 to represent the sign