# SIGNUM
URL: https://docs.valsight.ai/signum/
Description: Extracts the sign of a number. Positive numbers become 1, negative numbers become -1, and zero remains 0. Use when you need to reduce a value to its sign for directional logic, classification, or further numeric transformations.
**Category:** [Math & numeric](/math-numeric/)

## Overview

The **SIGNUM** function **extracts the sign of a number**. Positive numbers become 1, negative numbers become -1, and zero remains 0.

Use this function when you need to reduce a value to its sign for directional logic, classification, or further numeric transformations.

## Syntax

`SIGNUM('Node')`

## Parameters

| Parameter | Description                                                                   | Type           | Required |
| --------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------- | -------- |
| **Node**  | Input node, specified using the node name in single quotes (e.g. `'Profit'`). | Node reference | Yes      |

## Example

### Extracting the sign of positive, negative, and zero values

This example shows how SIGNUM returns `-1` for negative values, `0` for zero, and `1` for positive values across products and years.

**Input node:** `'A'`

| Year | Product | Value       |
| ---- | ------- | ----------- |
| 2025 | Car     | -1          |
| 2025 | Truck   | 3           |
| 2026 | Car     | 0           |
| 2026 | Truck   | -8561451155 |
| 2029 | Car     | 65452141023 |

**Formula:** `SIGNUM('A')`

| Year | Product | SIGNUM Result |
| ---- | ------- | ------------- |
| 2025 | Car     | -1            |
| 2025 | Truck   | 1             |
| 2026 | Car     | 0             |
| 2026 | Truck   | -1            |
| 2029 | Car     | 1             |

## Related

| Function         | When to use instead                                                                                                  |
| ---------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| [ABS](/abs/)     | When you need the absolute value of each number instead of only its sign.                                            |
| [ROUND](/round/) | When you need to round numeric values for presentation or calculation steps instead of reducing them to -1, 0, or 1. |