Coalesce function

Coalesce function in sql server Part 16



select Id, COALESCE(FirstName, MiddleName, LastName) as Name FROM  tblEmployee

Get the first Nonnull value.
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COALESCE (Transact-SQL)



Running a complex example
In the following example, the wages table includes three columns that contain information about the yearly wages of the employees: the hourly wage, salary, and commission. However, an employee receives only one type of pay. To determine the total amount paid to all employees, use COALESCE to receive only the nonnull value found in hourly_wage, salary, and commission.


SET NOCOUNT ON;
GO
USE tempdb;
IF OBJECT_ID('dbo.wages') IS NOT NULL
    DROP TABLE wages;
GO
CREATE TABLE dbo.wages
(
    emp_id        tinyint   identity,
    hourly_wage   decimal   NULL,
    salary        decimal   NULL,
    commission    decimal   NULL,
    num_sales     tinyint   NULL
);
GO
INSERT dbo.wages (hourly_wage, salary, commission, num_sales)
VALUES
    (10.00, NULL, NULL, NULL),
    (20.00, NULL, NULL, NULL),
    (30.00, NULL, NULL, NULL),
    (40.00, NULL, NULL, NULL),
    (NULL, 10000.00, NULL, NULL),
    (NULL, 20000.00, NULL, NULL),
    (NULL, 30000.00, NULL, NULL),
    (NULL, 40000.00, NULL, NULL),
    (NULL, NULL, 15000, 3),
    (NULL, NULL, 25000, 2),
    (NULL, NULL, 20000, 6),
    (NULL, NULL, 14000, 4);
GO
SET NOCOUNT OFF;
GO
SELECT CAST(COALESCE(hourly_wage * 40 * 52,
   salary,
   commission * num_sales) AS money) AS 'Total Salary'
FROM dbo.wages
ORDER BY 'Total Salary';
GO