SQL Server ISNULL() With Multi Column Names

  1. CREATE TABLE identification   
  2.   (   
  3.      empid              INTEGER,   
  4.      ename              VARCHAR(30) NOT NULL,   
  5.      passport_number    CHAR(15),   
  6.      license_number     CHAR(15),   
  7.      pan                CHAR(15),   
  8.      credit_card_number CHAR(15),   
  9.      account_number     CHAR(15)   
  10.   )   
  11.   
  12. insert INTO identification VALUES(1, 'John'NULLNULL'PN-78654''CC-12345''AN-3456'INSERT INTO identification VALUES(2, 'Martin''PS-566774'NULLNULLNULLNULLINSERT INTO identification VALUES(3, 'Smith'NULLNULLNULLNULLNULLINSERT INTO identification VALUES(4, 'Roger'NULLNULLNULLNULL'AN-9876'INSERT INTO identification VALUES(5, 'King'NULLNULLNULL'CC-8787''AN-9878') GO SELECT * FROM identification GO   
SQL Server ISNULL() With Multi Column Names
Image1-Identification-Table

In the above table, every employee has an identity proof which is either a passport number, license number, pan, credit card or account number.

SQL Server ISNULL() Function Example

Syntax

  1. IsNull(Parameter1, Value if null

The IsNull function returns the first parameter if it’s not null. If the first parameter is null, then it returns the second parameter.

Suppose we want to see if an employee has a passport or not, here the IsNull function can help us.

See the following example of using SQL Server ISNULL in a Select Statement,

  1. select empid, ename, IsNull(Passport_Number, 'Not Found'as 'Passport Status' from identification  
SQL Server ISNULL() With Multi Column Names
Image2-IsNull-With-Single-Column

Limitation of IsNull() function

The IsNull function can check only if one value is null. It cannot check null for multiple values. That means it is not capable of handling the functionality of checking if the first parameter is null and then moving on to check the next parameter for null.

Now assume that for report generation, we want to get the passport number or license number or pan number etc. for reference purposes. If a passport number is null, then we need to extract the license number. If the license number is null then pan, if a pan is null then account number. If all are null then we need to flag a message as ‘Invalid’.

The problem is that IsNull function here needs to be used in a nesting manner.

Let us see the ISNULL being used in a select statement in a nested fashion
  1. SELECT empid,   
  2.        ename,   
  3.        Isnull(passport_number, Isnull(license_number,   
  4.                                Isnull(pan, Isnull(credit_card_number, Isnull(   
  5.                                            account_number,   
  6.                                            'Invalid'))))) AS "Status"   
  7. FROM   identification   
SQL Server ISNULL() With Multi Column Names
Image3-IsNull-Multiple-Columns

In the above select statement, we have used IsNull function 5 times to get the desired output.

ISNULL vs Coalesce Function

There is an alternative way using another SQL Server function known as Coalesce.

Syntax of Coalesce

  1. COALESCE( parameter1, parameter2, parameter3,……. parameter_n , default_parameter)  

Coalesce can take multiple parameters. It returns the first not null parameter. If all the parameters are null, then it will return the default parameter.

In other words, we can say that coalesce behaves as per the following syntax as well

  1. CASE WHEN (parameter1 IS NOT NULLTHEN expression1 WHEN (parameter2 IS NOT NULLTHEN expression2 ... ELSE expressionN END  

So instead of nesting IsNull function multiple times, we can use a single coalesce function and get the same output as shown here

  1. SELECT empid,   
  2.        ename,   
  3.        COALESCE(passport_number, license_number, pan, credit_card_number,   
  4.        account_number, 'Invalid'AS "Using Coalesce"   
  5. FROM   identification   
SQL Server ISNULL() With Multi Column Names
Image4-Coalesce