How do I perform an IF…THEN in an SQL SELECT?

Posted By: Eric Labashosky

How do I perform an IF...THEN in an SQL SELECT statement?

For example:

SELECT IF(Obsolete = 'N' OR InStock = 'Y' ? 1 : 0) AS Saleable, * FROM Product

Solution

The CASE statement is the closest to IF in SQL and is supported on all versions of SQL Server.

SELECT CAST(
             CASE
                  WHEN Obsolete = 'N' or InStock = 'Y'
                     THEN 1
                  ELSE 0
             END AS bit) as Saleable, *
FROM Product

You only need to do the CAST if you want the result as a Boolean value. If you are happy with an int, this works:

SELECT CASE
            WHEN Obsolete = 'N' or InStock = 'Y'
               THEN 1
               ELSE 0
       END as Saleable, *
FROM Product

CASE statements can be embedded in other CASE statements and even included in aggregates.

SQL Server Denali (SQL Server 2012) adds the IIF statement which is also available in access (pointed out by Martin Smith):

SELECT IIF(Obsolete = 'N' or InStock = 'Y', 1, 0) as Saleable, * FROM Product

Answered By: Darrel Miller

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