SQL Case Expression Syntax?
What is the complete and correct syntax for the SQL Case expression?
Solution 1:
The complete syntax depends on the database engine you're working with:
For SQL Server:
CASE case-expression
WHEN when-expression-1 THEN value-1
[ WHEN when-expression-n THEN value-n ... ]
[ ELSE else-value ]
END
or:
CASE
WHEN boolean-when-expression-1 THEN value-1
[ WHEN boolean-when-expression-n THEN value-n ... ]
[ ELSE else-value ]
END
expressions, etc:
case-expression - something that produces a value
when-expression-x - something that is compared against the case-expression
value-1 - the result of the CASE statement if:
the when-expression == case-expression
OR the boolean-when-expression == TRUE
boolean-when-exp.. - something that produces a TRUE/FALSE answer
Link: CASE (Transact-SQL)
Also note that the ordering of the WHEN statements is important. You can easily write multiple WHEN clauses that overlap, and the first one that matches is used.
Note: If no ELSE clause is specified, and no matching WHEN-condition is found, the value of the CASE expression will be NULL.
Solution 2:
Considering you tagged multiple products, I'd say the full correct syntax would be the one found in the ISO/ANSI SQL-92 standard:
<case expression> ::=
<case abbreviation>
| <case specification>
<case abbreviation> ::=
NULLIF <left paren> <value expression> <comma>
<value expression> <right paren>
| COALESCE <left paren> <value expression>
{ <comma> <value expression> }... <right paren>
<case specification> ::=
<simple case>
| <searched case>
<simple case> ::=
CASE <case operand>
<simple when clause>...
[ <else clause> ]
END
<searched case> ::=
CASE
<searched when clause>...
[ <else clause> ]
END
<simple when clause> ::= WHEN <when operand> THEN <result>
<searched when clause> ::= WHEN <search condition> THEN <result>
<else clause> ::= ELSE <result>
<case operand> ::= <value expression>
<when operand> ::= <value expression>
<result> ::= <result expression> | NULL
<result expression> ::= <value expression>
Syntax Rules
1) NULLIF (V1, V2) is equivalent to the following <case specification>:
CASE WHEN V1=V2 THEN NULL ELSE V1 END
2) COALESCE (V1, V2) is equivalent to the following <case specification>:
CASE WHEN V1 IS NOT NULL THEN V1 ELSE V2 END
3) COALESCE (V1, V2, . . . ,n ), for n >= 3, is equivalent to the
following <case specification>:
CASE WHEN V1 IS NOT NULL THEN V1 ELSE COALESCE (V2, . . . ,n )
END
4) If a <case specification> specifies a <simple case>, then let CO
be the <case operand>:
a) The data type of each <when operand> WO shall be comparable
with the data type of the <case operand>.
b) The <case specification> is equivalent to a <searched case>
in which each <searched when clause> specifies a <search
condition> of the form "CO=WO".
5) At least one <result> in a <case specification> shall specify a
<result expression>.
6) If an <else clause> is not specified, then ELSE NULL is im-
plicit.
7) The data type of a <case specification> is determined by ap-
plying Subclause 9.3, "Set operation result data types", to the
data types of all <result expression>s in the <case specifica-
tion>.
Access Rules
None.
General Rules
1) Case:
a) If a <result> specifies NULL, then its value is the null
value.
b) If a <result> specifies a <value expression>, then its value
is the value of that <value expression>.
2) Case:
a) If the <search condition> of some <searched when clause> in
a <case specification> is true, then the value of the <case
specification> is the value of the <result> of the first
(leftmost) <searched when clause> whose <search condition> is
true, cast as the data type of the <case specification>.
b) If no <search condition> in a <case specification> is true,
then the value of the <case expression> is the value of the
<result> of the explicit or implicit <else clause>, cast as
the data type of the <case specification>.
Solution 3:
Here are the CASE statement examples from the PostgreSQL docs (Postgres follows the SQL standard here):
SELECT a,
CASE WHEN a=1 THEN 'one'
WHEN a=2 THEN 'two'
ELSE 'other'
END
FROM test;
or
SELECT a,
CASE a WHEN 1 THEN 'one'
WHEN 2 THEN 'two'
ELSE 'other'
END
FROM test;
Obviously the second form is cleaner when you are just checking one field against a list of possible values. The first form allows more complicated expressions.
Solution 4:
Sybase has the same case syntax as SQL Server:
Description
Supports conditional SQL expressions; can be used anywhere a value expression can be used.
Syntax
case
when search_condition then expression
[when search_condition then expression]...
[else expression]
end
Case and values syntax
case expression
when expression then expression
[when expression then expression]...
[else expression]
end
Parameters
case
begins the case expression.
when
precedes the search condition or the expression to be compared.
search_condition
is used to set conditions for the results that are selected. Search conditions for case expressions are similar to the search conditions in a where clause. Search conditions are detailed in the Transact-SQL User’s Guide.
then
precedes the expression that specifies a result value of case.
expression
is a column name, a constant, a function, a subquery, or any combination of column names, constants, and functions connected by arithmetic or bitwise operators. For more information about expressions, see “Expressions” in.
Example
select disaster,
case
when disaster = "earthquake"
then "stand in doorway"
when disaster = "nuclear apocalypse"
then "hide in basement"
when monster = "zombie apocalypse"
then "hide with Chuck Norris"
else
then "ask mom"
end
from endoftheworld