Best way to do nested case statement logic in SQL Server

Solution 1:

You could try some sort of COALESCE trick, eg:

SELECT COALESCE(
  CASE WHEN condition1 THEN calculation1 ELSE NULL END,
  CASE WHEN condition2 THEN calculation2 ELSE NULL END,
  etc...
)

Solution 2:

Wrap all those cases into one.

SELECT
    col1,
    col2,
    col3,
    CASE
        WHEN condition1 THEN calculation1 
        WHEN condition2 THEN calculation2
        WHEN condition3 THEN calculation3
        WHEN condition4 THEN calculation4
        WHEN condition5 THEN calculation5
        ELSE NULL         
    END AS 'calculatedcol1',
    col4,
    col5 -- etc
FROM table

Solution 3:

You can combine multiple conditions to avoid the situation:

CASE WHEN condition1 = true AND condition2 = true THEN calculation1 
     WHEN condition1 = true AND condition2 = false 
     ELSE 'what so ever' END,

Solution 4:

I personally do it this way, keeping the embedded CASE expressions confined. I'd also put comments in to explain what is going on. If it is too complex, break it out into function.

SELECT
    col1,
    col2,
    col3,
    CASE WHEN condition THEN
      CASE WHEN condition1 THEN
        CASE WHEN condition2 THEN calculation1
        ELSE calculation2 END
      ELSE
        CASE WHEN condition2 THEN calculation3
        ELSE calculation4 END
      END
    ELSE CASE WHEN condition1 THEN 
      CASE WHEN condition2 THEN calculation5
      ELSE calculation6 END
    ELSE CASE WHEN condition2 THEN calculation7
         ELSE calculation8 END
    END AS 'calculatedcol1',
    col4,
    col5 -- etc
FROM table

Solution 5:

Here's a simple solution to the nested "Complex" case statment: --Nested Case Complex Expression

select  datediff(dd,Invdate,'2009/01/31')+1 as DaysOld, 
    case when datediff(dd,Invdate,'2009/01/31')+1 >150 then 6 else
        case when datediff(dd,Invdate,'2009/01/31')+1 >120 then 5 else 
            case when datediff(dd,Invdate,'2009/01/31')+1 >90 then 4 else 
                case when datediff(dd,Invdate,'2009/01/31')+1 >60 then 3 else 
                    case when datediff(dd,Invdate,'2009/01/31')+1 >30 then 2 else 
                        case when datediff(dd,Invdate,'2009/01/31')+1 >30 then 1 end 
                    end
                end
            end
        end
    end as Bucket
from rm20090131atb

Just make sure you have an end statement for every case statement