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 use the CAST
operator 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
Syntax:
ALTER TABLE {TABLENAME}
ADD {COLUMNNAME} {TYPE} {NULL|NOT NULL}
CONSTRAINT {CONSTRAINT_NAME} DEFAULT {DEFAULT_VALUE}
WITH VALUES
Example:
ALTER TABLE SomeTable
ADD SomeCol Bit NULL --Or NOT NULL.
CONSTRAINT D_SomeTable_SomeCol --When Omitted a Default-Constraint Name is autogenerated.
DEFAULT (0)--Optional Default-Constraint.
WITH VALUES --Add if Column is Nullable and you want the Default Value for Existing Records.
Notes:
Optional Constraint Name:
If you leave out CONSTRAINT D_SomeTable_SomeCol
then SQL Server will autogenerate
a Default-Contraint with a funny Name like: DF__SomeTa__SomeC__4FB7FEF6
Optional With-Values Statement:
The WITH VALUES
is only needed when your Column is Nullable
and you want the Default Value used for Existing Records.
If your Column is NOT NULL
, then it will automatically use the Default Value
for all Existing Records, whether you specify WITH VALUES
or not.
How Inserts work with a Default-Constraint:
If you insert a Record into SomeTable
and do not Specify SomeCol
's value, then it will Default to 0
.
If you insert a Record and Specify SomeCol
's value as NULL
(and your column allows nulls),
then the Default-Constraint will not be used and NULL
will be inserted as the Value.
Notes were based on everyone's great feedback below.
Special Thanks to:
@Yatrix, @WalterStabosz, @YahooSerious, and @StackMan for their Comments.
Best Solution
Because BOL shows sp_addrolemember has been deprecated, if you are using SQL Server 2012 you may want to use: