coalesce - in sql query?

From: Randi Wølner <randiwolner_at_hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, 28 Nov 2002 13:11:39 +0100
Message-ID: <as515k$kso$1@oslo-nntp.eunet.no>

I have been asked why one particular query will not run in our Oracle database. The query contains the word coalesce, used as if it was a function.

I know how coalesce is used for defragmentation in Oracle, but have never seen it used in a query before, and can not find any references to this use in the documentation. By searching in newsgroup archives I have found references for SAS and MS SQL Server to this function, so my question is: Is Coalesce a non-standard part of SQL used by some vendors, while others (Oracle) choose not to implement it..? It seems like the use of it can be replaced by a combination of NVL and DECODE.

Thanks,
Randi Wølner Received on Thu Nov 28 2002 - 06:11:39 CST