Select only the column that is not null or one specific one if both are not null

Question

In the following table, I have a column called ShortDesc and one called LongDesc. If the ShortDesc is not null, I want to return this value. If the ShortDesc column in a row is null, I want to return the value of the LongDesc. If both the ShortDesc and LongDesc are not null, I only want to return the ShortDesc (the LongDesc needs to be returned as null).

Table Events

ID  ShortDesc   LongDesc
0     abc        null
1     null       def
2     ghi        jkl

Result:

ID  ShortDesc   LongDesc
0     abc        null
1     null       def
2     ghi        null

I'm at a loss how to create the SQL for this.

SQB · Accepted Answer · 2013-11-27 08:05:05Z

2

If you want to show both shortDesc and longDesc:

SELECT
   shortDesc,
   CASE WHEN shortDesc IS NOT NULL THEN NULL ELSE longDesc END AS longDesc
FROM yourTable;

If you just want to show a single desc:

SELECT COALESCE(shortDesc, longDesc) AS desc
FROM yourTable;

answered Nov 27, 2013 at 8:05

SQB

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