I want to update a column in myTable. The value this column is set to depends on a nested select statement which sometimes returns 0 rows instead of 1. This is a problem since the column I'm trying to update is set to refuse nulls. Here's a sample:
update myTable set myColumn = (Select altColumn from altTable where altColumn != 'XXX' limit 1) where myColumn = 'XXX';
MyColumn cannot accept nulls, but sometimes "Select altColumn ..." returns 0 rows,
and thus, the query fails.
Is there a way to set a default value to be inserted into myColumn if and when "select altColumn ..." returns zero rows?
COALESCE(value [, ...])
The COALESCE function returns the first of its arguments that is not null. Null is returned only if all arguments are null. This is often useful to substitute a default value for null values when data is retrieved for display, for example:
SELECT COALESCE(description, short_description, '(none)') ...
Like a CASE expression, COALESCE will not evaluate arguments that are not needed to determine the result; that is, arguments to the right of the first non-null argument are not evaluated.
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