WHERE IS NULL, IS NOT NULL or NO WHERE clause depending on SQL Server parameter value

Question

I have a stored procedure in SQL Server 2000 that performs a search based on parameter values. For one of the parameters passed in, I need a different WHERE clause depending on its value - the problem is that the 3 values would be where MyColumn

1. IS NULL
2. IS NOT NULL
3. ANY VALUE (NULL AND NOT NULL) (essentially no WHERE clause)

I'm having some mental block in coming up with the correct syntax. Is this possible to do in one select statement without performing some IF @parameter BEGIN ... END branching?

Answer 1

Here is how you can solve this using a single WHERE clause:

WHERE (@myParm = value1 AND MyColumn IS NULL)
OR  (@myParm = value2 AND MyColumn IS NOT NULL)
OR  (@myParm = value3)

A naïve usage of the CASE statement does not work, by this I mean the following:

SELECT Field1, Field2 FROM MyTable
WHERE CASE @myParam
    WHEN value1 THEN MyColumn IS NULL
    WHEN value2 THEN MyColumn IS NOT NULL
    WHEN value3 THEN TRUE
END

It is possible to solve this using a case statement, see onedaywhen's answer

Answer 2

You could just do something like this:

SELECT *
FROM foo
WHERE (@param = 0 AND MyColumn IS NULL)
OR (@param = 1 AND MyColumn IS NOT NULL)
OR (@param = 2)

Something like that.

Answer 3

This is how it can be done using CASE:

DECLARE @myParam INT;
SET @myParam = 1;

SELECT * 
  FROM MyTable
 WHERE 'T' = CASE @myParam
             WHEN 1 THEN 
                CASE WHEN MyColumn IS NULL THEN 'T' END
             WHEN 2 THEN
                CASE WHEN MyColumn IS NOT NULL THEN 'T' END
             WHEN 3 THEN 'T' END;

Answer 4

WHERE MyColumn = COALESCE(@value,MyColumn) 

• If @value is NULL, it will compare MyColumn to itself, ignoring @value = no where clause.

• IF @value has a value (NOT NULL) it will compare MyColumn to @value.

Reference: COALESCE (Transact-SQL).

Answer 5

An other way of CASE:

SELECT *  
FROM MyTable
WHERE 1 = CASE WHEN @myParm = value1 AND MyColumn IS NULL     THEN 1 
               WHEN @myParm = value2 AND MyColumn IS NOT NULL THEN 1 
               WHEN @myParm = value3                          THEN 1 
          END

Answer 6

I've had success with this solution. It's almost like Patrick's, with a little twist. You can use these expressions separately or in sequence. If the parameter is blank, it will be ignored and all values for the column that your searching will be displayed, including NULLS.

SELECT * FROM MyTable
WHERE 
    --check to see if @param1 exists, if @param1 is blank, return all
    --records excluding filters below
(Col1 LIKE '%' + @param1 + '%' OR @param1 = '')
AND
    --where you want to search multiple columns using the same parameter
    --enclose the first 'OR' expression in braces and enclose the entire 
    --expression 
((Col2 LIKE '%' + @searchString + '%' OR Col3 LIKE '%' + @searchString + '%') OR @searchString = '')
AND
    --if your search requires a date you could do the following
(Cast(DateCol AS DATE) BETWEEN CAST(@dateParam AS Date) AND CAST(GETDATE() AS DATE) OR @dateParam = '')