SQL: ORDER BY two columns intermixed, not priority based

Question

I\'m using mySQL. I have to order names of Contacts by Lastname but in the case that there is no last name, I order by firstname.

This looks like:

OR         


        

Answer 1

Try using Coalesce
Note: this would require you not to store empty last names using an empty string (ie "")

ORDER BY Coalesce(LastName, FirstName)

As Suggested in the Comments By adding FirstName to the order By list again you will properly order two people with the same lastName. Here is an example.

ORDER BY Coalesce(LastName, FirstName), FirstName