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Coalesce function

A very useful and common function
https://www.w3schools.com/sql/func_sqlserver_coalesce.asp

Return the first non-null value in a list:

COALESCE(NULL, NULL, NULL, 'W3Schools.com', NULL, 'Example.com')
returns 'W3Schools.com'

It exits in SQL, Qlik Sense, etc...

Best regards,

Simon
12 Comments
kelly_gilbert
13 - Pulsar

Yes, please! Or, at least an IFNULL function (if argument 1 is null, return argument 2)

 

I find my self using IIF(ISNULL([field1]), [field2], [field1]) all of the time, so COALESCE or IFNULL would be a big time saver!

CristonS
Alteryx Alumni (Retired)

Thank you for your suggestion, @simonaubert_bd !

Matthew
11 - Bolide

a coalesce function would be so useful, i regularly need to merge columns with 6 or 7 nested ifs.. 

Thableaus
17 - Castor
17 - Castor

I'd love to see more functions like these.

AlteryxCommunityTeam
Alteryx Community Team
Alteryx Community Team
Status changed to: Accepting Votes
 
cgauthier
5 - Atom

Simple et efficace, bonne idée

Jabbornon99
5 - Atom

I think this would be a good addition to Alteryx. Right now, the only other way to get columns in priority order and ignoring nulls is by a complicated set of IF statements that only get longer the more values are added in. 

 

I'd also like an Alteryx feature where you can specifically mention a column's name in a formula (for example, if a column was XY, having a formula where you can get the value of whatever column has the name "X" + "Y"), but I get if that's more complex.

Dewey
5 - Atom

Yes please this is a pretty common use case in SQL and come across it often in the course of Alteryx as well. Nested IFs can accomplish the same but it's an inelegant solution and gets very difficult to read when you get additional fields vs. the COALESCE(col1,col2,col3,...) syntax.

xx79
3 - Proton
Status changed to: Under Review
 
Not applicable
Status changed to: Coming Soon