# Coalesce


`coalesce` returns the value of the first argument that is not null. When a non-null value is found, the remaining arguments in the list are not evaluated. If all arguments are null, the result is null. 0-length strings are valid values and are not considered equivalent to null.

## Syntax


```
coalesce(expression1, expression2 [, expression3, ...])
```

## Arguments


`coalesce` takes two or more expressions as arguments. All of the expressions must have the same data type or be able to be implicitly cast to the same data type.

 *expression*   
The expression can be numeric, datetime, or string. It can be a field name, a literal value, or another function. 

## Return type


`coalesce` returns a value of the same data type as the input arguments.

## Example


The following example retrieves a customer's billing address if it exists, her street address if there is no billing address, or returns "No address listed" if neither address is available.

```
coalesce(billingAddress, streetAddress, 'No address listed')
```