DECODE function - Amazon Redshift
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DECODE function

A DECODE expression replaces a specific value with either another specific value or a default value, depending on the result of an equality condition. This operation is equivalent to the operation of a simple CASE expression or an IF-THEN-ELSE statement.

Syntax

DECODE ( expression, search, result [, search, result ]... [ ,default ] )

This type of expression is useful for replacing abbreviations or codes that are stored in tables with meaningful business values that are needed for reports.

Parameters

expression

The source of the value that you want to compare, such as a column in a table.

search

The target value that is compared against the source expression, such as a numeric value or a character string. The search expression must evaluate to a single fixed value. You cannot specify an expression that evaluates to a range of values, such as age between 20 and 29; you need to specify separate search/result pairs for each value that you want to replace.

The data type of all instances of the search expression must be the same or compatible. The expression and search parameters must also be compatible.

result

The replacement value that query returns when the expression matches the search value. You must include at least one search/result pair in the DECODE expression.

The data types of all instances of the result expression must be the same or compatible. The result and default parameters must also be compatible.

default

An optional default value that is used for cases when the search condition fails. If you do not specify a default value, the DECODE expression returns NULL.

Usage notes

If the expression value and the search value are both NULL, the DECODE result is the corresponding result value. For an illustration of this use of the function, see the Examples section.

When used this way, DECODE is similar to NVL2 function, but there are some differences. For a description of these differences, see the NVL2 usage notes.

Examples

When the value 2008-06-01 exists in the caldate column of datetable, the following example replaces it with June 1st, 2008. The example replaces all other caldate values with NULL.

select decode(caldate, '2008-06-01', 'June 1st, 2008') from datetable where month='JUN' order by caldate; case ---------------- June 1st, 2008 ... (30 rows)

The following example uses a DECODE expression to convert the five abbreviated CATNAME columns in the CATEGORY table to full names and convert other values in the column to Unknown.

select catid, decode(catname, 'NHL', 'National Hockey League', 'MLB', 'Major League Baseball', 'MLS', 'Major League Soccer', 'NFL', 'National Football League', 'NBA', 'National Basketball Association', 'Unknown') from category order by catid; catid | case -------+--------------------------------- 1 | Major League Baseball 2 | National Hockey League 3 | National Football League 4 | National Basketball Association 5 | Major League Soccer 6 | Unknown 7 | Unknown 8 | Unknown 9 | Unknown 10 | Unknown 11 | Unknown (11 rows)

Use a DECODE expression to find venues in Colorado and Nevada with NULL in the VENUESEATS column; convert the NULLs to zeroes. If the VENUESEATS column is not NULL, return 1 as the result.

select venuename, venuestate, decode(venueseats,null,0,1) from venue where venuestate in('NV','CO') order by 2,3,1; venuename | venuestate | case ------------------------------+----------------+----------- Coors Field | CO | 1 Dick's Sporting Goods Park | CO | 1 Ellie Caulkins Opera House | CO | 1 INVESCO Field | CO | 1 Pepsi Center | CO | 1 Ballys Hotel | NV | 0 Bellagio Hotel | NV | 0 Caesars Palace | NV | 0 Harrahs Hotel | NV | 0 Hilton Hotel | NV | 0 ... (20 rows)