Passing back NULL

Is there any way in a query to pass back a NULL if no data is found?
I have this query that is looking at our Customer table and some customers
may not exist but in that case I want to pass back a NULL...
My SQL looks like so...
SELECT *
FROM _CUSTOMER_
WHERE (NAME LIKE 'Alway%' AND FNAME ='Susanna')
OR (NAME LIKE 'Abaquin%' AND FNAME ='Paul')
OR (NAME LIKE 'Abbott%' AND FNAME ='Cindy')
OR (NAME LIKE 'Abney%' AND FNAME ='Linda')
OR (NAME LIKE 'Abraham%' AND FNAME ='Jo')
OR (NAME LIKE 'Abrams %' AND FNAME ='Jeff')
The first name, Susanna Alway does NOT exist...so in that case I'd like to
pass pack a NULL.
These groups are the best!
Please help me out!
Thanks!A null.....? A single null column? An empty resultset?
Thomas
"RTP" <RTP@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:8847FFB7-02DA-4357-A62C-A95BE3B18576@.microsoft.com...
> Is there any way in a query to pass back a NULL if no data is found?
> I have this query that is looking at our Customer table and some customers
> may not exist but in that case I want to pass back a NULL...
> My SQL looks like so...
> SELECT *
> FROM _CUSTOMER_
> WHERE (NAME LIKE 'Alway%' AND FNAME ='Susanna')
> OR (NAME LIKE 'Abaquin%' AND FNAME ='Paul')
> OR (NAME LIKE 'Abbott%' AND FNAME ='Cindy')
> OR (NAME LIKE 'Abney%' AND FNAME ='Linda')
> OR (NAME LIKE 'Abraham%' AND FNAME ='Jo')
> OR (NAME LIKE 'Abrams %' AND FNAME ='Jeff')
> The first name, Susanna Alway does NOT exist...so in that case I'd like to
> pass pack a NULL.
> These groups are the best!
> Please help me out!
> Thanks!|||Yes use If Exists
If Exists (Select * From ...
Where ... ) -- make sure From & Where clause are same as main
query
Select <Stuff> From ...
Where ...
Order By ...
Else
Select Null As Col1Name, Null as Col2Name,
Null as Col3Name, etc...
After your query
"RTP" wrote:

> Is there any way in a query to pass back a NULL if no data is found?
> I have this query that is looking at our Customer table and some customers
> may not exist but in that case I want to pass back a NULL...
> My SQL looks like so...
> SELECT *
> FROM _CUSTOMER_
> WHERE (NAME LIKE 'Alway%' AND FNAME ='Susanna')
> OR (NAME LIKE 'Abaquin%' AND FNAME ='Paul')
> OR (NAME LIKE 'Abbott%' AND FNAME ='Cindy')
> OR (NAME LIKE 'Abney%' AND FNAME ='Linda')
> OR (NAME LIKE 'Abraham%' AND FNAME ='Jo')
> OR (NAME LIKE 'Abrams %' AND FNAME ='Jeff')
> The first name, Susanna Alway does NOT exist...so in that case I'd like to
> pass pack a NULL.
> These groups are the best!
> Please help me out!
> Thanks!|||That won't work because the EXISTS will return a TRUE condition for the OR i
n
the query. I have to build this for 7,000 names so I can't query each name
individually. I'm thinking of using a JOIN which will pass back NULLS if the
row doesn't exist. My problem here is that a user messed up a whole
spreadsheet where there are e-mail addresses and I'm cutting and pasting
these 7,000 names out of an e-mail spreadsheet and then using Query Analyzer
to go up against the database to see if we have their e-mail address. The
7,000 names include those people which may NOT be in out _CUSTOMER_ table an
d
there is no way of determining whether they're in the database or not until
I
query.
Any help or insight would be GREATLY appreciated!!!
"CBretana" wrote:
> Yes use If Exists
> If Exists (Select * From ...
> Where ... ) -- make sure From & Where clause are same as main
> query
> Select <Stuff> From ...
> Where ...
> Order By ...
> Else
> Select Null As Col1Name, Null as Col2Name,
> Null as Col3Name, etc...
>
> After your query
> "RTP" wrote:
>|||Since this sounds like a one-time thing, then write a script that cycles thr
ough
each address from the spreadshet and does whatever sophisticated checking an
d
data cleasing is necesassry.
If you do that in T-SQL, then you'll use cursors or you could do it in some
other language like VBA from Excel.
Thomas
"RTP" <RTP@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:098909F0-4473-4145-94EC-056005EB917A@.microsoft.com...
> That won't work because the EXISTS will return a TRUE condition for the OR
in
> the query. I have to build this for 7,000 names so I can't query each name
> individually. I'm thinking of using a JOIN which will pass back NULLS if t
he
> row doesn't exist. My problem here is that a user messed up a whole
> spreadsheet where there are e-mail addresses and I'm cutting and pasting
> these 7,000 names out of an e-mail spreadsheet and then using Query Analyz
er
> to go up against the database to see if we have their e-mail address. The
> 7,000 names include those people which may NOT be in out _CUSTOMER_ table
and
> there is no way of determining whether they're in the database or not unti
l I
> query.
> Any help or insight would be GREATLY appreciated!!!
> "CBretana" wrote:
>