In SQL Server, how to have select return empty string and not null when null

Question

I have a nullable varchar and even when it is null, I want my select to return an empty string and not null. That is

SELECT FIRST, LAST 
FROM CUSTOMER

What I want is if FIRST is null, I want the return to be ""

Answer 1

You can also use

SELECT COALESCE(FIRST, ''), LAST FROM CUSTOMER

This has the advantage of being more portable (COALESCE is part of the SQL Standard, ISNULL isn't)

You can also use an arbitrary number of arguments, like

SELECT COALESCE(FIRST, SECOND, THIRD, '')...

And COALESCE will use the first non-null value encountered

Answer 2

SELECT isnull(FIRST,'') AS FIRST, LAST FROM CUSTOMER