MySQL - IFNULL() function example

In this article, we would like to show you IFNULL() function example in MySQL.

Quick solution:

SELECT IFNULL(expression, value_if_null);

Simple example

The IFNULL() function returns the specified value if the expression is NULL, otherwise it returns the expression.

In this example, we will pass NULL value as the expression, so it will return the specified text value.

Query:

SELECT IFNULL(NULL, 'dirask is awesome!');

Result:

Practical example

To show IFNULL() function practical example, we will use the following users table:

Note:

At the end of this article you can find database preparation SQL queries.

Example

In this example, we will select all the rows from users table and return the information if the user's email wasn't specified using IFNULL() function.

Query:

SELECT
    `id`, `name`, `email`,
    IFNULL(`email`, 'not specified') AS 'email_info'
FROM `users`;

Result:

Database preparation

create_tables.sql file:

CREATE TABLE `users` (
	`id` INT(10) UNSIGNED NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
	`name` VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL,
	`email` VARCHAR(50),
	PRIMARY KEY (`id`)
);

insert_data.sql file:

INSERT INTO `users`
	( `name`, `email`)
VALUES
	('John', 'john@email.com'),
	('Chris', NULL),
	('Kate', NULL),
	('Ailisa', 'ailisa@email.com'),
	('Gwendolyn', NULL),
	('Simon', 'simon@email.com'),
	('Taylor', NULL),
	('Andrew', 'andrew@emal.com');