MS SQL Azure – Conditional Computed Column Definition Using CASE

Setting aside for the moment the rights and wrongs of using persisted columns sometimes it is just a great way to add some automation to your database and make it clearer for the user.

But what if you want to add a conditional computed column for rows based on another value within that row. Here’s something I worked out.

ALTER TABLE ProjectManagement
ADD FutureorPast AS CAST
(
CASE
WHEN TargetDate > GetDate() or TargetDate is Null THEN 'FUTURE' WHEN TargetDate <= GetDate() THEN 'PAST'
ELSE ''
END as nvarchar(6)
)
GO

Nubuilder Forte – How to? Install on Windows – VIDEO INSTRUCTION

In a previous post I had mentioned that if you wanted a platform focused on database driven (MYSQL only) web application development, Nubuilder FORTE was an excellent choice.

On visiting their site the other day I noticed that they had published a new video out which describes how to install it on Windows. Configuration of Nubuilder is the hardest part and although I haven’t done it this video looks like an excellent instruction. So get yourself across there and have a go.

That link is here

  • How to Install Nubuilder on Windows

    Other links

  • Nubuilder main website
  • Nubuilder FORUM
  • MS SQL Azure – CONCAT_WS Working with addresses and nicely formatting separated fields

    I recently came across a very useful function that I am told was introduced in SQL Server 2017 called CONCAT_WS
    I have never used it in any other application other than SQL Server I hope it exists in MYSQL and PostgreSQL

    This will join together a series of fields with chosen separators and by combining it with NULLIF can be used to remove spaces and format address nicely.
    For applications that will at some point need addresses either for post or for information this function allows the display of addresses in a format the most clearly reflects the requirements of most postal systems. Needless to say it is likely that most of my systems will at some point transition to the use of this function.

    Here is a link to Microsofts documentation on the function CONCAT_WS

    Firstly let me review what I am starting to standardise on with regard to address fields which should be a balance between enough detail to store any address on the planet but not so much that it is overly complicated. I’ve expanded their descriptions somewhat. In my experience someone will have created an excel spreadsheet to start the process of recording information, often they standardise on column names such as address01/02/03 etc. If that breakdown exists then I have indicated the fields that I would normally expect to map those fields too.

    flatno-buildingdivision
    houseno-buildno
    housename-buildname
    streetfirst-address01
    streetsecond
    locality-address02
    towncity-address03
    stateoradminlocality
    postcode-address04
    country-address05

    And here is an example of the code implemented.

    CREATE VIEW v001formattedaddress AS SELECT pkid,
    email,
    CONCAT_WS(' ',NULLIF(dbo.t001addresstable.firstname,' '), NULLIF(dbo.t001addresstable.surname,' ')) AS fullname,
    CONCAT_WS(CHAR(13) + CHAR(10),
    NULLIF(dbo.t001addresstable.flatno, ' '), 
    NULLIF(dbo.t001addresstable.houseno,' '), 
    NULLIF(dbo.t001addresstable.housename,' '),
    NULLIF(dbo.t001addresstable.streetfirst,' '),
    NULLIF(dbo.t001addresstable.streetsecond,' '),
    NULLIF(dbo.t001addresstable.locality,' '),
    NULLIF(dbo.t001addresstable.towncity,' '),
    NULLIF(dbo.t001addresstable.stateoradminlocality,' '),
    NULLIF(dbo.t001addresstable.postcode,' '),
    NULLIF(dbo.t001addresstable.country,' '),
    REPLICATE('-', 30) ) AS addressconcat FROM dbo.t001addresstable;
    

    Additionally on reflection for a recent project I made up a list of countries that covers most in the world. For my project I put an include field next to them to allow system administrators to include whether these would be visible in the drop down. Clearly while overtime more and more countries may be added there I would expect it to be years or possibly decades before some of the values of the smaller nations are needed. (For my particular application anyway)

    I standardised on the following the 2 digit codes are the ISO Country code standard

    AD Andorra
    AE United Arab Emirates
    AF Afghanistan
    AG Antigua and Barbuda
    AI Anguilla
    AL Albania
    AM Armenia
    AO Angola
    AQ Antarctica
    AR Argentina
    AT Austria
    AU Australia
    AW Aruba
    AX Aland Islands
    AZ Azerbaijan
    BA Bosnia and Herzegovina
    BB Barbados
    BD Bangladesh
    BE Belgium
    BF Burkina Faso
    BG Bulgaria
    BH Bahrain
    BI Burundi
    BJ Benin
    BL Saint Barthélemy
    BM Bermuda
    BN Brunei Darussalam
    BO Bolivia, Plurinational State of
    BQ Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba
    BR Brazil
    BS Bahamas
    BT Bhutan
    BV Bouvet Island
    BW Botswana
    BY Belarus
    BZ Belize
    CA Canada
    CC Cocos (Keeling) Islands
    CD Congo, the Democratic Republic of the
    CF Central African Republic
    CG Congo
    CH Switzerland
    CI Cote d’Ivoire
    CK Cook Islands
    CL Chile
    CM Cameroon
    CN China*
    CO Colombia
    CR Costa Rica
    CU Cuba
    CV Cape Verde
    CW Curaçao
    CX Christmas Island
    CY Cyprus
    CZ Czech Republic
    DE Germany
    DJ Djibouti
    DK Denmark
    DM Dominica
    DO Dominican Republic
    DZ Algeria
    EC Ecuador
    EE Estonia
    EG Egypt
    EH Western Sahara
    ER Eritrea
    ES Spain
    ET Ethiopia
    FI Finland
    FJ Fiji
    FK Falkland Islands (Malvinas)
    FO Faroe Islands
    FR France
    GA Gabon
    GB United Kingdom
    GB United Kingdom Northern Ireland
    GD Grenada
    GE Georgia
    GF French Guiana
    GG Guernsey
    GH Ghana
    GI Gibraltar
    GL Greenland
    GM Gambia
    GN Guinea
    GP Guadeloupe
    GQ Equatorial Guinea
    GR Greece
    GS South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
    GT Guatemala
    GW Guinea-Bissau
    GY Guyana
    HK Hong Kong SAR China
    HM Heard Island and McDonald Islands
    HN Honduras
    HR Croatia
    HT Haiti
    HU Hungary
    ID Indonesia
    IC Spain Canary Islands
    IE Ireland Republic
    IL Israel
    IM Isle of Man
    IN India
    IO British Indian Ocean Territory
    IQ Iraq
    IR Iran, Islamic Republic of
    IS Iceland
    IT Italy
    JE Jersey
    JM Jamaica
    JO Jordan
    JP Japan
    KE Kenya
    KG Kyrgyzstan
    KH Cambodia
    KI Kiribati
    KM Comoros
    KN Saint Kitts and Nevis
    KP Korea, Democratic People’s Republic of
    KR Korea, Republic of
    KW Kuwait
    KY Cayman Islands
    KZ Kazakhstan
    LA Lao People’s Democratic Republic
    LB Lebanon
    LC Saint Lucia
    LI Liechtenstein
    LK Sri Lanka
    LR Liberia
    LS Lesotho
    LT Lithuania
    LU Luxembourg
    LV Latvia
    LY Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
    MA Morocco
    MC Monaco
    MD Moldova, Republic of
    ME Montenegro
    MF Saint Martin (French part)
    MG Madagascar
    MK Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of
    ML Mali
    MM Myanmar
    MN Mongolia
    MO Macau SAR China
    MQ Martinique
    MR Mauritania
    MS Montserrat
    MT Malta
    MU Mauritius
    MV Maldives
    MW Malawi
    MX Mexico
    MY Malaysia
    MZ Mozambique
    NA Namibia
    NC New Caledonia
    NE Niger
    NF Norfolk Island
    NG Nigeria
    NI Nicaragua
    NL Netherlands
    NO Norway
    NP Nepal
    NR Nauru
    NU Niue
    NZ New Zealand
    OM Oman
    PA Panama
    PE Peru
    PF French Polynesia
    PG Papua New Guinea
    PH Philippines
    PK Pakistan
    PL Poland
    PM Saint Pierre and Miquelon
    PN Pitcairn
    PS Palestine
    PT Portugal
    PY Paraguay
    QA Qatar
    RE Reunion
    RO Romania
    RS Serbia
    RU Russian Federation
    RW Rwanda
    SA Saudi Arabia
    SB Solomon Islands
    SC Seychelles
    SD Sudan
    SE Sweden
    SG Singapore
    SH Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
    SI Slovenia
    SJ Svalbard and Jan Mayen
    SK Slovakia
    SL Sierra Leone
    SM San Marino
    SN Senegal
    SO Somalia
    SR Suriname
    SS South Sudan
    ST Sao Tome and Principe
    SV El Salvador
    SX Sint Maarten (Dutch part)
    SY Syrian Arab Republic
    SZ Swaziland
    TC Turks and Caicos Islands
    TD Chad
    TF French Southern Territories
    TG Togo
    TH Thailand
    TJ Tajikistan
    TK Tokelau
    TL Timor-Leste
    TM Turkmenistan
    TN Tunisia
    TO Tonga
    TR Turkey
    TT Trinidad and Tobago
    TV Tuvalu
    TW Taiwan
    TZ Tanzania United Republic of
    UA Ukraine
    UG Uganda
    US United States
    UY Uruguay
    UZ Uzbekistan
    VA Holy See (Vatican City State)
    VC Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
    VE Venezuela Bolivarian Republic of
    VG Virgin Islands, British
    VN Vietnam
    VU Vanuatu
    WF Wallis and Futuna
    WS Samoa
    YE Yemen
    YT Mayotte
    ZA South Africa
    ZM Zambia
    ZW Zimbabwe