CHOOSE Logical Function¶

The CHOOSE logical function introduced in SQL Server 2012 returns the item at the specified index from a list of values. The syntax of the CHOOSE logical function is as follows:

CHOOSE ( < index >, < value_1 >, < value_2 > [ , < val_n > ] )

The < index > is an integer expression that represents a 1-based index into the list of the items following it. If the provided index value has a numeric data type other than INT, then the value is implicitly converted to an integer. If the index value exceeds the bounds of the array of values, then the CHOOSE function will return a NULL result. The < value > parameters are a list of comma-separated values of any data type.

Sample Uses of the CHOOSE Date and Time Function¶

Here are a few uses of the CHOOSE logical function:

Usage #1 : Return the Day of the Week in an Unsupported Language¶

SELECT CHOOSE( DATEPART(DW, GETDATE()), 
               'Linggo', 'Lunes', 'Martes', 'Miyerkoles', 
               'Huwebes', 'Biyernes', 'Sabado' ) AS [Day of the Week in Tagalog]

Usage #2 : Return the Name of the Month in an Unsupported Language¶

SELECT CHOOSE ( MONTH(GETDATE()), 'Enero', 'Pebrero', 'Marso', 'Abril', 'Mayo',
                'Hunyo', 'Hulyo', 'Agosto', 'Setyembre', 'Oktubre', 'Nobyembre',
                'Disyembre' ) AS [Month Name in Tagalog]

Usage #3 : Return the Ordinal Name of a Cardinal Number¶

SELECT [TeamName], CHOOSE ( [Position], 'First', 'Second', 'Third', 'Fourth', 'Fifth' ) AS [OrdinalPosition]
FROM [dbo].[TeamPosition]

SELECT [TeamName], CHOOSE ( [Position], '1st', '2nd', '3rd', '4th', '5th' ) AS [OrdinalPosition]
FROM [dbo].[TeamPosition]

Usage #4 : Translate a Letter to Phonetic Alphabet¶

DECLARE @Letter     CHAR(1)

SET @Letter = 'S'
SELECT CHOOSE( ASCII(UPPER(@Letter)) - 64, 'Alpha', 'Bravo', 'Charlie', 'Delta', 'Echo', 'Foxtrot', 'Golf',
               'Hotel', 'India', 'Juliett', 'Kilo', 'Lima', 'Mike', 'November', 'Oscar', 'Papa', 'Quebec',
               'Romeo', 'Sierra', 'Tango', 'Uniform', 'Victor', 'Whiskey', 'Xray', 'Yankee', 'Zulu' )
               AS [Phonetic]

Usage #5 : Convert a BIT Value Into Yes/No or True/False String Value¶

SELECT [UserName], CHOOSE( CAST([IsActive] AS TINYINT) + 1, 'No', 'Yes' ) AS [IsActive]
FROM [dbo].[User]