CASE Statement

Syntax

CASE case_value
    WHEN when_value THEN statement_list
    [WHEN when_value THEN statement_list] ...
    [ELSE statement_list]
END

Or:

CASE
    WHEN search_condition THEN statement_list
    [WHEN search_condition THEN statement_list] ...
    [ELSE statement_list] 
END

Description

The CASE statement for stored programs implements a complex conditional construct. If a search_condition evaluates to true, the corresponding SQL statement list is executed. If no search condition matches, the statement list in the ELSE clause is executed. Each statement_list consists of one or more statements.

If no when_value or search_condition matches the value tested and the CASE statement contains no ELSE clause, a Case not found for CASE statement error results.

Each statement_list consists of one or more statements; an empty statement_list is not allowed. To handle situations where no value is matched by any WHEN clause, use an ELSE containing an empty BEGIN ... END block, as shown in this example:

DELIMITER |
CREATE PROCEDURE p()
BEGIN
  DECLARE v INT DEFAULT 1;
  CASE v
    WHEN 2 THEN SELECT v;
    WHEN 3 THEN SELECT 0;
    ELSE BEGIN END;
  END CASE;
END;
|

The indentation used here in the ELSE clause is for purposes of clarity only, and is not otherwise significant. See Delimiters in the mysql client for more on the use of the delimiter command.

Note: The syntax of the CASE statement used inside stored programs differs slightly from that of the SQL CASE expression described in CASE OPERATOR. The CASE statement cannot have an ELSE NULL clause, and it is terminated with END CASE instead of END.