im trying to select * information about a product where its name is populated and i dont know if is not null or nvl() is better???
any suggestions

IS NOT NULL is better, because it's standard, and thus also portable

Alternatively, you could use the COALESCE() function. This is also SQL. NLV is only a proprietary extension of MS SQL Server.

I know absolutelly nothing about MS SQL Server, but I know that Oracle offers the NVL function.

Same thing. COALESCE is what the SQL standard defines. NVL is a proprietary extension that provides the same functionality as COALESCE. If you want to stick to portable SQL, COALESCE would be your best choice.

Oh, I'm not saying a word about the COALESCE; I was just complaining about the proprietary term.

Webopedia:eLook:All I wanted to say was that - if I correctly understood what proprietary means - NVL is not proprietary of Microsoft. If I'm wrong about it, I apologize.

no need

NVL doesn't even exist in SQL Server

Now I know the reason for your response. For me, "proprietary" means that it is not standardized.

I'd call it charm of English as a foreign language. Perhaps it is time to take a dictionary and see what it says about something being proprietary.

Hi,
in Viper 2 - next version of DB2 now in beta release at the moment, NLV function will be supported in DB2 too. COALESCE is a standard, but NLV uses Oracle one of the biggest RDMBS (if not the first) of market share and IBM wants to get Oracle users to DB2. To make application migration easer this is obvious step. In terms of commodization.
Hope this helps,
Grofaty