combining fields (sort of)

Hi,
Hope this is neither too obvious or laughably impossible, else I'll
just have to be embarrased.
Is there any way to do this:

SELECT field1 if it is not NULL, else SELECT field2..??

The way this dbase is set up, I'm just about suicidal.
THANKS for any help!Use the COALESCE function (or NVL if using Oracle):

COALESCE(field1,field2)|||Originally posted by andrewst
Use the COALESCE function (or NVL if using Oracle):

COALESCE(field1,field2)

NVL did it! THANKS SO MUCH! I'd looked at that earlier but
the sql book I have only shows literals as being valid 'convert-to'
values. Shoulda just tried it. Thanks again!!!!!sqlsql