## Syntax
```mermaid
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flowchart LR
Start((START)) --> COALESCE[COALESCE]:::quoted
COALESCE --> End((END))
```
## Purpose
The `COALESCE` SQL function performs a coalescing operation, returning the first non-`null` value and `null` otherwise.
See also [[NVL]].
Parameters:
- Position 1 (`ANY`): a value.
- Position n (`ANY`): more values.
Returns: the first non-`null` value as the data type at position 1.
## Examples
The following example retrieves the first non-`null`:
```sql
select coalesce(-5, null, -3)
--------
-5
```
The following example retrieves the first non-`null`:
```sql
select coalesce(null, null, -5, -3)
--------
-5
```
The following example retrieves the first non-`null`. Please note that the empty text has `null` semantics on Invantive UniversalSQL:
```sql
select coalesce(null, '', 'answer 1', 'answer 2')
--------
answer 1
```