Question

Are there any nvl() equivalent functions in SQL?

Or something close enough to be used in the same way in certain scenarios?

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UPDATE:
no if statements
no case statements
no isnull
no coalesce

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select nvl (purge_date,'SODIUFOSDIUFSDOIFUDSF') from id_rec where id=36581;   (expression)  SODIUFOSDIUFSDOIFUDSF  1 row(s) retrieved.  select isnull (purge_date,'SODIUFOSDIUFSDOIFUDSF') from id_rec where id=36581;    674: Routine (isnull) can not be resolved. Error in line 1 Near character position 8  select coalesce (purge_date,'SODIUFOSDIUFSDOIFUDSF') from id_rec where id=36581;    674: Routine (coalesce) can not be resolved. Error in line 1 Near character position 8  select decode(purge_date, NULL, '01/01/2009', purge_date) from id_rec where id=74115;    800: Corresponding types must be compatible in CASE expression. Error in line 1 Near character position 57 

Answer 1

You seem to be using Informix.

AFAIK, there is DECODE there:

DECODE(field, NULL, 'it is null, man', field) should give you same result as NVL(field, 'it is null, man')

Please post exact name and version of the RDBMS you are using.