TSQL 2012 CHOOSE Function

Syntax:

—CHOOSE(index, val_1, val_2, val_3, …)

—If the index is greater than the number of values or less than 1 it returns NULL

—Easier than using a CASE statement in some examples.

Example:

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-- CHOOSE
-- returns the item at a specific index
declare @corners as int = 6
SELECT choose(@corners, 'point', 'line', 'triangle', 'square',
 'pentagon', 'hexagon', 'heptagon', 'octagon')

-- the old way using case.
SELECT CASE @corners
 WHEN 1 THEN 'point'
 WHEN 2 THEN 'line'
 WHEN 3 THEN 'triangle'
 WHEN 4 THEN 'square'
 WHEN 5 THEN 'pentagon'
 WHEN 6 THEN 'hexagon'
 WHEN 7 THEN 'heptagon'
 WHEN 8 THEN 'octagon'
 else NULL
 END;

In the above example, the CASE statement and CHOOSE function do the same thing, but the CHOOSE function is a bit easier to write.Here is another example

-- CHOOSE day of week example
DECLARE @day as int=4
SELECT CHOOSE(@day,'Sunday','Monday', 'Tuesday',
              'Wednesday','Thursday','Friday','Saturday')

For choose and other new TSQL functionality in Server 2012 take a look at my What’s New in TSQL 2012 presentation, which will be presented at Seattle Code Camp on June 16th.