MYSQL if statement question

Question

Is there any way to get the if statement to evaluate a query?

SELECT if(5>0,\'EQ_Type\',\'*\') FROM EQUIPMENT;

Resulting in:
+-----------------------+
| IF(5>0,\'EQ_Type\',         


        

Answer 1

I recommend using ANSI notation - CASE statements in this case - rather than MySQL specific syntax:

SELECT CASE WHEN 5 > 0 THEN t.eq_type ELSE '*' END
  FROM EQUIPMENT t

Reason being, if you changed databases - this statement wouldn't need to be changed to work on Oracle, Postgres, SQL Server, etc.