Setting a variable with select inside coalesce

Question

How do I fix up this part of my stored procedure?

The select will either return 1, 0, or null. If the select returns 1 or 0, I want @override to be set to that value. If it returns null, then I want @override to be set to 1.

Something is wrong with my syntax; I am told "incorrect syntax near 'select'" and "incorrect sytax near ')'".

Here is the sql:

set @override = (coalesce(select override from groupPreferences g inner join
preferences p on g.preferenceId = p.preferenceId where groupId = 13
and description = 'myDescription'), 1))

Answer 1

Got the answer- I was missing a ( after the word coalesce.

Answer 2

I'd go for something readable like this:

select @override = override 
from groupPreferences g 
    inner join preferences p on g.preferenceId = p.preferenceId 
where groupId = 13
    and description = 'myDescription'

SET @override = ISNULL(@override, 1)

But you can do:

SELECT @override = ISNULL((select override 
from groupPreferences g 
    inner join preferences p on g.preferenceId = p.preferenceId 
where groupId = 13
    and description = 'myDescription'), 1)

Answer 3

set @override = (coalesce((select override from groupPreferences g inner join
preferences p on g.preferenceId = p.preferenceId where groupId = 13
and description = 'myDescription'), 1))