How to use a case statement in scalar valued function in SQL?

Question

I want to get one value from a function using a case statement. I tried the following but it does not work:

CREATE FUNCTION [FATMS].[fnReturnByPeriod]
(

    @Period INT

)
RETURNS int
AS
BEGIN

    SELECT CASE @Period 
             when 1 then 1
             when @Period >1 and @Period <=7 then 1
             when @Period >7 and @Period <=30 then 1
             when @Period >30 and @Period<=90 then 1
             when @Period >90 and @Period <=180 then 1
             when @Period >180 and @Period <=360 then 1
             else 0
           END

    RETURN @Period
END

Answer 1

There are two types of CASE expression: simple and searched. You must choose one or the other - you can't use a mixture both types in one expression.

Try this:

SELECT CASE
    WHEN @Period = 1 THEN 1
    WHEN @Period > 1 AND @Period <= 7 THEN 2
    WHEN @Period > 7 AND @Period <= 30 then 3
    -- etc...
    ELSE 0
END

Also, you need to assign the result to something as others have already pointed out.

Answer 2

When you use RETURN @Period, you must assign a value to @Period. The following example shows how to structure your code so that there is no need to declare a local variable.

CREATE FUNCTION [FATMS].[fnReturnByPeriod]
(
    @Period INT
)
RETURNS INT
AS
BEGIN
    RETURN
        CASE 
            WHEN @Period = 1 THEN 1
            WHEN @Period > 1 AND @Period <=7 THEN 1
            WHEN @Period > 7 AND @Period <=30 THEN 1
            WHEN @Period > 30 AND @Period<=90 THEN 1
            WHEN @Period > 90 AND @Period <=180 THEN 1
            WHEN @Period > 180 AND @Period <=360 THEN 1
            ELSE 0
        END 
END