Providing Language FallBack In A SQL Select Statement - sql

Question

I have a table that represents an Object. It has many columns but also fields that require language support.
For simplicity let's say I have 3 tables:
MainObjectTable
LanguageDependantField1
LanguageDependantField2.
MainObjectTable has a PK int called ID, and both LanguageDependantTables have a foreign key link back to the MainObjectTable along with a language code and the date they were added.
I've created a stored procedure that accepts the MainObjectTable ID and a Language. It will return a single row containing the most recent items from the language tables. The select statement looks like
SELECT
MainObjectTable.VariousColumns,
LanguageDependantField1.Description,
LanguageDependantField2.SomeOtherText
FROM
MainObjectTable
OUTER APPLY
(SELECT TOP 1 LanguageDependantField1.Description
FROM LanguageDependantField1
WHERE LanguageDependantField1.MainObjectTable_ID = MainObjectTable.ID
AND LanguageDependantField1.Language_ID = #language
ORDER BY
LanguageDependantField1.[Default], LanguageDependantField1.CreatedDate DESC) LanguageDependantField1
OUTER APPLY
(SELECT TOP 1 LanguageDependantField2.SomeOtherText
FROM LanguageDependantField2
WHERE LanguageDependantField2.MainObjectTable_ID = MainObjectTable.ID
AND LanguageDependantField2.Language_ID = #language
ORDER BY
LanguageDependantField2.[Default] DESC, LanguageDependantField2.CreatedDate DESC) LanguageDependantField2
WHERE
MainObjectTable.ID = #MainObjectTableID
What I want to add is the ability to fallback to a default language if a row isn't found in the specified language. Let's say we use "German" as the selected language. Is it possible to return an English row from LanguageDependantField1 if the German does not exist presuming we have #fallbackLanguageID
Also am I right to use OUTER APPLY in this scenario or should I be using JOIN?
Many thanks for your help.

Answer 1

Try this:
SELECT MainObjectTable.VariousColumns,
COALESCE(PrefLang.Description,Fallback.Description,'Not Found Desc')
as Description,
COALESCE(PrefLang.SomeOtherText,FallBack.SomeOtherText,'Not found')
as SomeOtherText
FROM MainObjectTable
LEFT JOIN
(SELECT TOP 1 pl.Description,pl.SomeOtherText
FROM LanguageDependantField1 pl
WHERE pl.MainObjectTable_ID = MainObjectTable.ID
AND pl.Language_ID = #language
ORDER BY
pl.[Default], pl.CreatedDate DESC)
PrefLang ON 1=1
LEFT JOIN
(SELECT TOP 1 fb.Description,fb.SomeOtherText
FROM LanguageDependantField1 fb
WHERE fb.MainObjectTable_ID = MainObjectTable.ID
AND fb.Language_ID = #fallbackLanguageID
ORDER BY
fb.[Default], fb.CreatedDate DESC)
Fallback ON 1=1
WHERE
MainObjectTable.ID = #MainObjectTableID
Basically, make two queries, one to the preferred language and one to English (Default). Use the LEFT JOIN, so if the first one isn't found, the second query is used...
I don't have your actual tables, so there might be a syntax error in above, but hope it gives you the concept you want to try...

Answer 2

Yes, the use of Outer Apply is correct if you want to correlate the MainObjectTable table rows to the inner queries. You cannot use Joins with references in the derived table to the outer table. If you wanted to use Joins, you would need to include the joining column(s) and in this case pre-filter the results. Here is what that might look like:
With RankedLanguages As
(
Select LDF1.MainObjectTable_ID, LDF1.Language_ID, LDF1.Description, LDF1.SomeOtherText, ...
, Row_Number() Over ( Partition By LDF1.MainObjectTable_ID, LDF1.Language_ID
Order By LDF1.[Default] Desc, LDF1.CreatedDate Desc ) As Rnk
From LanguageDependantField1 As LDF1
Where LDF1.Language_ID In( #languageId, #defaultLanguageId )
)
Select M.VariousColumns
, Coalesce( SpecificLDF.Description, DefaultLDF.Description ) As Description
, Coalesce( SpecificLDF.SomeOtherText, DefaultLDF.SomeOtherText ) As SomeOtherText
, ...
From MainObjectTable As M
Left Join RankedLanguages As SpecificLDF
On SpecificLDF.MainObjectTable_ID = M.ID
And SpecifcLDF.Language_ID = #languageId
And SpecifcLDF.Rnk = 1
Left Join RankedLanguages As DefaultLDF
On DefaultLDF.MainObjectTable_ID = M.ID
And DefaultLDF.Language_ID = #defaultLanguageId
And DefaultLDF.Rnk = 1
Where M.ID = #MainObjectTableID