Example 2-29 Using the Function DECODE

DECLARE
   the_manager VARCHAR2(40);
   name employees.last_name%TYPE;
BEGIN
-- NULL is a valid argument to DECODE. In this case, manager_id is null
-- and the DECODE function returns 'nobody'.
   SELECT DECODE(manager_id, NULL, 'nobody', 'somebody'), last_name
      INTO the_manager, name FROM employees WHERE employee_id = 100;
   DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE(name || ' is managed by ' || the_manager);
END;
/