# COALESCE
<a name="recipe-actions.COALESCE"></a>

Returns in a new column the first non-null value found in the array of columns. The order of the columns listed in the function determines the order in which they're searched.

**Parameters**
+ `sourceColumns` – A JSON-encoded string representing list of existing columns.
+ `targetColumn` – The name of the new column to be created.

**Example**  
  

```
{
    "RecipeAction": {
        "Operation": "COALESCE",
        "Parameters": {
            "sourceColumns": "[\"nation_position\",\"joined\"]",
            "targetColumn": "COALESCE Column 1"
        }
    }
}
```