title: In SQL, how do I convert a date field into a string if null?
body: <p>I would like to write an SQL query in SQL Server 2008 R2 that converts a date to a string when it is NULL. For example... </p>
  
  <pre><code>    Date                            ShipmentRef     RecieptNo
      2009-01-01 03:12:11.596         DS298-YYY       18060
                                      FM298-YYY       95464
      2010-11-11 08:33:55.974         IL298-YYY       56703
      2003-08-01 07:00:44.846         UI835-XYX       40264
                                      US655-YXY       34643
      2004-03-07 12:46:33.352         WE242-XXX       83755
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>The above data is just a sample table of what my current data looks like. When I run the SELECT query, I want it to return the data as follows: </p>
  
  <pre><code>    Date                            ShipmentRef     RecieptNo
      2009-01-01 03:12:11.596         DS298-YYY       18060
      InsertRandomStringHere          FM298-YYY       95464
      2010-11-11 08:33:55.974         IL298-YYY       56703
      2003-08-01 07:00:44.846         UI835-XYX       40264
      InsertRandomStringHere          US655-YXY       34643
      2004-03-07 12:46:33.352         WE242-XXX       83755
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I'm not sure which would be better, CASE or CONVERT. Any help you give me will be very much appreciated.</p>