Run an alternative query if the first was null?

[henryrhenryr]

Hi

I'm trying to make a query which selects one set of results but if that set is empty, will fall to a backup which is looser. It's for a search function.

When I tried the method below (with IFNULL), it seems to run the second query but only return one result but the second query returned a list of 50+ results when run alone.

Perhaps there is an alternative method? Or am I on the right track but have some errors...?

Thanks for your help! Here is the SQL:

SELECT * FROM people 
WHERE pk 
      IN (
              IFNULL(
                  (
                       select GROUP_CONCAT(pk) 
                       from people 
                       where name="henryrhenryr" group by name
                    ),
                    (
                       select GROUP_CONCAT(pk) 
                       from people 
                       where name like '%henry%' group by name
                    )
                )
            )