Re: [Q] Porting SQL to Oracle

See, didn't I tell you it was a religous type thing!

Look, Hue-Mon, what care we for semantics? If'n I say 'where field = null' should produce a result of all records where that field is null; I shouldn't have to have special syntax of 'where field is null'.

Save us from purists and bean counters!

"Billy Verreynne" <vslabs_at_onwe.co.za> wrote in message news:bc7au0$7k7$1_at_ctb-nnrp2.saix.net...
> Scott Mattes wrote:
>
> > Null is a religous experience, so don't even try going there! Null is
> > 'undefined' and guess what, Null does not equal itself (this seems silly
> > to me, oops, here come the flames, since undefined is certainly the same
> > as undefined, but religion sometimes doesn't make sense from the
outside.
>
> Beg to differ. And I will go there. SQL trekking through Oracle with
shields
> on full, phasers charged and photon torpedos loaded.
>
> I do not think it is at all confusing. Unless you happen to live in Choas
> Space. But then that would mean SQL is not a language for database
> communication, but is instead a frothy pink substance that is created by
> sound of opening the door of a motorcycle.
>
> You have a VARCHAR2 column called x.
>
> You do the following:
> INSERT INTO foo ( x ) VALUES ( '' )
>
> Q. What is stored in column x?
> A. ASCII/UniCode characters. Internally that is represented by a number,
> aka the ordinal value of the character.
>
> Q. What is the ordinal value of the character in between the quotes
> that you are attempting to insert?
> A. Undefined. There is no character value in between the quotes. Thus
> there can not be an ordinal value for it.
>
> Q. How does Oracle store a value that is not given, i.e. the "nothing
> character" that is specified by that VALUES ( '' ) clause?
> A. Exactly what you told it to store - nothing. Nada. No value. Zip.
> Zilch. Niks. I.E. a friggen NULL.
>
> Q. Is NULL a value?
> A. No it is not. The above Q&A has just proven that NULL is NOT a value.
> NULL is not CHAR(255) or CHAR(13) or CHAR(0). CHAR(0) is still a
> character _with_ a value - an ordinal value of zero!
> You did not say:
> INSERT INTO foo ( x ) VALUES ( CHAR(0) )
> You said:
> INSERT INTO foo ( x ) VALUES ( '' )
> Which is why:
> x = NULL will always be FALSE as that is a value comparison and NULL
> is not a value
> Solution - use boolean algebra to see if the column has a value, or
> whether the column has not a value, i.e.
> x IS NULL?
>
> Friggen straight forward and simple. Don't know why some wants to make a
> warp core breach out of it.
>
> The Ferengi mentality of some.. trying to pawn of nulls as values
<snorting
> in disgust>
>
> --
> Billy
Received on Wed Jun 11 2003 - 11:07:48 CDT