Re: VARCHAR2: NULL value vs. empty string

From: Daniel Gustafsson <daniel_at_mimer.se>
Date: 15 Dec 2003 01:24:46 -0800
Message-ID: <de4cfd03.0312150124.44eb55cf@posting.google.com>

Daniel Morgan <damorgan_at_x.washington.edu> wrote in message news:<1071424889.658804_at_yasure>...
> Daniel Gustafsson wrote:
>
> > From the standard compliance tables in the Oracle SQL Reference
> > manual.
> > "Oracle partially supports these subfeatures:
> > E021-02, CHARACTER VARYING data type (Oracle does not distinguish a
> > zero-length VARCHAR string from NULL)
> > E021-03, Character literals (Oracle regards the zero-length literal ''
> > as being null)"
>
> And how, exactly, do you correlate this with the ANSI standard?

That is a table describing Oracle's compliance to the ANSI standard.

> NULL in
> the standard is a lack of a value ... it is not a zero length string.

I don't think the term "lack of a value" is a proper description of NULL, but you are correct that NULL is not a zero length string.

> You are making an assumption. And an incorrect one.

I do not make an assumption here.

Regards
Daniel Gustafsson, Mimer SQL Development http://www.mimer.se Received on Mon Dec 15 2003 - 03:24:46 CST