Re: Does "0" exist for DATE?

A copy of this was sent to Casey Claiborne <mscasey_at_io.com> (if that email address didn't require changing) On Fri, 7 Jan 2000 06:35:20 -0600, you wrote:

>
>Hello,
>
>Is there a way to initialize DATE with a default? For example, an
>INTEGER type can be set to 0, so can a FLOAT.
>
>For example, suppose I have a field for a Customer called
>DateOfMarriage. If the customer is not married, this field does not
>apply. What can I set it to in the database? If I use NULL, then
>I will have to worry about ISNULL or ISNOTNULL situations.
>
>Any help on this issue would be *greatly* appreciated :)
>

just as you did for the int and float, pick some ARBITRARY value to put the in the field (ZERO is some arbitrary number you have decided means "null" in your sense -- to others, the presence of a ZERO means something).

I've used a date such as "to_date( '01010001', 'mmddyyyy' )" myself in the past -- january 1'st, year 1. You just need to pick a date that cannot in any way appear in your data normally...

>
>TIA
>
>Casey
>

--
See http://osi.oracle.com/~tkyte/ for my columns 'Digging-in to Oracle8i'... Current article is "Part I of V, Autonomous Transactions" updated June 21'st  

Thomas Kyte                   tkyte_at_us.oracle.com
Oracle Service Industries     Reston, VA   USA

Opinions are mine and do not necessarily reflect those of Oracle Corporation Received on Fri Jan 07 2000 - 07:24:04 CST