Re: NULLS when col is NOT NULL ??

From: Noons <wizofoz2k_at_yahoo.com.au>
Date: 24 Aug 2004 20:50:09 -0700
Message-ID: <73e20c6c.0408241950.716606f9@posting.google.com>

Ed Stevens <nospam_at_noway.nohow> wrote in message news:<mh4ni096einubbdrd4avi2e4f7pkpv67kd_at_4ax.com>...

> So, it appears we have 283 instances of nulls (ascii zero) in a column
> defined as NOT NULL. What am I missing here (besides my sanity, of
> course!)

What you are missing is that an ASCII NUL (Octal 000) is NOT the same as an Oracle NULL (non-existence of ANY value). The two are not interchangeable.

The ASCII NUL is commonly used in many programming languages to mark the end of a string. So if you had an empty string in one of those languages, you'd have only an ASCII NUL in the column.

But, once again: that is NOT the same as an Oracle NULL. An Oracle NULL is a total absence of ANY value. An ASCII NULL is just a special value (octal 000).

HTH
Cheers
Nuno Souto
wizofoz2k_at_yahoo.com.au.nospam Received on Tue Aug 24 2004 - 22:50:09 CDT