Re: Use of nulls in single character flag fields

ncronin wrote:
>
> Hi
> We have some conflicting desgin views at our site. Some
> people believe use of nulls for flags is fine as you can
> use NVL(...) to convert when retrieving. I believe flags
> should be non-null for clarity, better performance when
> indexed and you don't have to remember to use NVL all the
> time. Also I'm not sure if there is a performance penalty
> from using NVL(...). Any views on this simple matter from
> the database designers of you ??
> Noel (ncronin_at_tcd.ie)

Will it work? Of course it will. But I agree with you. Why complicate the system just to be cute? What's wrong with a field with values of 'Y' or 'N'? Why would you force all your developers and report writers to remember to use NVL if you don't have to? Not to mention the possible performance/indexing problems.

Sounds like someone is trying to design in some job security doing maintenance to me.

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Allen Kirby			AT&T ITS Production Services
akirby_at_att.com			Alpharetta, GA.