Re: The BOOLEAN data type

From: Mikito Harakiri <mikharakiri_at_ywho.com>
Date: Wed, 2 Apr 2003 10:02:55 -0800
Message-ID: <cHFia.7$GI5.163@news.oracle.com>

"andrewst" <member14183_at_dbforums.com> wrote in message news:2719298.1049279441_at_dbforums.com...
> > Unknown (to me at least) suggests you Dont Know. Null itself suggests
> > you dont know whether you know or not.
> > :P is there a database.philosophy group out there?
> >
> I like it. Maybe we need further Boolean values like
> IKNOWBUTIMNOTSAYING and MAYBEIKNOWMAYBEIDONT and
> IBELIEVEITSTRUEBUTNOT100%CERTAIN, ...
Seriously, it is very rare for a database developer who reverse engineers the existing database to ask what the NULL in the given column means. More often they ask what is the semantics of the column itself, as (s)he have to guess the meaning from the name of the column alone.

In practice, it is common to have tables with 100 fields. Then, a record entry clerk perspective for the NULL is

DONTBOTHERMEWITHTHISSTUPIDFIELD

I just want to complete the entry form as soon as possible...

Received on Wed Apr 02 2003 - 12:02:55 CST