Re: The BOOLEAN data type
Date: Wed, 2 Apr 2003 10:02:55 -0800
Message-ID: <cHFia.7$GI5.163_at_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...