[snip] >And the reason for that is because nothing is actually equal to NULL. >For a field to be equal to NULL it would actually have to contain NULL, >in which case it would not be actually NULL.
What? NULL doesn't equal NULL because NULL means "unknown". A column can have 2 states: known or unknown (NULL). If the case of a "known" state, the column has a value, in cause of unknown, it's NULL. You cannot compare to "unknown". So this is why the SQL standard says: you either ask for a specific value (eg: myid = 1002) or you ask for a state: "myid IS NULL" or "myid IS NOT NULL" (= filled). It has nothing to do with "contain NULL" or whatever. [/snip] Philosophically this has been the argument concerning NULL for several decades when concerned with data operations. So Martin, you are correct here NULL is unknown and lacks state. Nothing can be equal to (=) something that lacks state, you can only check to see if state does or does not exist. Many more youthful database users do not fully understand NULL and its use. Some actually think (as appeared to be the case with the OP here) that the field contains a value of NULL. As you stated, a value has state and if the field has state it is certainly not NULL. 'IS NULL' and '= NULL' are two very different things. Sure I was being a little cheeky with my response, I should have taken the time to more carefully explain NULL. -- MySQL General Mailing List For list archives: http://lists.mysql.com/mysql To unsubscribe: http://lists.mysql.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]
