Slap me if this is a dumb question.
Here's my pay methods
SQL> SELECT ASCII(PAY_METHOD), PAY_METHOD, COUNT(*)
2 FROM LEISURE_PLAN_MASTER_TEMP
3 WHERE MEMBERSHIP_CLASS = 'D'
4 GROUP BY PAY_METHOD;
ASCII(PAY_METHOD) P COUNT(*)
----------------- - ----------
67 C 42955
80 P 34373
11786
I expected this statement to return the 11,786 records that have null
values. However, it doesn't:
SQL> SELECT COUNT(*)
2 from leisure_plan_master_temp
3 where membership_class = 'D'
4 AND pay_METHOD NOT IN ('C','P');
COUNT(*)
----------
0
But when I do this, I get the answer I expect.
SQL> SELECT COUNT(*)
2 from leisure_plan_master_temp
3 where membership_class = 'D'
4 AND PAY_METHOD IS NULL;
COUNT(*)
----------
11786
This isn't exactly correct. There may be other values in this field, and if
they show up I need to include them, not just records where this field is
null. What am I missing? Is it because the value is NULL that Oracle
excludes it from the IN() statement, because of the classic definition of
NULL (can't be defined, therefore can't be sure it's not a C or a P)?
This is easy enough to fix, I'll change my data load to populate the null
values with my own code. But still? Have I got the WHY correct?
Thanks for any light someone can shed on this stupid question.
Lisa Koivu
Oracle Database Monkey Mama
Fairfield Resorts, Inc.
5259 Coconut Creek Parkway
Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA 33063
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Author: Koivu, Lisa
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