So far this discussion has been focused on IT professionals and the proper user of null fields. What happens when you bring a non-IT user into this discussion and they are using some package to query that same database. Are these employees going to understand the concept of a null field and how to get the correct results from their query when a field is null capable? Will they understand that field = blank is not the same as field = null?
-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Walden H. Leverich
Sent: Wednesday, October 15, 2008 6:44 PM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: RE: Interesting question and debate on ddl tables with datefieldsthatwill not always have a value
I'm trying to stay out of this conversation for the
most part because it really is an opinion discussion.
But why should you therefore stay out? Seriously. Precisely because
there are rarely binary answers to architecture questions shouldn't the
debate _be_ opinion based?
Sure, I made a blanket statement that nulls are for cases where the
value is undefined, and I stand by that statement. But I also recognize
I'm not god's gift to architecture, and more importantly, I don't have
any information about the specific instance in which the OP is trying to
design a system, so I could be dead wrong.
In short, I (sort of) agree that neither is better than the other. But I
disagree that because of that there shouldn't be discussion, rather I
say that precisely because of that there _should_ be discussion.
-Walden
--
Walden H Leverich III
Tech Software
(516) 627-3800 x3051
WaldenL@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.TechSoftInc.com
Quiquid latine dictum sit altum viditur.
(Whatever is said in Latin seems profound.)
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