| From: | Bruce Momjian <pgman(at)candle(dot)pha(dot)pa(dot)us> |
|---|---|
| To: | Tom Lane <tgl(at)sss(dot)pgh(dot)pa(dot)us> |
| Cc: | Vince Vielhaber <vev(at)michvhf(dot)com>, Sean Chittenden <sean(at)chittenden(dot)org>, pgsql-general(at)postgresql(dot)org |
| Subject: | Re: "IS NOT NULL" != "NOT NULL" |
| Date: | 2002-01-20 00:32:55 |
| Message-ID: | 200201200032.g0K0WtT18841@candle.pha.pa.us |
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| Lists: | pgsql-general |
> I've been told that Oracle fails to distinguish empty strings from
> NULL, which if true is a clear violation of the SQL specification.
> If you're used to Oracle then that might help explain your confusion :-(
>
> Another problem is that SQL's boolean operations act as though NULL
> is the logical value UNKNOWN, rather than explicitly setting up a
> boolean datatype with the three allowed values TRUE, FALSE, UNKNOWN.
> While the rules for propagation of NULL happen to be similar to the
> results that logic dictates you get for UNKNOWN, this is still a kind
> of type pun, and it doesn't help to reduce the confusion any.
My book does deal with this NULL distinction:
http://www.postgresql.org/docs/awbook.html
--
Bruce Momjian | http://candle.pha.pa.us
pgman(at)candle(dot)pha(dot)pa(dot)us | (610) 853-3000
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