where id <> 3 skips NULL value

  • Hello,

    Please see screenshot attached. Why it is skipping NULL Value in query-2?

    I want that NULL so I wrote query-3, is that correct?

    Please reply. Thanks.

  • dallas13 (9/9/2014)


    Hello,

    Please see screenshot attached. Why it is skipping NULL Value in query-2?

    I want that NULL so I wrote query-3, is that correct?

    Please reply. Thanks.

    Yes if you want to include NULL you need to do it like that. If you say Where MyColumn <> 3 it will exclude NULL because any type of equality check with a NULL results in NULL. As a result if your column has NULL it indeterminate if that row = 3 or <> 3 because the value is unknown.

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  • I'm a noob but Predicates only evaluate to TRUE. Also NULL is not a value. Query 3 is correct as far as my very limited knowledge goes.

    So it skips in query 2 because since NULL is not a value it cant be evaluated to true. It is thus evaluated to false as it is a unknown.

    ***SQL born on date Spring 2013:-)

  • Thanks for the explanation guys.

  • thomashohner (9/9/2014)


    I'm a noob but Predicates only evaluate to TRUE. Also NULL is not a value. Query 3 is correct as far as my very limited knowledge goes.

    So it skips in query 2 because since NULL is not a value it cant be evaluated to true. It is thus evaluated to false as it is a unknown.

    The first part is quite right: a condition in SQL must be true to be considered met, not simply "not false".

    But the second part, be careful -- it's not evaluated to "false", it's evaluated to NULL also: effectively "unknown", since SQL can't determine if it's true or false.

    SQL DBA,SQL Server MVP(07, 08, 09) "It's a dog-eat-dog world, and I'm wearing Milk-Bone underwear." "Norm", on "Cheers". Also from "Cheers", from "Carla": "You need to know 3 things about Tortelli men: Tortelli men draw women like flies; Tortelli men treat women like flies; Tortelli men's brains are in their flies".

  • I saw that very bad wording on my part.

    ***SQL born on date Spring 2013:-)

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