Re: [BUGS] (null) != (null) ?

> On Tue, 26 Oct 1999, Tom Lane wrote:
> 
> : > Both "fieldname" definitions are identical (verified with char(2) and
> : > varchar(100) in particular), and both tables contain a row with a "null" in
> : > that field.  However, the results don't contain the row with the "null"
> : > value.
> : 
> : NULL = NULL does not yield TRUE, it yields NULL.  For that matter,
> : NULL != NULL does not yield FALSE --- it yields NULL.  This is a
> : basic consequence of the semantics of NULL.
> 
> !?
> 
> I have been using such constructs on commercial databases for ages.  Do you
> have a link to a web-based SQL standard transcription that I could look this
> up?  (I'll check up on exactly which database(s) I can use this type of
> construct when I get back to work tomorrow....)
> 
> It seems _extremely_ counter-intuitive, especially in cases where both
> fields are in fact the same type.

But NULL is unknown.  How do you know they are equal if both values are
unknown?

-- 
  Bruce Momjian                        |  http://www.op.net/~candle
  maillist@candle.pha.pa.us            |  (610) 853-3000
  +  If your life is a hard drive,     |  830 Blythe Avenue
  +  Christ can be your backup.        |  Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania 19026