Thread

Re: [BUGS] General Bug Report: GROUP BY with NULL not done properly(Oracle8& DB/2 do this completely different)

secret <secret@kearneydev.com> — 1999-07-08T14:00:58Z

Bruce Momjian wrote:

> Looks like this is fixed in 6.5.
>
>         test=> SELECT a,sum(b) FROM z GROUP BY a;
>         a|sum
>         -+---
>         1|  6
>          |  4
>         (2 rows)
>
> >
> > ============================================================================
> >                         POSTGRESQL BUG REPORT TEMPLATE
> > ============================================================================
> >
> >
> > Your name               :
> > Your email address      : secret@kearneydev.com
> >
> > Category                : runtime: back-end: SQL
> > Severity                : non-critical
> >
> > Summary: GROUP BY with NULL not done properly(Oracle8 & DB/2 do this completely different)
> >
> > System Configuration
> > --------------------
> >   Operating System   : Linux 2.2.7 Redhat 5.2
> >
> >   PostgreSQL version : 6.4.2
> >
> >   Compiler used      : 2.7.2.3
> >
> > Hardware:
> > ---------
> > Linux tau.kearneydev.com 2.2.7 #3 Thu Apr 29 10:10:41 EDT 1999 i686 unknown
> >
> > Versions of other tools:
> > ------------------------
> >
> >
> > --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Problem Description:
> > --------------------
> > The appearance of NULL in a table where a GROUP BY clause is
> > used causes the behavior of returning 1 line for every NULL.
> > Both Oracle8 and DB/2 perform this as I would expect. IE
> > a,b
> > 1,1
> > 1,2
> > NULL,1
> > NULL,2
> >
> > SELECT a,sum(b) GROUP BY a returns on Postgres:
> > 1,3
> > NULL,1
> > NULL,2
> >
> > On Oracle8, DB/2, etc.:
> > 1,3
> > NULL,3
> >
> > Cut&paste from Oracle8:
> > SQL> select * from z;
> >
> >         A         B
> > --------- ---------
> >         1         1
> >         1         2
> >                   5
> >                  10
> >
> > SQL> select a,sum(b) from z group by a;
> >
> >         A    SUM(B)
> > --------- ---------
> >         1         3
> >                  15
> >
> > SQL>
> >
> > --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Test Case:
> > ----------
> > CREATE TABLE z(a int4,b int4);
> > INSERT INTO z values (1,2);
> > INSERT INTO z VALUES (1,1);
> > INSERT INTO z(b) VALUES (1);
> > INSERT INTO z(b) VALUES (2);
> > SELECT a,sum(b) FROM z GROUP BY a;
> >
> >
> > --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Solution:
> > ---------
> > For whatever reason I've observed many times that NULL<>NULL
> > under PostgreSQL, I've had to include many clauses in my
> > SQL statements to make up for this, perhaps if this was
> > corrected it would function properly.
> >
> > --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >
> >
>
> --
>   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

    It works fine with 1 variable, try it with 2.  6.4.2 worked fine for 1, it's just when you
GROUP BY 2 variables that contain NULLs issues start appearing.(Another reason it looks like a
bug, not a feature :))

David Secret
MIS Director
Kearney Development Co., Inc.