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Posted by tlyczko on 09/26/06 16:45
--CELKO-- wrote:
> >> Wouldn't using a default value at least avoid the issues of using NULL per se?? <<
>
> What issues? This is a nominal value, not a numeric value. All your
> default would do in sort like any other string.
I meant the quirks of null, etc. mentioned above.
> Back in the COBOL days, we use to use all 9's for missing values. You
> just held that key down and let it repeat until you got the the end of
> the field of the punch card. The missing values would sort to the end
> of the reports. In FORTRAN, we left the fields un-punched, and they
> were read as all 0's and woudl sort to the top of the reports.
> In fact, if you look at a number of standard codes, such as ICD, they
> follow these convention today.
Thank you also for this suggestion. However, I've concluded that since
the dataset requiring SSN information (and similar items that should
generally not be null) is relatively small, that the required text
entry will be enforced in the front end as strongly as possible. If it
really becomes necessary to use a default value in a text string, I'll
use 0's or 9's.
Thank you, Tom
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