>NULLs are good for the situation where the data in the column is unknown or unspecified. A NULL is neither FALSE, zero (0), nor empty string ("").
>
>It's a toss up as to the use of NULLs. NULLs require special handling. According to the SQL-92 spec, you cannot compare NULLs to anything, even another NULL. So some people refuse to use NULLs. Others have no problem and do make use of them.
>
>Personally, I commonly use NULLs.
>
>Now about the varying columns, I perfer to use varying columns whenever possible. The varchar() column only allocates as mush physical space as requried while the char() column always use the define width. I see this as a performance gain since I might be able to get more data onto a page. More data per page means less I/O.
>
>Anyway, just my opinions.
>
>-Mike

Mike;

Put me down as another user of NULLs. Due to the complexity of forms in my applications, I use characters of fixed length. Otherwise it might be impossible to display or print what is required. Sometimes users get carried away and want to enter more then is allowed within the given space. So I weigh that against how much data can fit on one page and resultant speed issues. As we all know each application requires its own approach. :)

Tom