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To Allow Nulls or Not
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Forum:
Microsoft SQL Server
Category:
Database design
Title:
To Allow Nulls or Not
Miscellaneous
Thread ID:
00756059
Message ID:
00756059
Views:
31
I am a newbie to SQL Server.

I read a book "Teach Yourself Msft Sql Server 7 in 24 Hours" which in the section on creating tables says "Make sure that you remove the checkmark from the Allow Null option, which is selected by default."

If I do so then on the INSERT to the table I have to specify entry in every field. User often time leave not important field blank. Like Address Line 2, or Contract Name, etc. Then, I would have to make sure that INSERT expression has all fields and set the fields in which user didn't make entry to empty string (""). If tables would allow for NULLS in the fields, I would not have to do it.

What is generally a better design, allow NULLS or not? What are the reasons the book does not like NULLs (because they do not explain)?

TIA for any suggestions or explanations.

Dmitry
"The creative process is nothing but a series of crises." Isaac Bashevis Singer
"My experience is that as soon as people are old enough to know better, they don't know anything at all." Oscar Wilde
"If a nation values anything more than freedom, it will lose its freedom; and the irony of it is that if it is comfort or money that it values more, it will lose that too." W.Somerset Maugham
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