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Understanding Null Values

A database use null value to represent a unknown value. A null value is not a blank string. A null value means the value for the column is unknown. When you select a column that contains a null value, you see nothing in that column. SQL> -- create demo table SQL> create table Employee(   2    ID                 VARCHAR2(4 BYTE)         NOT NULL,   3    First_Name         VARCHAR2(10 BYTE),   4    Last_Name          VARCHAR2(10 BYTE),   5    Start_Date         DATE,   6    End_Date           DATE,   7    Salary             Number(8,2),   8    City               VARCHAR2(10 BYTE),   9    Description        VARCHAR2(15 BYTE)  10  )  11  / Table created. SQL> SQL> -- prepare data SQL> insert into Employee(ID,  First_Name, Last_Name, Start_Date,                     End_Date,                       Salary,  City,       Description)   2               values ('01','Jason',    'Martin',  to_date('19960725','YYYYMMDD'), to_date('20060725','YYYYMMDD'), 1234.56, 'Toronto',  'Programmer')   3  / 1 row created. SQL> insert into Employee(ID,  First_Name, Last_Name, Start_Date,                     End_Date,                       Salary,  City,       Description)   2                values('02','Alison',   'Mathews', to_date('19760321','YYYYMMDD'), to_date('19860221','YYYYMMDD'), 6661.78, 'Vancouver','Tester')   3  / 1 row created. SQL> insert into Employee(ID,  First_Name, Last_Name, Start_Date,                     End_Date,                       Salary,  City,       Description)   2                values('03','James',    'Smith',   to_date('19781212','YYYYMMDD'), to_date('19900315','YYYYMMDD'), 6544.78, 'Vancouver','Tester')   3  / 1 row created. SQL> insert into Employee(ID,  First_Name, Last_Name, Start_Date,                     End_Date,                       Salary,  City,       Description)   2                values('04','Celia',    'Rice',    to_date('19821024','YYYYMMDD'), to_date('19990421','YYYYMMDD'), 2344.78, 'Vancouver','Manager')   3  / 1 row created. SQL> insert into Employee(ID,  First_Name, Last_Name, Start_Date,                     End_Date,                       Salary,  City,       Description)   2                values('05','Robert',   'Black',   to_date('19840115','YYYYMMDD'), to_date('19980808','YYYYMMDD'), 2334.78, 'Vancouver','Tester')   3  / 1 row created. SQL> insert into Employee(ID,  First_Name, Last_Name, Start_Date,                     End_Date,                       Salary, City,        Description)   2                values('06','Linda',    'Green',   to_date('19870730','YYYYMMDD'), to_date('19960104','YYYYMMDD'), 4322.78,'New York',  'Tester')   3  / 1 row created. SQL> insert into Employee(ID,  First_Name, Last_Name, Start_Date,                     End_Date,                       Salary, City,        Description)   2                values('07','David',    'Larry',   to_date('19901231','YYYYMMDD'), to_date('19980212','YYYYMMDD'), 7897.78,'New York',  'Manager')   3  / 1 row created. SQL> insert into Employee(ID,  First_Name, Last_Name, Start_Date,                     End_Date,                       Salary, City,        Description)   2                values('08',NULL,    'Cat',     to_date('19960917','YYYYMMDD'), to_date('20020415','YYYYMMDD'), 1232.78,'Vancouver', 'Tester')   3  / 1 row created. SQL> SQL> -- display data in the table SQL> select first_name from Employee   2  / FIRST_NAME ---------- Jason Alison James Celia Robert Linda David 8 rows selected. SQL> SQL> -- clean the table SQL> drop table Employee   2  / Table dropped.