RE: IN() question

Thanks Tim. I thought so.

Lisa

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tim Gorman [SMTP:Tim_at_SageLogix.com]
> Sent: Friday, May 03, 2002 8:33 PM
> To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L
> Subject: Re: IN() question
>
> In any equivalence operation (which includes non-equivalence, too), NULL
> never returns TRUE -- it just returns NULL which non-TRUE has the same
> result as FALSE. Only IS and IS NOT operators can be used to evaluate
> NULLs...
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> To: "Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L" <ORACLE-L_at_fatcity.com>
> Sent: Friday, May 03, 2002 5:43 PM
>
>
> > Slap me if this is a dumb question.
> >
> > Here's my pay methods
> >
> > SQL> SELECT ASCII(PAY_METHOD), PAY_METHOD, COUNT(*)
> > 2 FROM LEISURE_PLAN_MASTER_TEMP
> > 3 WHERE MEMBERSHIP_CLASS = 'D'
> > 4 GROUP BY PAY_METHOD;
> >
> > ASCII(PAY_METHOD) P COUNT(*)
> > ----------------- - ----------
> > 67 C 42955
> > 80 P 34373
> > 11786
> >
> > I expected this statement to return the 11,786 records that have null
> > values. However, it doesn't:
> >
> > SQL> SELECT COUNT(*)
> > 2 from leisure_plan_master_temp
> > 3 where membership_class = 'D'
> > 4 AND pay_METHOD NOT IN ('C','P');
> >
> > COUNT(*)
> > ----------
> > 0
> >
> > But when I do this, I get the answer I expect.
> >
> > SQL> SELECT COUNT(*)
> > 2 from leisure_plan_master_temp
> > 3 where membership_class = 'D'
> > 4 AND PAY_METHOD IS NULL;
> >
> > COUNT(*)
> > ----------
> > 11786
> >
> > This isn't exactly correct. There may be other values in this field,
> and
> if
> > they show up I need to include them, not just records where this field
> is
> > null. What am I missing? Is it because the value is NULL that Oracle
> > excludes it from the IN() statement, because of the classic definition
> of
> > NULL (can't be defined, therefore can't be sure it's not a C or a P)?
> >
> > This is easy enough to fix, I'll change my data load to populate the
> null
> > values with my own code. But still? Have I got the WHY correct?
> >
> > Thanks for any light someone can shed on this stupid question.
> >
> > Lisa Koivu
> > Oracle Database Monkey Mama
> > Fairfield Resorts, Inc.
> > 5259 Coconut Creek Parkway
> > Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA 33063
> >
> >
> > --
> > Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com
> > --
> > Author: Koivu, Lisa
> > INET: lisa.koivu_at_efairfield.com
> >
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> --
> Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com
> --
> Author: Tim Gorman
> INET: Tim_at_SageLogix.com
>
> Fat City Network Services -- (858) 538-5051 FAX: (858) 538-5051
> San Diego, California -- Public Internet access / Mailing Lists
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-- 
Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com
-- 
Author: Koivu, Lisa
  INET: lisa.koivu_at_efairfield.com

Fat City Network Services    -- (858) 538-5051  FAX: (858) 538-5051
San Diego, California        -- Public Internet access / Mailing Lists
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