I am working in SQL Server 2008. I have a table with many columns that will not have values (at least, for the given situation). So, they will have a NULL value when I query each of them. I would like to instead make these NULL values be empty strings (i.e., ''). What is the best way to achieve this? My current idea is to set a DEFAULT value of '' on each them at the time that the table is created. However, since there are so many of them, this will be very tedious.
You have 2 options:
As you said, give it a default value of empty string for columns you don't want to be null when you create table/add new columns.
When you select nullable columns from the table you can use IsNull(ColumnName,'') which means if ColumnName is null it'll return empty string ('').
Create a table with the same structure as your current table, with a different name, and the default value as ''.
Insert into that table from your original table.
Delete the original table.
Change the name of the new table to the original table name.
Related
I have a column in my source table which has a certain amount of null values. I want to replace those null values by "TV" without creating a new column for it. Is there any way using IFNULL() or is there another solution to it?
Tried this solution but it creates a new column. I don't want that
You can UPDATE your table:
UPDATE `project.dataset.full_of_nulls`
SET c='TV'
WHERE c IS NULL
I've created a table schema and specified that for some attributes, values cannot be null. For one column of this table, values are to be imported from a column of some another table but the problem i am facing is that when i use insert statement to copy values from that column of another table to the column of this newly created table, the attributes of this new column start screaming because they kind of have a constraint on them that while insertion their values cannot be NULL!
How do i cope with this?
One solution is that for other attributes, just for time being, i can state that null values can be accommodated so that i can successfully import values from column of other table and then later on put condition on the remaining attributes that values are not be NULL. But how do i do do this?
You need to convert NULL to some DEFAULT values while importing.
I am not sure which DB engine you are using, in mysql:
Use something like IFNULL(column_name, "").
Reference
You may simply be looking for the default clause. When you define a column, you can specify;
intcol int not null default 0
If the column is not specified for an insert, then it will default to 0. In some databases, if a NULL value is supplied, it will also get the default value.
I have a table with a 'user_id' column. Within that same table I have another data field labeled 'GMID'. Within that GMID column there are some fields that are null, the ones that aren't null have values that match the user_id data field within that row. Is there a way to create a script or query that will update all null fields in the GMID column to match the corresponding data values in the user_id row within that row? Are there any best practices I should follow, different approaches? Thanks in advance for anyone that can help.
Of course there is
UPDATE your_table
SET GMID=user_id
WHERE GMID IS NULL
But you even don't need WHERE if GMID always should be same as user_id.
By the way, why do you need two columns with same data in one table?
Another approach would be using the 'coalesce' function. It will return the first non-null value. This approach does not involve data changes on your table. On a query you can 'select coalesce(GMID, user_id) as GMID ...' it will return the first column that is not null.
Documentation for oracle DB:
http://docs.oracle.com/cd/B28359_01/server.111/b28286/functions023.htm
Update: I just reversed the name of the columns inside the coalesce function...
I want to add or update columns using alter table if i am adding a new column i want show error. I am using the code below
alter table Personal_Details alter columns DOB datetime
if i uncheck the NULL to not NULL then it will shows column does not allow nulls; update fails;
i want to insert the fields in between columns not at end.
Plese fix my bug,
Thanks in advance.
The position of the column in the table declaration has nothing to do with its being NULL or NOT NULL.
If you are adding a column (of any type) which you want to be NOT NULL, i.e. you want to prohibit NULL values in that column, and the table already contains some rows, you must also provide some default value. For example:
ALTER TABLE Personal_Details
ADD COLUMN DOB datetime NOT NULL DEFAULT (GETDATE())
Otherwise the engine will attempt to add that column with NULLs as its values, which will violate the NOT NULL property, and the change, therefore, will be reverted.
Basically, the same applies when you want to set an existing column's NOT NULL property on while the column already contains NULLs. But in this case you must explicitly eliminate the NULLs before the change by either replacing them with values or removing the respective rows.
Source:
ALTER TABLE (Transact-SQL). (The particular section related to your problem is just above this code snippet.)
1)For ur adding column with not null problem
Use
ALTER TABLE Personal_Details ADD COLUMN DOB datetime NULL
Update the DOB column with the required dates and make sure there is no null in the column
then alter the column using
ALTER TABLE Personal_Details ALTER COLUMN DOB datetime not NULL
2)For your column going to the end problem...
you should not be worried...the order in which the columns are arranged doesnt matter...unless u are using a pathetic way of accessing data by column order..in which case again..u should stop accessing it by column order...
If the column order really matters you can change it using design option in the sql management table(rightclick on table >design and drag the column to its required place.)
certain fields in our database contain calculated functions e.g.
select lastname + ', ' + firstname as fullname from contact where contact.id =$contact$
when viewing the field the correct data is shown (i assume this is because when you open the record, the calculation is executed). however, the data is not 'stored' to the field, and therefore is null until the record is opened. is it possible to 'store' the result to the field, making it possible to search the data?
many thanks
james
EDIT
it is not possible for me to create computed_columns using our software.
the above field is a text feild where either 1) a user can manual type in the required data or 2) the database can generate the answer for you (but only whilst you are looking at the record). i know that if I run the following:
Select * from contact where contact.id =$contact$ for xml auto
i only get lastname, firstname - so i know that the fullname field does not retain its information.
If you are using computed columns in sql server, the column is already searchable regardless of whether the calculation result is stored or not. However, if you would like to make it so that the calculation is not run each time you read the row, you can change that under row properties in your Modify Table GUI.
Use the PERSISTED key word when you create the column
From BOL:
PERSISTED
Specifies that the SQL Server Database Engine will physically store the computed values in the table, and update the values when any other columns on which the computed column depends are updated. Marking a computed column as PERSISTED lets you create an index on a computed column that is deterministic, but not precise. For more information, see Creating Indexes on Computed Columns. Any computed columns that are used as partitioning columns of a partitioned table must be explicitly marked PERSISTED. computed_column_expression must be deterministic when PERSISTED is specified.
This isn't the way computed columns work in SQL Server, so I suspect this is something your client application is doing. How are you looking at the data when the value is computed correctly? Does it work when you view the data in SSMS?
Take a look at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms191250(v=SQL.90).aspx to see how to create computed columns properly.
eg.
create table TestTable
(a int,
b int,
c as a + b)
insert into TestTable (a,b)
values (1,2)
select * from TestTable
where c = 3
This query is based on the computed column and it returns the row that's been inserted.
You need to use the PERSISTED option on a column when you use CREATE TABLE e.g.
CREATE TABLE test (col_a INT, col_b INT, col_c AS col_A * col_B PERSISTED)