On columns with default ___ not null

Why doesn't this work? I create a table with a column spec something like the following: part_number char(12) default " " not null, The description from the SQL Reference manual suggests that the default will be put into the column on an insert if I don't specify anything but this is not always what happens. In an ISQL form I get the message "column .. does not allow nulls". A similar thing happens in ESQL/C if the variable for the column is NULL. In ISQL Query it does work if I don't mention the part_number column in an insert statement but this isn't an option in an ISQL form which needs to display the column field. Is this a bug or feature? Ken Miles HP Vancouver Division kenm@vcd.hp.com