Constraints: not null + default = useless?

Hi: I have a field that I need a "not null" constraint on. I am inserting fields from an old db that didn't have this constraint. So I thinks 'Put a default value, that'll fix it', like so: request_date date default today not null, So inserting a null should cause the default to be put in the field, right? How come I get sql error 391: cannot insert null into a column? How can I do this? Drop the "not null" and then add it after the conversion prog runs? Roger Pilkey rpilkey@hotmail.com Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Before you buy.

On Fri, 01 Dec 2000 03:31:50 GMT, roger_pilkey@my-deja.com wrote: >Hi: > I have a field that I need a "not null" >constraint on. I am inserting fields from an old >db that didn't have this constraint. So I >thinks 'Put a default value, that'll fix it', >like so: > > request_date date default today not null, > >So inserting a null should cause the default to >be put in the field, right? Wrong > How come I get sql error 391: cannot insert null into a column? Because column is not null > How can I do this? DEFAULT means that default value will be inserted in column when the column is not mentioned in INSERT statement. Example: create table requests (request_id serial, request_num integer not null, request_date date default today not null); insert into requests(request_id,request_num) values (0,123); Today's date will be inserted in request_date field. > Drop the "not null" and then add it after the conversion prog runs? No > >Roger Pilkey >rpilkey@hotmail.com > > >Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ >Before you buy.