Re: Select Statement Q!!!

This is the way it's supposed to work. Basically, null means "I don't know what the value is". Since the value is unknown, it might = 'A' or it might not. Because of that, the query returns only those rows for which fld1 has a non-null value that is not equal to 'A'. For further information, check out C.J. Date's _A Guide to the SQL Standard_ or his _Relational Database: Selected Writings_. Mark Collins mcollins@us.dhl.com The problem lies in how easily and dangerously we forget that manipulating things is not the same as understanding them. ------------------------ From: "Pinto, Raymond" <PINTOR@valuerx.com> Subject: Select Statement Q!!! Date: Tue, 3 Mar 1998 17:17:41 -0600 To: "'informix-list@iiug.org'" <informix-list@iiug.org> Q. I have a query select count(*) from table_a where fld1 != 'A' I get a count = 7000 fld1 is char(1) There are 100000 records with fld1 = null This query does not count the null values >From what I can see , Informix does not count the null values. Is this a bug or is this the way it is supposed to work Thanks in advance Raymond Pinto pinto@valuerx.com ---------------End of Original Message-----------------