Handling MySQL NULL Values
We have seen the SQL SELECT command along with the WHERE clause to fetch data from a MySQL table, but when we try to give a condition, which compares the field or the column value to NULL, it does not work properly.
To handle such a situation, MySQL provides three operators −
· IS NULL − This operator returns true, if the column value is NULL.
· IS NOT NULL − This operator returns true, if the column value is not NULL.
· <=> − This operator compares values, which (unlike the = operator) is true even for two NULL values.
The conditions involving NULL are special. You cannot use = NULL or != NULLto look for NULL values in columns. Such comparisons always fail because it is impossible to tell whether they are true or not. Sometimes, even NULL = NULL fails.
To look for columns that are or are not NULL, use IS NULL or IS NOT NULL.
Using NULL values at the Command Prompt
Assume that there is a table called tcount_tbl in the TUTORIALS database and it contains two columns namely tutorial_author and tutorial_count, where a NULL tutorial_count indicates that the value is unknown.
Example
Try the following examples −
root@host# mysql -u root -p password;
Enter password:*******
mysql> use TUTORIALS;
Database changed
mysql> create table tcount_tbl
-> (
-> tutorial_author varchar(40) NOT NULL,
-> tutorial_count INT
-> );
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.05 sec)
mysql> INSERT INTO tcount_tbl
-> (tutorial_author, tutorial_count) values ('mahran', 20);
mysql> INSERT INTO tcount_tbl
-> (tutorial_author, tutorial_count) values ('mahnaz', NULL);
mysql> INSERT INTO tcount_tbl
-> (tutorial_author, tutorial_count) values ('Jen', NULL);
mysql> INSERT INTO tcount_tbl
-> (tutorial_author, tutorial_count) values ('Gill', 20);
mysql> SELECT * from tcount_tbl;
+-----------------+----------------+
| tutorial_author | tutorial_count |
+-----------------+----------------+
| mahran | 20 |
| mahnaz | NULL |
| Jen | NULL |
| Gill | 20 |
+-----------------+----------------+
4 rows in set (0.00 sec)
mysql>
You can see that = and != do not work with NULL values as follows −
mysql> SELECT * FROM tcount_tbl WHERE tutorial_count = NULL;
Empty set (0.00 sec)
mysql> SELECT * FROM tcount_tbl WHERE tutorial_count != NULL;
Empty set (0.01 sec)
To find the records where the tutorial_count column is or is not NULL, the queries should be written as shown in the following program.
mysql> SELECT * FROM tcount_tbl
-> WHERE tutorial_count IS NULL;
+-----------------+----------------+
| tutorial_author | tutorial_count |
+-----------------+----------------+
| mahnaz | NULL |
| Jen | NULL |
+-----------------+----------------+
2 rows in set (0.00 sec)
mysql> SELECT * from tcount_tbl
-> WHERE tutorial_count IS NOT NULL;
+-----------------+----------------+
| tutorial_author | tutorial_count |
+-----------------+----------------+
| mahran | 20 |
| Gill | 20 |
+-----------------+----------------+
2 rows in set (0.00 sec)
Handling NULL Values in a PHP Script
You can use the if...else condition to prepare a query based on the NULL value.
Example
The following example takes the tutorial_count from outside and then compares it with the value available in the table.
<?php
$dbhost = 'localhost:3036';
$dbuser = 'root';
$dbpass = 'rootpassword';
$conn = mysql_connect($dbhost, $dbuser, $dbpass);
if(! $conn ) {
die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error());
}
if( isset($tutorial_count )) {
$sql = 'SELECT tutorial_author, tutorial_count
FROM tcount_tbl
WHERE tutorial_count = $tutorial_count';
} else {
$sql = 'SELECT tutorial_author, tutorial_count
FROM tcount_tbl
WHERE tutorial_count IS $tutorial_count';
}
mysql_select_db('TUTORIALS');
$retval = mysql_query( $sql, $conn );
if(! $retval ) {
die('Could not get data: ' . mysql_error());
}
while($row = mysql_fetch_array($retval, MYSQL_ASSOC)) {
echo "Author:{$row['tutorial_author']} <br> ".
"Count: {$row['tutorial_count']} <br> ".
"--------------------------------<br>";
}
echo "Fetched data successfully\n";
mysql_close($conn);
?>