How do you store an empty integer vs storing zero

Question

Im sure I am missing something here, but here goes anyway.

I am having an issue with my SQLite database, when accessing an integer field which has not been set, I am getting 0 in return. This is documented behaviour, although is not helping me as I dont know whether the the cell is empty of if indeed is is supposed to be zero.

My one idea was to write NULL into the field if it is empty. Will that work? Is there another way to do this?

I don't use SQLite, but I know other DBs have something like DBNull to check for NULL value vs. actual value (assumes nullable column) — crashmstr, Feb 26 '14 at 19:39
@Stoff81 how is this different? You first check the data to see if it's null or not. Then you'll know if the `0` is really a `0`. — moswald, Feb 26 '14 at 20:03

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 26 '14 at 19:32

2

using NULL values to signal that the value hasn't been set is fairly standard. you might want to use a DEFAULT value for the column - and have that default be NULL.

answered Feb 26 '14 at 19:32

blueberryfields

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How do you store an empty integer vs storing zero

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