Don't take my word for it! Test! If you see spaces in the exported file, check that the source columns are really NULL and not a spece.
Dennis McGrath ________________________________ From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Rachael Malberg Sent: Monday, March 31, 2008 1:26 PM To: RBASE-L Mailing List Subject: [RBASE-L] - Re: How do I make NULL truly NULL? This is new to me and glad Matt brought it to my attention because I too am getting ready to submit files where a null, needs to be a null. So Dennis just to clarify if I issue a set NULL=' ' (which is: single-quote space single-quote) then export the data to a csv my null fields will be: ,, (which is: comma comma with no space)? ----- Original Message ----- From: Dennis McGrath<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: RBASE-L Mailing List<mailto:[email protected]> Sent: Monday, March 31, 2008 1:10 PM Subject: [RBASE-L] - Re: How do I make NULL truly NULL? Matt, Have you tried exporting as ASCII when NULL = ' ' (a space) Try it and look at the generated file. There will be no spaces between the commas for a NULL value. This is exactly what you need. Here are my rules for the use of the NULL setting: ALWAYS have NULL='-0-' EXCEPT: When exporting data as ASCII, CSV, etc. When editing with a form When printing a report If you do not have NULL='-0-' and you edit tables manually, you will never get a null entered in text fields. Try as you might, the value will always be a space. The exact opposite is true in forms. If null='-0-' not only will your forms look ugly, but you won't know the difference between NULL and '-0-' When Unloading data and structure from RBASE, ALWAYS set NULL='-0-' RBASE has worked like this as long as I can remember. Dennis McGrath ________________________________ From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Matthew Burke Sent: Monday, March 31, 2008 12:46 PM To: RBASE-L Mailing List Subject: [RBASE-L] - Re: How do I make NULL truly NULL? Well here's my problem with how it seems to work. I understand the need to visually separate null from a blank space within R:Base. So sure, when I open a table within R:Base show me some kind of value, -0- will do just fine. However when I export data from my table to say... and basic csv text file. That data should not be represented by a -0-, but nothing at all, in my opinion. That way if I want to use the data in another database, or as in this case a third party wants to use it in another database, they can do so without the other database having to understand that -0- = null. I thought about setting NULL = ' ' but even that wouldn't work, because even then the third party database would still have to know that null = ' '. I'm certainly no database guru and I really appreciate all the help I receive from you guys and gals. My only other database experience lies with MySQL and it's always been my understanding that null = nothing at all. So I guess ultimately I don't really need to know why R:Base uses text representation for null, but I need to know if there is a solution I can use to make null = nothing at all or empty. Basically if 'empty' was or possibly is a valid command, the logic I want to accomplish is R> set null empty. Is this possible? To further explain what I want, here's an example. Let's say we have a table with one row containing three fields of data; a, b, and c. Field b is null in this case. Something like this. a b c 1 text -0- text As my R:Base is setup now, if I were to export this data to a text file (csv) I get: "text","-0- ","text" The end result text file (csv) I want to achieve is: "text","","text" Thanks again for all your help with my novice problems/questions. Matthew Burke Pioneer Bank - IT Department Computer Systems Technician 505-627-4415 This email contains PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL information intended only for the use of the addressee(s) named above. If you are not the intended recipient of this email, or the employee or agent responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination or copying of this email is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please notify us by replying to this email and delete this email from your records. Thank you for your cooperation.
