Null or blank String into database

[bhargav shankar]

Hi ,

i have a jsp form, user is going to fill the form.

if user doesn't fill any filed in the form then what should i insert into database for that filed. is it a blank string or null?

waiting for the answer.

thanks in advance

[Nishan Patel]

Hi Bhargav,

That is depending on you.... No matter what you insert into database..it does not make sense.... blank string or null...

[bhargav shankar]

Thanks nishan,

but is there any use if i insert null into database ?

Which is the better option?

[Nishan Patel]

Just make your flied into database not null= false and that will automatically set null value when user not input any thing..
I recommend insert null instead of blank string.

[Bosun Bello]

What are the requirements of your application. First of all, it looks liek the field is nto required. If that's not the case, then validate on the client to make sure something is entered before allowing form submission. If the field is not a required field, then is the column defined as not null in the database table?

[Paul Sturrock]

Blank strings and null values are different for a reason, they have different logical meanings. Suppose you have a table with a field called "my_string_value" and allow your domain model to represent no value as a zero length string. How do you now query the database for all records where "my_string_value" is not set? You have to use database functions to do this, which can be inefficient and often database specific. If its null you can easily test.

Another thing to consider: in Oracle, you cannot store a zero length string. So if you have the same field you must default it to a single space (or some other suitable default).