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Subject:RE: Blank vs. space (not null) from a database From:"Lauren" <lt34 -at- csus -dot- edu> To:"'Chris Borokowski'" <athloi -at- yahoo -dot- com>, <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Wed, 9 May 2007 10:00:39 -0700
I use "empty." Most of the database users and other people that use data
understand the concept of an "empty" field. "Empty" requires quotes or
something to preserve the data, "null" just requires a field separator, and
"blank" is not a term that I use to describe data.
Lauren
> -----Original Message-----
> From: techwr-l-bounces+lt34=csus -dot- edu -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+lt34=csus -dot- edu -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On
> Behalf Of Chris Borokowski
> Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2007 8:37 AM
> To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> Subject: Re: Blank vs. space (not null) from a database
>
> I may be misinterpreting your question, but why not
> "when some_field is empty" or "when the contents of
> some_field is empty" the whatever will do whatever.
>
> --- Jill Thompson-Weintraub <jilltwfl -at- hotmail -dot- com>
> wrote:
>
> > When referring to the empty contents of a field
> > extracted from a database (the field is not a null),
> > is it preferable to write, "... when the contents of
> > some_field is blank, [the whatever will do
> > something]", or "... when the contents of some_field
> > is a space, [the whatever will do something]".
> >
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