RE: comparing rows

> Mike Mascari <mascarm@mascari.com> writes:
> > Please don't. It seems true that Microsoft has enabled a mode for
> > SQL Server, but the main problem was Access. And Access 95/97 has
> > a huge installed base of users that would not be able to use its
> > automated query tools with PostgreSQL.
> 
> That was what I was afraid of :-(.  Question though: if MS has changed
> the default behavior of their server to be (more) 
> SQL-compliant, aren't
> these folks being forced to update their Access installs anyway?
> Presumably those old versions do not know how to select the 
> non-default
> behavior of SQL Server, so they're gonna be incompatible with newer
> servers despite the nominal presence of a workaround.

Can somebody enlighten me as to *when* Access creates a query that has
"=null" in it?

I just tried to reproduce it, and I failed. 

I type        Access 97SR2    Access 2000SR1
------        ------------    --------------
=NULL            Is Null        =Null
IS NULL        Is Null        Is Null
<>NULL        Is Not Null        Is Not Null
IS NOT NULL        Is Not Null        Is Not Null


Seems to me that Access 2000 *allows* you to write =Null, but if you write
"Is Null" (correct), it will leave it alone. And <>NULL is always converted
to Is Not Null.

I don't have any Access 95 around - but it's so old that hardly anybody
should be using it anymore, right? :-)


Problem is that it's too easy to change your MS SQL Installation to work in
"the old way". Simply have the clients click in a box when they create the
ODBC datasource. The downside of backwards compatibilty is not forcing
people to fix their stuff :-)


//Magnus