Update Procedure "N/A" to Empty String on MS Access

Question

Hello, I currently have a table in MS Access called Total Registrants. How can I insert string "N/A" into the cells of the column "EventRegCompany" where there are blank cells? I created an update query

UPDATE Test SET Test.eventRegCompany = "N/A" WHERE (((Test.eventRegCompany)=NULL)); Thanks!

Answer 1

I figured it out UPDATE Test SET Test.eventRegCompany = "N/A" WHERE (((Test.eventRegCompany) IS NULL));

Answer 2

You've found the SQL you need, but nobody has provided the explanation of why it works that way.

Null is a special entity -- it is never equal to anything at all because what it really means is "unknown value." Since the values are unknown, we can't say that any two of them are equal, except in their status of being Null (hence "Is Null").

For Access/Jet/ACE-specific discussions of Nulls, see Allen Brown's nice articles:

• Nulls: Do I Need Them?
• Common Errors with Null

The concepts explained there apply not just to Access/Jet/ACE and it's as clear an explanation as I'm aware of.