Null or 0

[lefty2cox]

I'm building a table. Some of the fields will store numbers. Those numbers will store foreign keys. I was planning on using forms with drop downs to provide the values from related tables.

I can't figure out if I should have default values of null or 0 in these fields.



My head is about to explode.

[Micron]

With all the fields that have number data type, those numbers are foreign keys and will be used in the combo boxes? Then the answer is no default.

[ItsMe]

I will often have foreign keys default to 0 at the table level. Then, when I do data validation, I check for = 0. Or, in a query, I can use > 0.

[lefty2cox]

Am I correct in assuming that no default would have null as a value? I was thinking that I would like that because I could use error handling in any VBA to deal with it. Am I not thinking correctly?

[ItsMe]

If you do not use a default and you do not assign a value, it will be Null. You can test for Null just as easy as you can test for 0. There may be an instance, maybe if you are using the Count() function, where an Empty field would require extra work for validation. I have always been in the habit of assigning values to my fields as soon as possible.