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NOT IN and NULL

October 31st, 2007
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I posted about Unexpected results in June 2005. Here are more results from NOT IN and NULL

select * from dual
WHERE (1) NOT IN (SELECT NULL FROM DUAL);
no rows selected


select * from dual
WHERE (1,1) NOT IN (SELECT NULL,1 FROM DUAL);
no rows selected

However, and this surprised me,
select * from dual
WHERE (1,1) NOT IN (SELECT NULL,2 FROM DUAL);

D
-
X

:roll:

Probably the expression
where (a,b) not in (select c,d from t)
is translated into
where (a!=c or b!=d) — first row of t
and (a!=c or b!=d) — second row of t
– and …

Blogroll, sql

  1. Quique
    October 31st, 2007 at 13:00 | #1
    Reply | Quote

    Any comparison between null and another value will return false, unless the operators are used is null or is not null

  2. Laurent Schneider
    October 31st, 2007 at 15:06 | #2
    Reply | Quote

    the point is :

    (1,1) NOT IN (SELECT NULL,2 FROM DUAL);

    returns TRUE

    also note that Any comparison between null and another value will return false is inaccurate.

    
begin
  case (1=null) 
    when TRUE then 
      dbms_output.put_line('true');
    when FALSE then 
      dbms_output.put_line('false'); 
    else 
      dbms_output.put_line('Not TRUE and not FALSE'); 
  end case;
end;
/

Not TRUE and not FALSE

  3. ittichai
    October 31st, 2007 at 17:18 | #3
    Reply | Quote

    My 2-cent is that any comparison with NULL actually does not yield anything simply because it could not be done. A NULL (not defined) cannot be compared or calculated. I see NULL as a state. That’s why it can be only be used with IS or IS NOT.

    Laurent, I agree with your assumption. Since the first comparison a!=c is not comparable due to value NULL is involved, so, I assume, it is ignored. However, the second comparison b!=d return TRUE, and that counts.

    Thanks for provoking our thinking. :-)

  4. Chris
    November 1st, 2007 at 00:08 | #4
    Reply | Quote

    Running it through explain plan comes up with interesting filter predicates (10.2.0.3):

    1 - filter( NOT EXISTS (SELECT /*+ */ 0 FROM “DUAL” “DUAL” WHERE
    NULL IS NOT NULL))
    3 - filter(NULL IS NOT NULL)

  5. Laurent Schneider
    November 1st, 2007 at 10:46 | #5
    Reply | Quote

    Thanks for the hint of looking at the explain plan filter.

    If you try with something else than litteral, you would get a LNNVL

    
SQL> select /*+ RULE */ * from t1 where (a,b) not in (select c,d from t2);

no rows selected

Execution Plan
----------------------------------------------------------
Plan hash value: 3597920939

-----------------------------------
| Id  | Operation          | Name |
-----------------------------------
|   0 | SELECT STATEMENT   |      |
|*  1 |  FILTER            |      |
|   2 |   TABLE ACCESS FULL| T1   |
|*  3 |   TABLE ACCESS FULL| T2   |
-----------------------------------

Predicate Information (identified by operation id):
---------------------------------------------------

   1 - filter( NOT EXISTS (SELECT 0 FROM "T2" "T2" WHERE
              LNNVL("D"<>:B1) AND LNNVL("C"<>:B2)))
   3 - filter(LNNVL("D"<>:B1) AND LNNVL("C"<>:B2))

Note
-----
   - rule based optimizer used (consider using cbo)

  6. Laurent Schneider
    November 7th, 2007 at 10:42 | #6
    Reply | Quote

    one more plan

    
var a number
var b number
var w number
var x number
var y number
var z number
select * from dual where (:a,:b) not in ((:w,:x),(:y,:z));

Predicate Information (identified by operation id):
---------------------------------------------------

   1 - filter((:Z<>B OR :Y<>A) AND (:X<>:B OR :W<>:A))

  7. Hongfa Wu
    June 25th, 2008 at 22:47 | #7
    Reply | Quote

    select * from dual
    WHERE (1) NOT IN (SELECT NULL FROM DUAL);

    (1) NOT IN (SELECT NULL FROM DUAL)
    NOT ( 1 IN (SELECT NULL FROM DUAL))
    NOT (1=NULL)
    NOT (NULL)
    NULL
    So return now rows as only True returning rows.

    select * from dual
    WHERE (1,1) NOT IN (SELECT NULL,1 FROM DUAL);

    (1,1) NOT IN (SELECT NULL,1 FROM DUAL)
    NOT ((1,1) IN (SELECT NULL,1 FROM DUAL))
    NOT (1=NULL AND 1=1)
    NOT (NULL AND TRUE)
    NOT (NULL)
    NULL
    So return now rows as only True returning rows.

    select * from dual
    WHERE (1,1) NOT IN (SELECT NULL,2 FROM DUAL);

    (1,1) NOT IN (SELECT NULL,2 FROM DUAL)
    NOT ((1,1) IN (SELECT NULL,2 FROM DUAL))
    NOT (1=NULL AND 1=2)
    NOT (NULL AND FALSE)
    NOT (FALSE)
    TRUE
    So return rows.

    The above analysis is based on the fact that:
    NULL AND TRUE = NULL (1)
    NULL AND FALSE=FALSE (2)
    NULL OR TRUE=TRUE (3)
    NULL OR FALSE=NULL (4)

    Why is that?
    For ‘AND’ condition, the whole expression is TRUE only if all of them are TRUE, otherwise if any of them is FALSE, the whole expression will be FALSE, otherwise is NULL.
    So, TRUE AND TRUE AND TRUE = TRUE
    TRUE AND FALSE AND NULL = FALSE
    TRUE AND NULL AND FALSE = FALSE
    TRUE AND NULL AND NULL = NULL
    Examples:
    /*TRUE AND TRUE AND TRUE = TRUE*/
    SELECT * FROM DUAL
    WHERE (1=1) AND (1=1) AND (1=1);
    –return 1 row
    /*TRUE AND FALSE AND NULL = FALSE*/
    SELECT * FROM DUAL
    WHERE (1=1) AND (1=2) AND (1=NULL);
    –return no row

    /*Not(TRUE AND FALSE AND NULL) = NOT (FALSE)=TRUE*/
    SELECT * FROM DUAL
    WHERE NOT((1=1) AND (1=2) AND (1=NULL));
    –return 1 row

    /*TRUE AND NULL AND FALSE = FALSE*/
    SELECT * FROM DUAL
    WHERE (1=1) AND (1=null) AND (1=2);
    –return no row

    /*NOT(TRUE AND NULL AND FALSE) = NOT(FALSE)=TRUE*/
    SELECT * FROM DUAL
    WHERE NOT((1=1) AND (1=null) AND (1=2));
    –return 1 row

    /*NOT(TRUE AND NULL AND NULL) = NOT(NULL)=NULL*/
    SELECT * FROM DUAL
    WHERE NOT((1=1) AND (1=null) AND (1=null));
    –return no row

    For ‘OR’ condition, the whole expression is FALSE if any of them is FALSE, otherwise if all of them is TRUE, the whole expression is TRUE, otherwise is NULL.
    So, TRUE OR FALSE OR NULL =FALSE
    FALSE OR TRUE OR NULL = FALSE
    TRUE OR NULL OR TRUE = NULL
    TRUE OR TRUE OR TRUE = TRUE

    For examples:
    /*FALSE OR FALSE OR FALSE = FALSE*/
    SELECT * FROM DUAL
    WHERE (1=2) OR (1=2) OR (1=2);
    –return no row

    /*NOT(FALSE OR FALSE OR FALSE) = NOT(FALSE)=TRUE*/
    SELECT * FROM DUAL
    WHERE NOT((1=2) OR (1=2) OR (1=2));
    –return 1 row

    /*FALSE OR TRUE OR NULL = TRUE*/
    SELECT * FROM DUAL
    WHERE (1=2) OR (1=1) OR (1=NULL);
    –return 1 row

    /*FALSE OR NULL OR TRUE = TRUE*/
    SELECT * FROM DUAL
    WHERE (1=2) OR (1=NULL) OR (1=1);
    –return 1 row

    /*FALSE OR NULL OR NULL = NULL*/
    SELECT * FROM DUAL
    WHERE (1=2) OR (1=null) OR (1=null);
    –return no row

    /*NOT(FALSE OR NULL OR NULL) = NOT(NULL)=NULL*/
    SELECT * FROM DUAL
    WHERE NOT((1=2) OR (1=null) OR (1=null));
    –return no row

    Why is that? Because

  8. Hongfa Wu
    June 25th, 2008 at 23:20 | #8
    Reply | Quote

    Please ignore previous post, this one is correct

    ———————————————–
    select * from dual
    WHERE (1) NOT IN (SELECT NULL FROM DUAL);

    /*(1) NOT IN (SELECT NULL FROM DUAL)
    NOT ( 1 IN (SELECT NULL FROM DUAL))
    NOT (1=NULL)
    NOT (NULL)
    NULL
    So return now rows as only True returning rows.*/

    select * from dual
    WHERE (1,1) NOT IN (SELECT NULL,1 FROM DUAL);

    /*(1,1) NOT IN (SELECT NULL,1 FROM DUAL)
    NOT ((1,1) IN (SELECT NULL,1 FROM DUAL))
    NOT (1=NULL AND 1=1)
    NOT (NULL AND TRUE)
    NOT (NULL)
    NULL
    So return now rows as only True returning rows.*/

    select * from dual
    WHERE (1,1) NOT IN (SELECT NULL,2 FROM DUAL);

    /*(1,1) NOT IN (SELECT NULL,2 FROM DUAL)
    NOT ((1,1) IN (SELECT NULL,2 FROM DUAL))
    NOT (1=NULL AND 1=2)
    NOT (NULL AND FALSE)
    NOT (FALSE)
    TRUE
    So return rows.*/

    /*The above analysis is based on the fact that:
    NULL AND TRUE = NULL (1)
    NULL AND FALSE=FALSE (2)
    NULL OR TRUE=TRUE (3)
    NULL OR FALSE=NULL (4)*/

    /*Why is that? Becuase:
    For ‘AND’ condition, the whole expression is TRUE only if all of them are TRUE,
    otherwise if any of them is FALSE, the whole expression will be FALSE, otherwise is NULL.

    TRUE AND TRUE AND TRUE = TRUE
    TRUE AND FALSE AND NULL = FALSE
    TRUE AND NULL AND FALSE = FALSE
    TRUE AND NULL AND NULL = NULL*/

    –Examples:

    /*TRUE AND TRUE AND TRUE = TRUE*/
    SELECT * FROM DUAL
    WHERE (1=1) AND (1=1) AND (1=1);
    –return 1 row
    /*TRUE AND FALSE AND NULL = FALSE*/
    SELECT * FROM DUAL
    WHERE (1=1) AND (1=2) AND (1=NULL);
    –return no row

    /*Not(TRUE AND FALSE AND NULL) = NOT (FALSE)=TRUE*/
    SELECT * FROM DUAL
    WHERE NOT((1=1) AND (1=2) AND (1=NULL));
    –return 1 row

    /*TRUE AND NULL AND FALSE = FALSE*/
    SELECT * FROM DUAL
    WHERE (1=1) AND (1=null) AND (1=2);
    –return no row

    /*NOT(TRUE AND NULL AND FALSE) = NOT(FALSE)=TRUE*/
    SELECT * FROM DUAL
    WHERE NOT((1=1) AND (1=null) AND (1=2));
    –return 1 row

    /*NOT(TRUE AND NULL AND NULL) = NOT(NULL)=NULL*/
    SELECT * FROM DUAL
    WHERE NOT((1=1) AND (1=null) AND (1=null));
    –return no row

    /*For ‘OR’ condition, the whole expression is FALSE if all of them are FALSE,
    otherwise if any of them is TRUE, the whole expression is TRUE, otherwise is NULL.

    FALSE OR FALSE OR FALSE = FALSE
    FALSE OR TRUE OR NULL = TRUE
    FALSE OR NULL OR TRUE = TRUE
    FALSE OR NULL OR NULL = NULL*/

    –For examples:
    /*FALSE OR FALSE OR FALSE = FALSE*/
    SELECT * FROM DUAL
    WHERE (1=2) OR (1=2) OR (1=2);
    –return no row

    /*NOT(FALSE OR FALSE OR FALSE) = NOT(FALSE)=TRUE*/
    SELECT * FROM DUAL
    WHERE NOT((1=2) OR (1=2) OR (1=2));
    –return 1 row

    /*FALSE OR TRUE OR NULL = TRUE*/
    SELECT * FROM DUAL
    WHERE (1=2) OR (1=1) OR (1=NULL);
    –return 1 row

    /*FALSE OR NULL OR TRUE = TRUE*/
    SELECT * FROM DUAL
    WHERE (1=2) OR (1=NULL) OR (1=1);
    –return 1 row

    /*FALSE OR NULL OR NULL = NULL*/
    SELECT * FROM DUAL
    WHERE (1=2) OR (1=null) OR (1=null);
    –return no row

    /*NOT(FALSE OR NULL OR NULL) = NOT(NULL)=NULL*/
    SELECT * FROM DUAL
    WHERE NOT((1=2) OR (1=null) OR (1=null));
    –return no row

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