Easy Question: Setting a variable to null

Enoch · May 18th, 2006, 01:02 PM

Ok, so I've searched the internet and help files and I still haven't found an answer. Is there any way in VBA to set a variable back to null once it has been assigned a value?
Thanks for your help
-Enoch

Enoch

echovue · May 18th, 2006, 01:04 PM

What kind of variable is it?

Mike
EchoVue.com

Enoch · May 18th, 2006, 02:00 PM

An integer, the truth is I avoided the problem by just initializing it to a negative number and then treating -1 as null, because I really didn't need any of the differences null offers. But I was wondering for future reference.
Thanks
-Enoch

Enoch

echovue · May 18th, 2006, 02:07 PM

That Works! Actually I don't think that you can set an integer to null. When it is initialized, I think it is assigned a default value of 0, but that is as close as it ever gets to null.

Mike
EchoVue.com

Enoch · May 19th, 2006, 08:52 AM

Thanks once again for your help

Enoch

SerranoG · May 19th, 2006, 09:18 AM

As long as the table does not require a value to be input for the record, you should be able to set the integer to null (even if the default is zero) simply by doing something like this for the textbox that is bound to the field.

Me.txtInteger = Null

I assume you can do this because what if there truly is no value for that record? A zero is misleading because you think that the actual value is zero when the value is really "nothing was ever entered."

Greg Serrano
Michigan Dept. of Environmental Quality, Air Quality Division

mmcdonal · May 19th, 2006, 12:37 PM

That last one would do it for the field value.

As far as setting an integer variable to Null, it can't be done. Integers are initialized as 0. Null means no value, so that Null can never equal Null, but 0 = 0. So Null has a different meaning.

Once you declare the variable as an integer, Null is not available to you.

mmcdonal

SerranoG · May 22nd, 2006, 09:35 AM

Actually, if you do not specify a default field value when you create a table and you do not specify a default field value in the form based on the table, then an integer field is NOT initialized to zero. It's null.

An integer VARIABLE created in VBA may be initialized to zero automatically upon runtime of the VBA code, but not a field in the table.

I just tested it. I created a table, added an integer field, took away the default value setting, and left it blank. When I started entering data, the default integer value was null.

Greg Serrano
Michigan Dept. of Environmental Quality, Air Quality Division

echovue · May 22nd, 2006, 10:30 AM

Thanks Greg,

I stand corrected, but more informed - I think my dabblings in java a few years back are coming back to haunt me :)

Mike

Mike
EchoVue.com