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Glite Dictionary
nullable

nullable

1 7.5
A database field that you can leave empty
  • adjective
  • /ˈnʌləbəl/
  • Specialized
: nullable
  • The software allows for nullable properties, enabling users to leave certain options empty if they are not applicable.

Examples

  • In the database, you can set the employee ID as nullable to allow records without a value.

  • When defining a data model, it is important to specify which fields are nullable to handle missing information.

  • Note that the fields that have "option" at the end of the type are essentially nullable fields. (By default, values in OCaml are guaranteed to be non-null.)

    Academic text (2011)

Surface Forms

nullable positive

Morphology

nullable = null (transparent) = null + able

The word 'nullable' is transparently built from 'null' and the suffix '-able', indicating the capability of being null.

Etymology

The word nullable comes from null, meaning 'no value' or 'nothing', plus the ending -able, meaning 'able to be'. So a nullable field or variable is 'able to be' empty, which is why in computing it can hold either a value or 'no value'.