ClickHouse/docs/en/data_types/nullable.md
Ivan Blinkov 8623cb232c
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2018-10-16 13:47:17 +03:00

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<a name="data_type-nullable"></a>
# Nullable(TypeName)
Allows to store special marker ([NULL](../query_language/syntax.md#null-literal)) that denotes "missing value" alongside normal values allowed by `TypeName`. For example, a `Nullable(Int8)` type column can store `Int8` type values, and the rows that don't have a value will store `NULL`.
For a `TypeName`, you can't use composite data types [Array](array.md#data_type is array) and [Tuple](tuple.md#data_type-tuple). Composite data types can contain `Nullable` type values, such as `Array(Nullable(Int8))`.
A `Nullable` type field can't be included in table indexes.
`NULL` is the default value for any `Nullable` type, unless specified otherwise in the ClickHouse server configuration.
## Storage features
To store `Nullable` type values in table column, ClickHouse uses a separate file with `NULL` masks in addition to normal file with values. Entries in masks file allow ClickHouse to distinguish between `NULL` and default value of corresponding data type for each table row. Because of additional file, `Nullable` column consumes additional storage space compared to similar normal one.
!!! info "Note"
Using `Nullable` almost always negatively affects performance, keep this in mind when designing your databases.
## Usage example
```
:) CREATE TABLE t_null(x Int8, y Nullable(Int8)) ENGINE TinyLog
CREATE TABLE t_null
(
x Int8,
y Nullable(Int8)
)
ENGINE = TinyLog
Ok.
0 rows in set. Elapsed: 0.012 sec.
:) INSERT INTO t_null VALUES (1, NULL)
INSERT INTO t_null VALUES
Ok.
1 rows in set. Elapsed: 0.007 sec.
:) SELECT x + y FROM t_null
SELECT x + y
FROM t_null
┌─plus(x, y)─┐
│ ᴺᵁᴸᴸ │
│ 5 │
└────────────┘
2 rows in set. Elapsed: 0.144 sec.
```
[Original article](https://clickhouse.yandex/docs/en/data_types/nullable/) <!--hide-->