Question

There is something wrong with DEFAULT keyword handling

Example:

 CREATE TABLE BAR(c1 int null,c2 int default 1 not null)

Executing SQL like this:

 INSERT INTO BAR SET c1 = 1, c2 = COALESCE(null,DEFAULT)

Results in:
Column “DEFAULT” not found; SQL statement:
INSERT INTO BAR SET c1 = 1, c2 = COALESCE(null,DEFAULT) [42122-161]
42S22/42122

At the same time:

INSERT INTO BAR (c1,c2) values (1,  DEFAULT)

Ok!

But,

 INSERT INTO BAR SET c1 = 1, c2  = DEFAULT

Result:
NULL not allowed for column “C2”; SQL statement:
INSERT INTO BAR SET c1 = 1, c2 = DEFAULT [23502-161] 23502/23502

I think it is a bug. If it is not, is any way to specify use of
default value exists?

H2 1.3.161 (2011-10-28)

Answer 1

The term DEFAULT isn’t a pseudo-column or an expression that can be used in a formula. DEFAULT is used instead of an expression. I tried MySQL and it works in the same way as H2.

drop table foo cascade;
CREATE TABLE FOO(c1 int null,c2 int default 1 not null);
INSERT INTO FOO SET c1 = 1, c2 = default; -- works
INSERT INTO FOO SET c1 = 1, c2 = default * 2; -- doesn't work

What you probably want is use a parameterized statement (right?) where NULL is converted to default. H2 does support this, but it’s not fully documented. You can use:

drop table foo cascade;
CREATE TABLE FOO(c1 int null,c2 int default 1 not null null_to_default);
INSERT INTO FOO SET c1 = 1, c2 = null;