What are the best practices for handling NULL values and default values in date columns when deleting records in PHP?

When deleting records in PHP that contain date columns with NULL values or default values, it is important to handle them properly to avoid errors or unexpected behavior. One approach is to check if the date column is NULL or has a default value before deleting the record. If the date column has a default value, you can update it to NULL instead of deleting the record. This ensures data integrity and prevents any issues with date columns. 

// Assuming $dateColumn contains the date column value
if ($dateColumn === NULL || $dateColumn === '0000-00-00') {
    // Update the date column to NULL instead of deleting the record
    $query = "UPDATE table_name SET date_column = NULL WHERE id = $id";
    // Execute the query
    $result = mysqli_query($connection, $query);
} else {
    // Delete the record as usual
    $query = "DELETE FROM table_name WHERE id = $id";
    // Execute the query
    $result = mysqli_query($connection, $query);
}

Keywords

NULL values default values date columns deleting records PHP

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