I'm pretty sure Hugo posted the NULLIF 'solution' as a bit of fun - though the idea behind it is very clever and worth posting just for that.
My comment was intended to be humourous as much as anything else - I laughed when I saw Hugo's :Whistling: reply.
(I don't disagree with anything you wrote by the way)
Paul
Paul White
SQLPerformance.com
SQLkiwi blog
@SQL_Kiwi