Inserting NULL Values into MySQL Database using Python

When working with Python scripts to insert data into MySQL, managing blank or missing values can be encountered. To resolve this issue and ensure proper insertion, consider the following solution:

Using the "None" Value

In the provided code example, it is mentioned that assigning the value "NULL" to the blank variable causes an error. To insert NULL values correctly, use the "None" value instead. The following code illustrates this:

import mysql.connector

def insert_null_value(connection, table_name, column_name, value):
    cursor = connection.cursor()
    if value is not None:
        # If the value is not blank, insert the value
        query = f"INSERT INTO {table_name} ({column_name}) VALUES (%s)"
        cursor.execute(query, (value,))
    else:
        # If the value is blank, insert NULL
        query = f"INSERT INTO {table_name} ({column_name}) VALUES (NULL)"
        cursor.execute(query)
    connection.commit()
    cursor.close()

In this example, if the value is blank, the query to insert NULL is executed without any parameters. This approach ensures that a blank value is correctly interpreted as NULL in the database.

Additional Notes

• The "mysqldb" and "cursor.execute()" functions mentioned in the original question are related to using the Python "MySQLdb" library, not the recommended "mysql.connector" library shown in our solution.
• It's important to consult the official MySQL documentation or other credible sources for guidance on handling specific data types and potential caveats when working with databases.