drop table if exists t1,t2; create table t1(str varchar(10) default 'def',strnull varchar(10),intg int default '10',rel double default '3.14'); insert into t1 values ('','',0,0.0); select default(str), default(strnull), default(intg), default(rel) from t1; default(str) default(strnull) default(intg) default(rel) def NULL 10 3.14 explain extended select default(str), default(strnull), default(intg), default(rel) from t1; id select_type table type possible_keys key key_len ref rows filtered Extra 1 SIMPLE t1 system NULL NULL NULL NULL 1 100.00 Warnings: Note 1003 select default('') AS `default(str)`,default('') AS `default(strnull)`,default('0') AS `default(intg)`,default('0') AS `default(rel)` from `test`.`t1` select * from t1 where str <> default(str); str strnull intg rel 0 0 explain select * from t1 where str <> default(str); id select_type table type possible_keys key key_len ref rows Extra 1 SIMPLE t1 system NULL NULL NULL NULL 1 drop table t1; CREATE TABLE t1 (id int(11), s varchar(20)); INSERT INTO t1 VALUES (1, 'one'), (2, 'two'), (3, 'three'); SELECT s, 32 AS mi FROM t1 GROUP BY s HAVING DEFAULT(mi) IS NULL; ERROR HY000: Field 'mi' doesn't have a default value DROP TABLE t1;