title: NOT Like or <> in an NVARCHAR field is also filtering out Null - SQL Server 2008
body: <p>I have a column <code>StatusCode</code>. I want to filter out the text <code>Complete</code> without also filtering out <code>NULL</code> values.</p>
  
  <p>I am using SSMS to write my query, and if I use <code>&lt;&gt;</code> or <code>NOT LIKE</code>, it is also filtering out the <code>NULL</code> values.</p>
  
  <pre><code>SELECT TOP (1) 
     dbo.WOO.WOO_StatusCode, dbo.WOO.WOO_WorkCenterID
  FROM 
     dbo.WOO 
  LEFT OUTER JOIN
     dbo.WKE ON dbo.WOO.WOO_RecordID = dbo.WKE.WKE_WOO_RecordID 
  LEFT OUTER JOIN
     dbo.WKO ON dbo.WOO.WOO_WorkOrderID = dbo.WKO.WKO_WorkOrderID
  WHERE     
     (dbo.WKO.WKO_WorkOrderID = @WorkOrder) 
     AND (NOT (dbo.WOO.WOO_StatusCode  LIKE  N'Complete'))
  ORDER BY 
     dbo.WKE.WKE_LabStopTime DESC
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I need the NULL's to be returned, b/c the other joined tables can still return useful information related to the record.</p>
  
  <p>Essentially, how do I filter on a <code>NVARCHAR</code> column without omitting <code>NULL</code> values?</p>