doctrine2/manual/docs/Object relational mapping - Constraints and validators - Notnull.php

A not-null constraint simply specifies that a column must not assume the null value. A not-null constraint is always written as a column constraint.

The following definition uses a notnull constraint for column 'name'. This means that the specified column doesn't accept
null values.

<code type='php'>
class User extends Doctrine_Record
{
    public function setTableDefinition()
    {
        $this->hasColumn('name', 'string', 200, array('notnull' => true,
                                                      'primary' => true));
    }
}
</code>

When this class gets exported to database the following Sql statement would get executed (in Mysql):

CREATE TABLE user (name VARCHAR(200) NOT NULL, PRIMARY KEY(name))

The notnull constraint also acts as an application level validator. This means that if Doctrine validators are turned on, Doctrine will automatically check that specified columns do not contain null values when saved.

If those columns happen to contain null values Doctrine_Validator_Exception is raised.