EXCEPT trata NULL valores como correspondentes. Esta consulta:
WITH q (value) AS
(
SELECT NULL
UNION ALL
SELECT 1
),
p (value) AS
(
SELECT NULL
UNION ALL
SELECT 2
)
SELECT *
FROM q
WHERE value NOT IN
(
SELECT value
FROM p
)
retornará um conjunto de linhas vazio.
Esta consulta:
WITH q (value) AS
(
SELECT NULL
UNION ALL
SELECT 1
),
p (value) AS
(
SELECT NULL
UNION ALL
SELECT 2
)
SELECT *
FROM q
WHERE NOT EXISTS
(
SELECT NULL
FROM p
WHERE p.value = q.value
)
retornará
NULL
1
, e este:
WITH q (value) AS
(
SELECT NULL
UNION ALL
SELECT 1
),
p (value) AS
(
SELECT NULL
UNION ALL
SELECT 2
)
SELECT *
FROM q
EXCEPT
SELECT *
FROM p
retornará:
1
Referência recursiva também é permitida em
EXCEPT cláusula em um CTE recursivo , embora se comporte de maneira estranha:retorna tudo, exceto a última linha de um conjunto anterior, nem tudo, exceto todo o conjunto anterior:WITH q (value) AS
(
SELECT 1
UNION ALL
SELECT 2
UNION ALL
SELECT 3
),
rec (value) AS
(
SELECT value
FROM q
UNION ALL
SELECT *
FROM (
SELECT value
FROM q
EXCEPT
SELECT value
FROM rec
) q2
)
SELECT TOP 10 *
FROM rec
---
1
2
3
-- original set
1
2
-- everything except the last row of the previous set, that is 3
1
3
-- everything except the last row of the previous set, that is 2
1
2
-- everything except the last row of the previous set, that is 3, etc.
1
SQL Server os desenvolvedores devem ter esquecido de proibi-lo. 
