Apache OpenOffice (AOO) Bugzilla – Issue 92935
"Empty string is NULL" in the file helpcontent2/source/text/shared/02/01170102.xhp
Last modified: 2008-12-22 15:34:18 UTC
The online-help has the following description regarding a Text Box of control. Empty string is NULL Defines how an empty string input should be handled. If this property is set (Yes), a string with only one or more spaces will be interpreted as a NULL value and stored in the database. If this property is not set (No), the string will be treated as an empty value. Is the expression "a string with only one or more spaces will be interpreted as a NULL value" correct? In fact, it seems that if the property is set (Yes) and - If a string of zero length would be interpreted as a NULL value. - If one or more spaces are filled in the Text Box, the string would be interpreted as a string with the spaces. To find the description: 1. Start Writer 2. View > Toolbars > Form Controls 3. Place a Text Box on the Writer document. 4. Right-click on the Text Box and choose Control... 5. Go to the tab Data. 6. Press F1 key. 7. Look for a link Data and click on it. 8. Look for a title "Empty string is NULL." Or look for id="par_id3145357" in the file helpcontent2/source/text/shared/02/01170102.xhp Reference(s) http://oooug.jp/faq/index.php?faq/4/1167 (in Japanese), reported by M.Kamataki
reassigning
Thanks for finding this. Help text has been false for many years. Changed file in CWS hcshared19. New text: id="par_id3145357" l10n="CHG" oldref="12"<AVIS hid="HID_PROP_EMPTY_IS_NULL">Defines how an empty string input should be handled. If set to Yes, an input string of length zero will be entered as NULL (but only if the control is bound to a database field and if the value NULL is allowed for that database field). If set to No, any input will be entered as such, without conversion.</AVIS> id="par_id0820200812403467" l10n="NEW"An empty string is a string of length zero (""). Normally, the value NULL is not the same as an empty string. NULL means "an undefined value" or "an unknown value" or "no value entered yet". id="par_id0820200812403455" l10n="NEW"Existing databases can handle the value NULL differently. Refer to the database documentation.
tora->ufi: Thank you for treating this issue seriously. I am not a technical writer, but software engineer with a little experience in localization. To make translation easier and to reduce possibility of mis-, improper translations, I would like to propose adding some specific words to the text. Could you please review and revise the following lines? id="par_id3145357" Defines how an empty string input should be handled. If set to Yes, an input string of length zero will be treated as a value NULL. That will be applied if the control is bound to a database field to which a value NULL is allowed to be entered. If set to No, any input will be treated as-is without any conversion. id="par_id0820200812403467" An empty string is a string of length zero (""). Normally, a value NULL is not the same as an empty string. In general, a term NULL is used to denote an undefined value, an unknown value, or "no value has been entered yet." id="par_id0820200812403455" Database systems vary and they might handle a value NULL differently. Refer to documentations of the database that you are using.
Thanks for the help. Copied your text to file. The first para is an extended help text. Sadly these cannot have any formatting, even no paragraph breaks. The text will be shown as a one paragraph plain text only.
Please verify in CWS hcshared19. Open Writer help, Find tab page. Type NULL into the Search box, check only Complete words. In results list, double-click Data. Click the Search icon and type NULL. There is the new text.
Seen ok in cws hcshared 19 -> verified
Seen ok in current master(m37) -> closed