Understanding Null and Empty Values in Properties

For properties, there is a difference between null values and defined empty values. This distinction has important ramifications for importing and exporting data to a dimension.

Null and Defined Empty Value Definitions

• Null value: A property that meets the following conditions:
  • Has no defined value
  • Has no default value. That is, either the property has no default value specified, or the specified default value is an empty string, or it is a derived property and the derived value is an empty string. See Derived Properties.
  • For inheriting properties, has no inheriting value. See Inheriting Properties.
• Defined empty value: A property that has an empty string as its stored defined value.

While any property can have a null value, only these property data types support a defined empty value:

• List
• Memo
• String (without Use Allowed Values List enabled)
• String (with Use Allowed Values List enabled, if Include Blank Entry is also enabled)

To illustrate the difference, suppose you have a Cost Center property that inherits its value from a parent node. If the parent node does not contain a value for that property, the Cost Center property value is null. When you enter a value in the parent node, the Cost Center property value gets inherited from the parent node. Then, if you clear the value from the Cost Center property, its value does not revert back to null, but rather it is now a defined empty value.

For information on importing and exporting null and empty values, see Managing Import Options and Managing Export Options.