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Demote visual representation of nulls in table and attribute views

421
2
07-25-2022 11:01 AM
Status: Open
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Matt-Goodman
by
Occasional Contributor

Non-existent attributes stored as null are visually represented in the UX as <Null> (attribute table, attribute pane, etc.) There are multiple reasons I prefer displaying records with legitimately no attribute as blanks, instead of nulls, but the primary reason is for the ability to scan/read attribute interfaces more quickly: the blank cells are intuitively dismissed and prominence is given to the populated attribute cells.

Consider programmatically using a more subtle mid-tone gray for the text font of these <Null> cells. 

Concept sample image of null values in the last column on the right (this example happens to be while using 'dark mode'):MattGoodman1_0-1658779343428.png

 

2 Comments
BruceHarold
by Esri Regular Contributor
‎07-25-2022 11:22 AM

I really hope there is a better way to address the usability of null values than supporting empty strings in domains.  When you have non-printing data in your fields that are not nulls you get bad behavior with attribute queries, statistical analyses etc. 

Bud
by
‎07-25-2022 12:52 PM

For what it's worth:

In SQL clients like SQL Developer, we can change what text & background color is used to display nulls. For example, we can display nulls as blanks and change the background color to light grey.

Bud_1-1658778689502.png

So I wonder if something like that could be an option in Pro.

 

Also, this is how DB<>FIDDLE does it:

Bud_0-1658778872076.png

https://dbfiddle.uk/?rdbms=oracle_18&fiddle=be89134354ae358a516147ef1ddbbf7f

As you suggested, it's more subtle. But at the same time, it's also more differentiable, due to the different text color. It seems like a reasonable approach.