Bug 149251 Inconsistent Handling of a Non-inheritable ROM Property
For a ROM property defined to be non-inheritable, an empty string property value should be consistently handled as an empty string, not as null. For example, an oda.dataSource extension defines a data source property with canInherit=false. When a oda-data-source handle get saved in a report design, it correctly includes the tag for such property, even when an empty string value is specified. <oda-data-source extensionID="my.oda.plugin" name="my Data Source" id="24"> ... <property name="ApplicationServer"></property> </oda-data-source> However, later when using the DE API to read its property value, a null is returned. Then when the report design is subsequently saved, the property tag is lost. Expects that an empty string value of a non-inhertiable property should be preserved.
model/org.eclipse.birt.report.model/src/org/eclipse/birt/report/model/core/DesignElement.java
* Returns the identifier for locating element to user. This identifier
	 * string helps user locate this element in user interface. If this element
	 * has name defined, the name and element type are returned with the form
	 * "ElementType('Name')". Otherwise, locate the first container with name
	 * and generate the containment path with the form,
	 * "Container.Slot[Position]". If no container has name defined, "report" or
	 * container element type will be used as container's identifier, depending
	 * on whether this element is added into one report design.
	 * <p>
	 * For example,
	 * <ul>
	 * <li>report.body[0] - The first element in body slot
	 * <li>table("myTable") - The table named myTable
	 * <li>table("myTable").detail[0].cells[3] - The forth cell of the first
	 * row in table
	 * </ul>
	 * <p>
	 * Note: the localized name is used for element type and slot name.
	 * 
	 * @return the identifier of this element
	 */
	public String getIdentifier( )
	{
		if ( getName( ) != null )
		{
			StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer( );
			sb.append( getDefn( ).getDisplayName( ) );
			sb.append( "(\"" ); 
			sb.append( getName( ) );
			sb.append( "\")" );