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
* <p>
	 * The name often occurs in a name space. Derived classes must enforce the
	 * name space rules. This class simply maintains the name itself.
	 */
	protected String name = null;
	/**
	 * Elements are structured in a hierarchy. The implementation of the
	 * container-to-child relationship must be defined in derived classes. This
	 * base class defines the child-to-container relationship.
	 */
	protected DesignElement container = null;
	/**
	 * Slot in the container in which this element resides.
	 */
	protected int containerSlotID = NO_SLOT;
	/**
	 * Listeners are the objects that want to be notified of events. Contents
	 * are of type Listener. Created only when needed.
	 */
	protected ArrayList listeners = null;
	/**
	 * Values for non-intrinsic property values. The contents are of type
	 * Object.
	 */
	protected Map propValues = new HashMap( );
	/**
	 * Definitions for user-defined properties. Contents are of type
	 * UserPropertyDefn.
	 */
	protected HashMap userProperties = null;