[Bug]: Null If transform does not "nullify" empty fields

[campen]

NullIfTransform.txt
NullIfTransform.zip

Apache Hop version?

2.2, 2.3

Java version?

11.0.15 (aarch64 java)

Operating system

macOS, Linux

What happened?

Prior to 2.2, the null If steps converted empty strings to null, but in 2.2 it does not work anymore. See attached .hpl with example. It works without issue in 2.1 and will not work properly in 2.2

Issue Priority

Priority: 1

Issue Component

Component: Transforms

[nadment]

Under Windows, everything works as expected?

Do you have other results ?

[campen]

Here are my results

[campen]

Note: this is a blocker for me to move beyond 2.1

[nadment]

@campen what is the value of the variable HOP_EMPTY_STRING_DIFFERS_FROM_NULL, this could explain the difference ?

[campen]

@nadment - it is set to "Y" for both versions (2.1 and 2.2/3) - I double checked that initially as I thought it may have changed when I opened 2.2, but I am using the same config file (system env variable set), so all settings are the same no matter what version of Hop I am using. Also note that it behaves the same using Ubuntu Linux.

[nadment]

If you think about it, this variable HOP_EMPTY_STRING_DIFFERS_FROM_NULL has no meaning in this transformation. The only useful case is to replace an empty string by a null. I try a fix without this variable.

[campen]

Thanks! Let me know and I am happy to test it out. I agree about that variable having no impact on this transform. I have different projects that look at empty and null as different (which is by my design).