Empty string
A text value with no characters in it. It is a value that exists and happens to be empty, which is different from null, where no value exists at all.
Many file formats cannot show the difference, and tools disagree about whether an empty cell is loaded as an empty string or as null. Counts of blanks can change between tools for that reason alone.
Where it comes up
- True blanksA cell is really empty, and the file does not say whether the value is unknown, not applicable, or was never asked for.
- Disguised missing valuesA cell is not empty, but what it holds means there is no value: N/A, a dash, 999, or the word none.
See also
- NullThe explicit marker a database or file uses for no value. It is different from zero, from an empty string, and from the text NULL typed into a cell.
- Missing valueA cell where a value should exist and does not. The reason matters: not collected, not applicable, and lost are different situations.
- StringA value stored as a sequence of characters, which is to say text. The characters 2025 held as a string are four symbols, not a number.