[PATCH] Change "the empty string" to "an empty string" on DOCs
Hackorum builds and tests every patch posted to the lists, not only commitfest submissions. This is Hackorum's own CI rather than the PostgreSQL project's, and it is still under testing - please report anything that looks wrong.
You can run a PostgreSQL built from this patch straight from Docker, with no checkout and no build:
docker run --rm -p 5432:5432 ghcr.io/hackorum-dev/postgres-patch:t53034psql -h localhost -U postgresBuilt from patchset v1 (message #1), September 20, 2026 at 01:58 AM.
Every patchset is also pushed to a branch of our PostgreSQL fork, so you can check out the same tree CI built. Without a PostgreSQL checkout:
git clone --branch t53034_1 https://github.com/hackorum-dev/postgres.gitIn a checkout you already have, add the fork once:
git remote add hackorum https://github.com/hackorum-dev/postgres.gitthen, for this patchset and every later one:
git fetch hackorum t53034_1 && git checkout t53034_1Patchset v1 (message #1) is on t53034_1
There are 64 times of "an empty string" and 13 times "the empty string"
written on DOCs, and how they are used to do the same meaning, we could
standardize them.
regards
Marcos
On 1/6/26 7:53 PM, Marcos Pegoraro wrote:
There are 64 times of "an empty string" and 13 times "the empty string"
written on DOCs, and how they are used to do the same meaning, we could
standardize them.
I am not a native speaker but to me "the empty string" sounds better in
most cases you changed it. I have no idea why but for default values I
personally prefer "the empty string" while for return values I prefer
"an empty string". Human languages are weird. E.g:
"Note that PQgetvalue() will return an empty string, not a null pointer,
for a null field."
vs
"If this variable is set to the empty string (which is the default) then
the value is inherited from the execution environment of the server in a
system-dependent way."
Maybe a native speaker can chime in with an opinion but I do not think
these are worth changing.
Andreas
Andreas Karlsson <andreas@proxel.se> writes:
On 1/6/26 7:53 PM, Marcos Pegoraro wrote:
There are 64 times of "an empty string" and 13 times "the empty string"
written on DOCs, and how they are used to do the same meaning, we could
standardize them.
I am not a native speaker but to me "the empty string" sounds better in
most cases you changed it.
Yeah, I can't muster any enthusiasm for these changes either.
I can't put my finger on any grammar rule supporting the way the
text is written (it's been way too long since high school English).
But these all read just fine to me, and the proposed changes do
not improve them.
regards, tom lane