[PATCH] Change "the empty string" to "an empty string" on DOCs

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