HTMLDB_ITEM.SELECT_LIST function returns wrong result in 1.6?

Question

Look at following select statements:
1. select flows_010600.htmldb_item.select_list(1,null,'Full;F,Read;R,No;N',
'','YES',null,'Derived','f01_'||TO_CHAR(ROWNUM,'FM0000'),'D')
from dual
<label for="f01_0001" class="hideMe508">D</label><select name="f01" id="f01_0001"><option value="">Derived</option><option value="F" >Full</option><option value="R" >Read</option><option value="N" >No</option><option value="" selected="selected"></option></select>
2.select flows_010500.htmldb_item.select_list(1,null,'Full;F,Read;R,No;N',
'','YES',null,'Derived','f01_'||TO_CHAR(ROWNUM,'FM0000'),'D')
from dual
<label for="f01_0001" class="hideMe508">D</label><select name="f01" id="f01_0001"><option value="">Derived<option value="F" >Full<option value="R" >Read<option value="N" >No</select>
If selected value of list is null version 1.6 call adds extra item without display value. Version 1.5 call works fine. Is it a bug or implied behavior?

Answer 1

Hi Alexey,
This is the intended behavior; in your htmldb_item.select_list call, you are setting the current value to NULL. This is the value shown in 1.6. In 1.5 the first value from your list of values was shown. This behavior wasn't appropriate in most cases. If for example you had a tabular form with a select list and the values retrieved from the database were not part of the list of values used for the select list, it would basically default the select list to the first value from your list of values. If you then saved your tabular form, you would have ended up with the wrong data. Now the select list will show the actual value from the database, if it's not part of the list of values. Otherwise it will show the correct display value. If in your case this is not the behavior you need, you can simply turn that off by modifying your query to:
select flows_010600.htmldb_item.select_list(1,null,'Full;F,Read;R,No;N',
'','YES',null,'Derived','f01_'||TO_CHAR(ROWNUM,'FM0000'),'D','NO')
from dual
I simply added another attribute which is called p_show_extra and set it to 'NO'. Here's the full specification of the function:
function select_list (
p_idx in number,
p_value in varchar2 default null,
p_list_values in varchar2 default null,
p_attributes in varchar2 default null,
p_show_null in varchar2 default 'NO',
p_null_value in varchar2 default '%null%',
p_null_text in varchar2 default '%',
p_item_id in varchar2 default null,
p_item_label in varchar2 default null,
p_show_extra in varchar2 default 'YES'
) return varchar2
Hope this helps,
Marc