My application has English as its base language.
When the English text for a certain key is changed, we often clear out the translations for the other languages (for the same key). This to signal that new translations are needed. While awaiting a new translation, we consider it best that the UI will "fall back" onto using English values.
When I use the Messages Editor and clear out translations and save the properties bundle, the translations are removed. But the row with the key is still lingering with an empty value, e.g. :
processplan.action.label =
I think this will lead to problems, i.e. that the empty string will be presented in the UI (rather than the English "fall back" value).
IMHO, clearing out a text should remove its key/value-pair altogether from the .properties file. If intentionally wanting an empty string for some reason for a certain language, the user can enter a empty space.