[i-just]

Description

Initial issue: if you created a dropdown field with an empty value (e.g., Please select), added that field to an entry type, and tried to create an entry of that type, an exception was thrown:

ErrorException
packages/cms/src/Field/Dropdown.php:138
Undefined array key "value"

---

Claude's explanation:

A Dropdown option with a blank value lost its value key on save, so creating an entry failed with Undefined array key "value". Once that was fixed, the entry form showed a second, unlabeled blank option above the field's own blank option.

save field settings
  ConvertEmptyStringsToNull: value "" → null
  null key dropped on save            → {"label":"Please select"}   ✗ crash on entry create
+ BaseOptionsField::__construct: label/value ?? ''  → {"label":"Please select","value":""}

render entry form
  Dropdown::encodeValue: "" → "__blank__"
  Choice: no option with value "" → prepend {label:"", value:""}   ✗ duplicate blank
+ Dropdown::uiControl: field has its own blank option → withoutPlaceholder()

Normalizing in the constructor also repairs fields that were already saved without a value key when they're loaded, so no migration is needed.

Evidence

tests/Feature/Field/OptionsFieldEmptyValueTest.php

• Before:

  ⨯ an option saved without a value is treated as a blank option     Undefined array key "value"
  ⨯ a blank option value posted as null is saved as an empty string  Undefined array key "value"
  ⨯ a dropdown with its own blank option does not get another one    Undefined array key "placeholder"
  

  After:

  ✓ an option saved without a value is treated as a blank option
  ✓ a blank option value posted as null is saved as an empty string
  ✓ a dropdown with its own blank option does not get another one
  ✓ a dropdown without a blank option keeps the leading blank
  

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[linear-code]

CMS-2441

[github-actions]

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