Improving Nullable Field Handling for Better Developer Experience

[aress31]

Prerequisites

• I have searched the existing issues
• I understand that providing a SSCCE example is tremendously useful to the maintainers.
• I have read the documentation
• Ideally, I'm providing a sample JSFiddle, Codesandbox.io or preferably a shared playground link demonstrating the issue.

What theme are you using?

mui

Version

5.x

Current Behavior

Currently, to allow properties to accept null values, it is necessary to explicitly add null to the type. However, the required option already ensures that a non-null value is provided.

In my case, I pass null values through my form because the data is pulled directly from the database, and some columns are nullable.

At the moment, the process forces me to manually add null to the type for every field, which creates a poor developer experience (DX).

I suggest reversing the logic: make all fields nullable by default, and only fields that should not accept null values would need a not-null option.

Additionally, based on my tests, the required option still enforces a value even if the field allows null.

I would like to see a rework of the nullable logic to improve the developer experience.

Expected Behavior

No response

Steps To Reproduce

https://rjsf-team.github.io/react-jsonschema-form/#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

Environment

Latest everything.

Anything else?

No response

[kuhlaid]

@aress31, your schema should probably look like (note the null enum for status and the quoted "null" types):

{
  "type": "object",
  "definitions": {
    "status": {
      "enum": [
        null,
        "active",
        "cancelled",
        "completed",
        "inactive",
        "pending"
      ]
    }
  },
  "properties": {
    "id": {
      "type": "string"
    },
    "status": {
      "type": [
        "string",
        "null"
      ],
      "$ref": "#/definitions/status"
    },
    "start": {
      "type": [
        "string",
        "null"
      ],
      "format": "date"
    },
    "end": {
      "type": [
        "string",
        "null"
      ],
      "format": "date-time"
    }
  }
}