>>It begs the question, why not use EMPTY() function?
>
>Interesting question
>
>I guess I never trusted it since it's been introduced. :)
>
>For comparing zero length, yes, EMPTY() is better. I guess I make a lot of use where I am comparing a specific length and always use the same approach everywhere.

Empty() function considers string empty if it's empty string or it includes only spaces, tabs, carriage returns, linefeeds, or any combination of these. Your approch takes into account only spaces. Maybe that's the reason?