beware API overloads

on business object methods like Consumer.UpdateConsumer() we have several overloads that let you update only a few specific Consumer properties. for example, there’s one overload that takes a CustomerStatusId, another that takes a WhereHeard and a CustomerStatusId, etc. these overloads all call a common, private updateConsumer() function that takes care of the database update, and they pass in the object’s properties for the fields you are not updating, so that the original values are preserved.

however, this means that if you call an overload that takes multiple parameters, any value you pass in as a parameter will be used for the database update. so passing in “null” or empty string will update the database with “null” or empty string for that field, which may not be your intention--