James Addison

> What I would really like is a way to generate the indexes used in the JavaScript tests from the same Python code that builds `searchindex.js` when projects are built....

I'd like to check whether we can get #12102 in place before progressing this pull request further. If that can be added, then I think adding test coverage here will...

(and maybe do the `null` to `''` refactoring at the same time and more safely, given the test coverage)

> Removing the "awaiting review" label until this PR is ready Oops, thanks. I forgot about that.

While I think it would be sensible to merge #12102 first (if-and-when that pull request is considered acceptable!), I'm going to remove the blocker label and draft status from this...

@picnixz I think this one is now ready for merge too - glad to have #12102 already-merged as preparation.

Hmm, the type-linting error highlighted by that adjustment is not entirely trivial; it bubbles up to the `BuildEnvironment` class. I'll fix it, but I seem to remember that environment changes...

(similarly it could be worth pausing to consider `searchindex.js` forward/backward compatibility. I _think_ this change is safe because there are no associated JavaScript changes required for this fix, but that...

> > Hmm, the type-linting error highlighted by that adjustment is not entirely trivial; it bubbles up to the `BuildEnvironment` class. I'll fix it, but I seem to remember that...

> > Mm, yep - the type hints themselves shouldn't affect anything... but they are an indicator that something about the possible range of values for their attributes has changed...