Default values in maps - better option in BizTalk 2006

In a course I'm following today we discussed different ways of keeping nodes from dissapearing after a map has been applied. We discovered a new option in 2006 b2, which I'm very font of. Basically, up until now, we had a few ways (maybe even more?) of ensuring output nodes were created correctly:

1. default value in schema (space) - drawback: not visible in editor, schema specific, where as we might want to leave some nodes out in other mappings.
   
2. space in value in map - drawback: not visible in editor.
   
3. use some string functoid to fill the value (empty argument for the functoid) - drawback: non-functional functoids in the map, warning if the datatype is not string.
   
4. scripting functoid - ability to return a null value, which works with any datatype on the right hand side. drawback: non-functional functoids in the map
5. map a record (any record) into the elements or attributes - drawback: clutters the map with non-functional and illegal links.

in 2006 b2, there's a 6th possibility:

The value property of the right hand side map now has a dropdown, containing '<empty>', which greatly enhances the functional aspect of the property.