Proper Handling of *NOT* Choosing a Select Option - docusignapi

Question

We're developing a project at our company that displays a company roster and allows easy DocuSign paperwork generation with many of the tabs already filled out so that we can cut down on inaccuracy and increase ease of use.
With the REST API, I am able to generate envelopes just fine with templates inside and even fill out some of the tabs for the recipient (the tabs we have information for) with information from our database.
The problem I'm experiencing lies with the list tabs (select drop-down boxes) on the templates. When an envelope is generated from the DocuSign website itself, the select boxes have "-- select --" selected, and I see that on the template editor as well, which is proper because we need the employee or manager to select those things (they're required). However, using the API and not even touching the listTabs when doing a PUT for the recipient tabs, there is no "-- select --" even on the drop-down and the first option on the list tab is pre-selected.
We're still using the DocuSign website (via "Review Documents" in email or simply opening the user's inbox on the website) to fill out the paperwork; the generation is the only thing we do with the API at the moment. This list tab thing is a problem; if someone skips selecting those list tabs, then there's already a pre-selected value that could be wrong. Even when the tab is marked as required, the template sees that there is a value selected and it passes validation. Does anyone know if I'm doing something wrong with the template or API calls here or is this a bug?
I would provide code, but it's scattered across so many Java classes that it would be hard to compile into something easily understood on a stackoverflow question. Not only that, but, as I said, I'm not even touching the listTabs at all when doing a PUT on the recipient tabs.
Thanks for your time.

Answer 1

Ok so I believe this is by design, and if you want the "default select item" in there you just have to add it in. I would imagine that some people do not want a "null" option so the api gives them complete control over the list items, whereas when you send through the console it seems to always have "--select--" as the first option.
When you send through the console the "--select" option has a check mark next to it, which means it's just another list option. I was able to mimic this with the following request body:
{
"emailBlurb": "This goes in the email body",
"emailSubject": "API Signature Request",
"documents": [
{
"documentId": "1",
"name": "document.pdf"
}
],
"recipients": {
"signers": [
{
"email": "<email_address_goes_here>",
"name": "John Doe",
"recipientId": "1",
"tabs": {
"signHereTabs": [
{
"xPosition": "250",
"yPosition": "75",
"documentId": "1",
"pageNumber": "1"
}
],
"listTabs": [
{
"xPosition": "100",
"yPosition": "90",
"documentId": "1",
"pageNumber": "1",
"recipientId": "1",
"tabLabel": "DropDownList",
"listItems": [
{
"selected": "false",
"text": "--select--",
"value": "--select--"
},
{
"selected": "false",
"text": "One",
"value": "One"
},
{
"selected": "false",
"text": "Two",
"value": "Two"
},
{
"selected": "false",
"text": "Three",
"value": "Three"
}
],
"width": "56"
}
]
}
}
]
},
"status": "sent"
}