I have a custom control where I want to enter a list/array/collection of strings that the user can edit with the properties editor. I have code where you can edit the array using the properties editor but on startup the array is always empty.

```
    string[] _validDescriptions = new string[] { };
    [Description("Valid descriptions to select from"), Category("Behavior")]
    public string[] ValidDescriptions
    {
        get 
        {
            if (_validDescriptions == null)
                return new string[0];
            else
                return _validDescriptions; 
        }
        set 
        {
            _validDescriptions = value;
        }
    }

```

The property does appear in the editor and I can add values, but during runtime its always empty

[![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/1s3G7.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/1s3G7.png)