Issue Summary

When using Basic search to conduct a "not equals" search, the results do not include any issues with empty values in the field being searched. 

This causes confusion amongst users despite the documentation at JQL operators mentioning the following;

The "!=" operator will not match a field that has no value (i.e. a field that is empty). For example, component != fred will only match issues that have a component and the component is not "fred". To find issues that have a component other than "fred" or have no component, you would need to type: component != fred or component is empty.

Note: the JQL and Basic search functionality are intertwined

Update the Basic search functionality to include results with empty values in the field being searched.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Navigate to Filters > View all issues
2. Add the Labels or Components field to the search and perform a search for either one of Labels != (not equals) or Components != (not equals) and enter a label/component
3. Observe that the results do not return issues with the Labels/Components field that are empty

Expected Results

The search functionality should return results with empty values in the field being searched.

Actual Results

Only issues that have values populated for the field being searched and not matching the search query are returned. 

Workaround

Instead of using Basic search, consider using the JQL search as follows;

labels != "SEARCH_TERM" OR labels IS EMPTY

OR

components != "SEARCH_TERM" OR components IS EMPTY