Index: lams_common/src/java/org/lamsfoundation/lams/util/ValidationUtil.java
===================================================================
RCS file: /usr/local/cvsroot/lams_common/src/java/org/lamsfoundation/lams/util/ValidationUtil.java,v
diff -u -r1.5.2.5 -r1.5.2.6
--- lams_common/src/java/org/lamsfoundation/lams/util/ValidationUtil.java	30 Nov 2016 01:52:17 -0000	1.5.2.5
+++ lams_common/src/java/org/lamsfoundation/lams/util/ValidationUtil.java	16 Feb 2017 03:57:34 -0000	1.5.2.6
@@ -218,9 +218,14 @@
 	    text = text.replaceAll("(?:<BR>)", " ");
 	}
 
-	int wordCount = (text.length() == 0) ? 0
-		: text.replaceAll("[\'\";:,\\.\\?\\-!]+", "").trim().split("\\S+").length;//.match(/\S+/g) || []) ;
-
+	int wordCount = 0;
+	if ( text.length() >  0) {
+	    wordCount = text.replaceAll("[\'\";:,\\.\\?\\-!]+", "").trim().split("\\S+").length;//.match(/\S+/g) || []) ;
+	    // special case - if only one word and no spaces then the split array is empty.
+	    if ( wordCount == 0 )
+		wordCount = 1;
+	}
+    	
 	// check min words limit is reached
 	return (wordCount >= minWordsLimit);
     }