JAL-2925 handle empty annotation when copying group consensus

diff --git a/src/jalview/datamodel/SequenceGroup.java b/src/jalview/datamodel/SequenceGroup.java
index 6b797d7..944f263 100755 (executable)
--- a/src/jalview/datamodel/SequenceGroup.java
+++ b/src/jalview/datamodel/SequenceGroup.java
@@ -1189,9 +1189,10 @@ public class SequenceGroup implements AnnotatedCollectionI
     {
       if (consensus.annotations[i] != null)
       {
-        if (consensus.annotations[i].description.charAt(0) == '[')
+        String desc = consensus.annotations[i].description;
+        if (desc.length() > 1 && desc.charAt(0) == '[')
         {
-          seqs.append(consensus.annotations[i].description.charAt(1));
+          seqs.append(desc.charAt(1));
         }
         else
         {