Oh, you want to know what really happens.

 

so is it being helpfull to say that a wire does not have inductance without current flow? does a change in current flow change inductance? it can if the coil is near saturation, but current is not in any of the inductance formlas, only for coils anyway, diameter, length, number of turns and permeability of core..

 

so is it being helpful to say that a wire does not have inductance without current flow?

Yes, because it shows the cause and effect. A wire without current flow is just a wire. Sure, you can calculate the inductive effects of current at any arbitrary level but the actual effect only happens when there is current.
http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/vol_1/chpt_15/1.html

 

I'm guessing this is just an theoretical abstraction when asking to calculate the inductance of a piece of wire with dead endings. We simply imagine a flowing current as if both ends were connected and something triggers the current.

 

On a fundamental level, inductance is the restoration of a distorted magnetic field line.
It is one half of the property of matter called inertia. Inductance is reaction. It is normally a sideway or perpendicular force. Unlike its' twin brother, capacitance(the other half), which is normally a head on force.

In electronics, under the conventional theory of electron flow, inductance is the opposition to any change in current. If there is no change in current or if the inductance is cancelled out, usually(not always), you can ignore it, and consider it zero. This is what most of us except, and it works well. But that will have to change because we are going up in frequency and faster in time. And that means down in size, closer to the fundamentals, where more understanding is needed.

These microwave guys. A strange lot. Half sculptor, half machinist. In these mysterious voids, every damn detail and dimension must be taken into account. That's because wavelengths are getting closer to the size of matter, and matter is where inductance comes.

My intent is to clarify, not hijack or distract.

 

if inductance does not exist without current flow, then neither does resistance, capacitance, or current itsself. actually the calculation of inductance is used every time we make a tuned circuit, lc filter or anything else like that. do you need to know the current when calculating inductance?