Not yet reviewed by Pith; the record is open.

We discuss relation between three different methods to identify topologically distinct short-range valence-bond ground states in spin-$\frac12$ two-leg ladders: the string order parameters, the level-crossing method, and the ground-state expectation value of the twist operator. For this purpose we reexamine a phase transition in the frustrated spin ladder. We propose a proper bosonization of the string order parameters. Then, these three methods are shown to be equivalent reflecting the $Z_2\times Z_2$ symmetry breaking of the order and the disorder fields of the two-dimensional Ising model.