[c#] how to check if a datareader is null or empty

I have a datareader that return a lsit of records from a sql server database. I have a field in the database called "Additional". This field is 50% of the time empty or null.

I am trying to write code that checks if this field isnull. The logic behind this is: If the field "Additional" contains text then display the info otherwise hide the field.

I have tried:

if (myReader["Additional"] != null)
{
    ltlAdditional.Text = "contains data";
}
else
{
     ltlAdditional.Text = "is null";
}

The above code gives me this error:

Exception Details: System.IndexOutOfRangeException: Additional

Any help would be greatly appreciated...

See Also:

Check for column name in a SqlDataReader object

I also experiencing this kind of problem but mine, i'm using DbDataReader as my generic reader (for SQL, Oracle, OleDb, etc.). If using DataTable, DataTable has this method:

DataTable dt = new DataTable();
dt.Rows[0].Table.Columns.Contains("SampleColumn");

using this I can determine if that column is existing in the result set that my query has. I'm also looking if DbDataReader has this capability.

AMG - Sorry all, was having a blond moment. The field "Additional" was added to the database after I had initially designed the database.

I updated all my code to use this new field, however I forgot to update the actual datareader code that was making the call to select the database fields, therefore it wasn't calling "Additional"

In addition to the suggestions given, you can do this directly from your query like this -

SELECT ISNULL([Additional], -1) AS [Additional]

This way you can write the condition to check whether the field value is < 0 or >= 0.

@Joe Philllips

SQlDataReader.IsDBNull(int index) requires the ordinal number of the column. Is there a way to check for nulls using Column Name, and not it's Ordinal Number?

I also use OleDbDataReader.IsDBNull()

if ( myReader.IsDBNull(colNum) ) { retrievedValue = ""; }
else { retrievedValue = myReader.GetString(colNum); }

First of all, you probably want to check for a DBNull not a regular Null.

Or you could look at the IsDBNull method

This is the correct and tested solution

if (myReader.Read())
{

    ltlAdditional.Text = "Contains data";
}
else
{   
    ltlAdditional.Text = "Is null";
}

I haven't used DataReaders for 3+ years, so I wanted to confirm my memory and found this. Anyway, for anyone who happens upon this post like I did and wants a method to test IsDBNull using the column name instead of ordinal number, and you are using VS 2008+ (& .NET 3.5 I think), you can write an extension method so that you can pass the column name in:

public static class DataReaderExtensions
{
    public static bool IsDBNull( this IDataReader dataReader, string columnName )
    {
        return dataReader[columnName] == DBNull.Value;
    }
}

Kevin

Try this simpler equivalent syntax:

ltlAdditional.Text = (myReader["Additional"] == DBNull.Value) ? "is null" : "contains data";

This

Example:

objCar.StrDescription = (objSqlDataReader["fieldDescription"].GetType() != typeof(DBNull)) ? (String)objSqlDataReader["fieldDescription"] : "";

if (myReader.HasRows) //The key Word is **.HasRows**

{

    ltlAdditional.Text = "Contains data";

}

else

{   

    ltlAdditional.Text = "Is null Or Empty";

}