Problems with typed dataset.

chobo2 · March 14th, 2009, 10:11 PM

Hi
I have some columns in my table that have null values in them. I am trying to grabs the rows that may or may not have null values in the columns(right now testing with nulls in them).
So I am getting a error when I am trying to retreive a column that has null in it. So It tried to check for dbNull but I still get an error.
When I have this

Code:

ArrayList gridViewRow = new ArrayList();
           for (int i = 0; i < gradesDT.Count; i++)
           {

              
              
               Planner.GradesRow row = gradesDT[i];
               string[] gridViewCells = new string[5];
               
           
               
               gridViewCells[0] = row.AssignmentName;
               gridViewCells[1] = row.Type;
               gridViewCells[2] = row.AchievedMark.ToString();// can have null                gridViewCells[3] = row.TotalMark.ToString(); //can have null               gridViewCells[4] = row.AssignmentWeight.ToString(); // can have null                gridViewCells[5] = row.AchievedWeight.ToString(); // can have null               gridViewRow.Add(gridViewCells);
              
           }

Code:

So I get this error System.Data.StrongTypingException was unhandled by user code
  Message="The value for column 'AchievedMark' in table 'Grades' is DBNull."
  Source="App_Code.3vxi8no6"
  StackTrace:
       at Planner.GradesRow.get_AchievedMark() in c:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\Temporary ASP.NET Files\planner\fce908b7\a9a33e47\App_Code.3vxi8no6.4.cs:line 2182
       at GetCoursesByGrade.ProcessRequest(HttpContext context) in i:\StudentPlanner\Planner\AJAX\Planner\GetCoursesByGrade.ashx:line 41
       at System.Web.HttpApplication.CallHandlerExecutionStep.System.Web.HttpApplication.IExecutionStep.Execute()
       at System.Web.HttpApplication.ExecuteStep(IExecutionStep step, Boolean& completedSynchronously)
  InnerException: System.InvalidCastException
       Message="Specified cast is not valid."
       Source="App_Code.3vxi8no6"
       StackTrace:
            at Planner.GradesRow.get_AchievedMark() in c:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\Temporary ASP.NET Files\planner\fce908b7\a9a33e47\App_Code.3vxi8no6.4.cs:line 2179
       InnerException:

Now I put an if statement checking for dbNullsuch as if (Convert.IsDBNull(row.AchievedMark))
{
string test = null;
}

Still get the same error. I am using a strong typed dataset. So I am not sure how to fix this. The first thing I tried to do is change the action to happen when a Database Null is found(to use a null value and not throw an expecption) But my dataset won't let me. When I change NullValue from expection to Null I get this"The value entered is not valid for the current data type." All the rows that have nulls in them are all decimals(5,2); Thanks

gbianchi · March 14th, 2009, 10:20 PM

hi there..

why not do something like this?

Code:

if (row.field != dbnull.value)
gridviewcell[n] = row.field;
else
gridviewcell[n] = "";

chobo2 · March 14th, 2009, 11:21 PM

I get this error if I do that.

Error 18 Operator '==' cannot be applied to operands of type 'System.DBNull' and 'decimal' i:\StudentPlanner\Planner\AJAX\Planner\GetCoursesB yGrade.ashx 42 21 I:\StudentPlanner\Planner\

So I would have to convert it to something different and since that row contains and exception I probably will keep getting the same error.

philip_cole · March 15th, 2009, 07:51 AM

DBNull does not implement the == and != operators, although can use DBNull.Value.Equals(object). The preferred method is Convert.IsDBNull(object) as chobo used.

For strongly typed DataSets however, this is not the correct approach, as you will get these errors. When you create the DataSet, the rows will create an IsFieldNull() method for each nullable column. So for AchievedMark the row will have a method bool IsAchievedMarkNull(). For each field then you could do

c# Code:

gridViewCells[2] = row.IsAchievedMarkNull() ? String.Empty : row.AchievedMark.ToString();

The other option is to use the untyped row.IsNull("AchievedMark"), but that kinda defeats the point of creating a typed DataSet.

HTH
Phil

PS. Could you possibly add line breaks to the last line of code, so it doesn't stretch off screen and make things hard to read. Thanks

chobo2 · March 15th, 2009, 05:00 PM

Upon initial testing this seems to work

. I been reading online that the only type in a typed dataset that can return null or empty is the string type. The rest all throw exceptions.

I hear that Microsoft has known about this issue for quite some time. I hope they one day fix it.