Object reference not set

flashmanTom · February 18th, 2008, 03:59 PM

I am working on Ch 3 of the book. I have followed the instructions as close as possible, however I'm working with VS 2005. When I run the project, I get the following error:

System.NullReferenceException was unhandled
  Message="Object reference not set to an instance of an object."
  Source="ODBC Data Wizard"
  StackTrace:
       at ODBC_Data_Wizard.Form1.cboCompanies_SelectedIndexC hanged(Object sender, EventArgs e) in C:\Users\Tom Magaro\AppData\Local\Temporary Projects\ODBC Data Wizard\Form1.vb:line 13
       at ODBC_Data_Wizard.Form1.Form1_Load(Object sender, EventArgs e) in C:\Users\Tom Magaro\AppData\Local\Temporary Projects\ODBC Data Wizard\Form1.vb:line 7
       at System.EventHandler.Invoke(Object sender, EventArgs e)
       at System.Windows.Forms.Form.OnLoad(EventArgs e)
       at System.Windows.Forms.Form.OnCreateControl()
       at System.Windows.Forms.Control.CreateControl(Boolean fIgnoreVisible)
       at System.Windows.Forms.Control.CreateControl()
       at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WmShowWindow(Message& m)
       at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WndProc(Message& m)
       at System.Windows.Forms.ScrollableControl.WndProc(Mes sage& m)
       at System.Windows.Forms.ContainerControl.WndProc(Mess age& m)
       at System.Windows.Forms.Form.WmShowWindow(Message& m)
       at System.Windows.Forms.Form.WndProc(Message& m)
       at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.O nMessage(Message& m)
       at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.W ndProc(Message& m)
       at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.DebuggableCallba ck(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)
       at System.Windows.Forms.SafeNativeMethods.ShowWindow( HandleRef hWnd, Int32 nCmdShow)
       at System.Windows.Forms.Control.SetVisibleCore(Boolea n value)
       at System.Windows.Forms.Form.SetVisibleCore(Boolean value)
       at System.Windows.Forms.Control.set_Visible(Boolean value)
       at System.Windows.Forms.Application.ThreadContext.Run MessageLoopInner(Int32 reason, ApplicationContext context)
       at System.Windows.Forms.Application.ThreadContext.Run MessageLoop(Int32 reason, ApplicationContext context)
       at System.Windows.Forms.Application.Run(ApplicationCo ntext context)
       at Microsoft.VisualBasic.ApplicationServices.WindowsF ormsApplicationBase.OnRun()
       at Microsoft.VisualBasic.ApplicationServices.WindowsF ormsApplicationBase.DoApplicationModel()
       at Microsoft.VisualBasic.ApplicationServices.WindowsF ormsApplicationBase.Run(String[] commandLine)
       at ODBC_Data_Wizard.My.MyApplication.Main(String[] Args) in 17d14f5c-a337-4978-8281-53493378c1071.vb:line 81
       at System.AppDomain._nExecuteAssembly(Assembly assembly, String[] args)
       at System.AppDomain.ExecuteAssembly(String assemblyFile, Evidence assemblySecurity, String[] args)
       at Microsoft.VisualStudio.HostingProcess.HostProc.Run UsersAssembly()
       at System.Threading.ThreadHelper.ThreadStart_Context( Object state)
       at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(ExecutionCon text executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state)
       at System.Threading.ThreadHelper.ThreadStart()

The offending code follows:

For intIndex = 0 To customersDs1.Tables("Customers.csv").Rows.Count - 1
            If customersDs1.Tables("Customers.csv").Rows(intIndex ).Item( _
                "CustomerID") = cboCompanies.SelectedValue Then
                Dim strName As String
                strName = customersDs1.Tables("Customers.csv").Rows(intIndex ).Item( _
                    "First Name") & " " & customersDs1.Tables("Customers.csv").Rows _
                    (intIndex).Item("Last Name")
                txtName.Text = strName
                txtTitle.Text = customersDs1.Tables("Customers.csv").Rows(intIndex ).Item("Job Title")
                txtPhone.Text = customersDs1.Tables("Customers.csv").Rows(intIndex ).Item("Business Phone")
                Exit For
            End If
        Next

I have even tried starting from scratch. When I did get the program to run, I forget how, I ended up with no data.

Any insight or suggestion to fix this problem would be appreciated.

Thanks

Tom

Thomas G Magaro

Thearon · February 19th, 2008, 06:29 AM

Tom,

It sounds like the customersDs1 dataset has not been loaded. You can verify this by setting a breakpoint on the For statement and then hovering your mouse over the customersDs1 dataset in your code. VS will either report it as a dataset or as object reference not set.

Thearon