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By Tina |Last Updated
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What is object reference not set to an instance of an object? How to solve the error of object reference not set to an instance of an object utility? This post from MiniTool will show you the answers.
What Is Object Reference Not Set to an Instance of an Object?
Some C#/.Net beginners have reported that they come across the error of object reference no set to an instance of an object. In fact, the object reference not set to an instance of an object is one of the most common errors when developing .NET applications. This infamous and dreaded error message happens when you get a NullReferenceException. This exception is thrown when you try to access a member, such as a method or a property – on a variable that currently holds a null reference.
We have learned that the nullreferenceexception:object reference not set to an instance of an object is caused by a null reference. So, do you know what a null reference is?
A null reference means that it does not point to any object. Null reference errors are responsible for a good percentage of all application bugs. They are usually very simple problems caused by not adding additional logic to ensure that objects have valid values before using them.
So, when you encounter the error of utility object reference not set to an instance of an object, do you know how to fix it? How to avoid this error?
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How to Avoid Object Reference Not Set to an Instance of an Object?
Therefore, in this part, we will show you how to avoid object reference not set to an instance of an object. To avoid the issue of object reference not set to an instance of an object, you can take several measures. Now, we will show some of them.
1. Explicitly check for null and ignore null values.
If you expect the reference sometimes to be null, you can check for it being null before accessing instance members.
2. Explicitly check for null and provide a default value.
In order to avoid object reference not set to an instance of an object, you can choose to check for the null and provide a default value.
3. Explicitly check fornullfrom method calls and throw a custom exception.
In this measure, you can choose to throw a custom exception, only to catch it in the calling codes.
4. UseDebug.Assertif a value should never benull, to catch the problem earlier than the exception occurs.
If you have known that a method can be null but it never should be during the development, then you can choose to use the Debug.Assert() to break as soon as possible when it does occur.
5. Take advantage of the null coalescing operator:??[C#] orIf()[VB].
In order to avoid the error of object reference not set to an instance of an object, you can also choose to take advantage of the null coalescing operator.
6. Take Advantage of Null Context.
In order to avoid the error of utility reference not set to an instance of object, you can choose to use the null context.
Of course, in order to avoid nullreferenceexception:object reference not set to an instance of an object, you can take other measures.
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Final Words
To sum up, this post has shown what the error of object reference not set to an instance of an object is and what causes this error. In addition, this post also shows some measures to avoid this error. If you have any different ideas, you can share it in the comment zone.
About The Author
Tina
Position: Columnist
Tina is a technology enthusiast and joined MiniTool in 2018. As an editor of MiniTool, she is keeping on sharing computer tips and providing reliable solutions, especially specializing in Windows and files backup and restore. Besides, she is expanding her knowledge and skills in data recovery, disk space optimizations, etc. On her spare time, Tina likes to watch movies, go shopping or chat with friends and enjoy her life.
