DBNull.Value Field

Definition

Namespace:

System

Assembly:

System.Runtime.dll

Source:

DBNull.cs

Represents the sole instance of the DBNull class.

public: static initonly DBNull ^ Value;

public static readonly DBNull Value;

 staticval mutable Value : DBNull

Public Shared ReadOnly Value As DBNull 

Field Value

DBNull

Examples

The following example calls the DBNull.Value.Equals method to determine whether a database field in a contacts database has a valid value. If it does, the field value is appended to the string output in a label.

private void OutputLabels(DataTable dt)
{
   string label;

   // Iterate rows of table
   foreach (DataRow row in dt.Rows)
   {
      int labelLen;
      label = String.Empty;
      label += AddFieldValue(label, row, "Title");
      label += AddFieldValue(label, row, "FirstName");
      label += AddFieldValue(label, row, "MiddleInitial");
      label += AddFieldValue(label, row, "LastName");
      label += AddFieldValue(label, row, "Suffix");
      label += "\n";
      label += AddFieldValue(label, row, "Address1");
      label += AddFieldValue(label, row, "AptNo");
      label += "\n";
      labelLen = label.Length;
      label += AddFieldValue(label, row, "Address2");
      if (label.Length != labelLen)
         label += "\n";
      label += AddFieldValue(label, row, "City");
      label += AddFieldValue(label, row, "State");
      label += AddFieldValue(label, row, "Zip");
      Console.WriteLine(label);
      Console.WriteLine();
   }
}

private string AddFieldValue(string label, DataRow row,
                             string fieldName)
{
   if (! DBNull.Value.Equals(row[fieldName]))
      return (string) row[fieldName] + " ";
   else
      return String.Empty;
}

member this.OutputLabels(dt: DataTable) =
    let mutable label = ""

    // Iterate rows of table
    for row in dt.Rows do
        let mutable label = String.Empty
        label <- label + this.AddFieldValue(label, row, "Title")
        label <- label + this.AddFieldValue(label, row, "FirstName")
        label <- label + this.AddFieldValue(label, row, "MiddleInitial")
        label <- label + this.AddFieldValue(label, row, "LastName")
        label <- label + this.AddFieldValue(label, row, "Suffix")
        label <- label + "\n"
        label <- label + this.AddFieldValue(label, row, "Address1")
        label <- label + this.AddFieldValue(label, row, "AptNo")
        label <- label + "\n"
        let labelLen = label.Length
        label <- label + this.AddFieldValue(label, row, "Address2")
        let labelLen =
            if label.Length <> labelLen then
                label + "\n"
            else label
        label <- label + this.AddFieldValue(label, row, "City")
        label <- label + this.AddFieldValue(label, row, "State")
        label <- label + this.AddFieldValue(label, row, "Zip")
        printfn $"{label}"
        printfn ""

member _.AddFieldValue(label: string, row: DataRow, fieldName: string) =
    if DBNull.Value.Equals row[fieldName] |> not then
        (string row[fieldName]) + " "
    else
        String.Empty

Private Sub OUtputLabels(dt As DataTable)
   Dim label As String 

   ' Iterate rows of table
   For Each row As DataRow In dt.Rows
      Dim labelLen As Integer
      label = String.Empty
      label += AddFieldValue(label, row, "Title")
      label += AddFieldValue(label, row, "FirstName")
      label += AddFieldValue(label, row, "MiddleInitial")
      label += AddFieldValue(label, row, "LastName")
      label += AddFieldValue(label, row, "Suffix")
      label += vbCrLf
      label += AddFieldValue(label, row, "Address1")
      label += AddFieldValue(label, row, "AptNo")
      label += vbCrLf
      labelLen = Len(label)
      label += AddFieldValue(label, row, "Address2")
      If Len(label) <> labelLen Then label += vbCrLf
      label += AddFieldValue(label, row, "City")
      label += AddFieldValue(label, row, "State")
      label += AddFieldValue(label, row, "Zip")
      Console.WriteLine(label)
      Console.WriteLine()
   Next
End Sub

Private Function AddFieldValue(label As String, row As DataRow, _
                          fieldName As String) As String
   If Not DbNull.Value.Equals(row.Item(fieldName)) Then
      Return CStr(row.Item(fieldName)) & " "
   Else
      Return Nothing
   End If
End Function

Remarks

DBNull is a singleton class, which means only this instance of this class can exist.

If a database field has missing data, you can use the DBNull.Value property to explicitly assign a DBNull object value to the field. However, most data providers do this automatically.

To evaluate database fields to determine whether their values are DBNull, you can pass the field value to the DBNull.Value.Equals method. However, this method is rarely used because there are a number of other ways to evaluate a database field for missing data. These include the Visual Basic IsDBNull function, the Convert.IsDBNull method, the DataTableReader.IsDBNull method, the IDataRecord.IsDBNull method, and several other methods.