NullReferenceException Class

A NullReferenceException exception is thrown when you try to access a member on a type whose value is null. The following example illustrates one such scenario:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;

public class Example
{
   public static void Main(string[] args)
   {
      int value = Int32.Parse(args[0]);
      List<String> names;
      if (value > 0)
         names = new List<String>();

      names.Add("Major Major Major");       
   }
}
// Compilation displays a warning like the following: 
//    Example1.vb(10) : warning BC42104: Variable //names// is used before it  
//    has been assigned a value. A null reference exception could result  
//    at runtime. 
//     
//          names.Add("Major Major Major")
//          ~~~~~ 
// The example displays output like the following output: 
//    Unhandled Exception: System.NullReferenceException: Object reference  
//    not set to an instance of an object. 
//       at Example.Main()

Some compilers issue a warning when they compile this code. Others issue an error, and the compilation fails. To address this problem, instantiate the object so that its value is no longer null. The following example does this by calling a type's class constructor.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;

public class Example
{
   public static void Main()
   {
      List<String> names = new List<String>();
      names.Add("Major Major Major");
   }
}

More commonly, a NullReferenceException exception is thrown by a method that is passed null. Some methods validate the arguments that are passed to them. If they do and one of the arguments is null, the method throws an System.ArgumentNullException exception. Otherwise, it throws a NullReferenceException exception. The following example illustrates this scenario.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;

public class Example
{
   public static void Main()
   {
      List<String> names = GetData();
      PopulateNames(names);
   }

   private static void PopulateNames(List<String> names)
   {
      String[] arrNames = { "Dakota", "Samuel", "Nikita",
                            "Koani", "Saya", "Yiska", "Yumaevsky" };
      foreach (var arrName in arrNames)
         names.Add(arrName);
   }

   private static List<String> GetData() 
   {
      return null;   

   }
}
// The example displays output like the following: 
//    Unhandled Exception: System.NullReferenceException: Object reference  
//    not set to an instance of an object. 
//       at Example.PopulateNames(List`1 names) 
//       at Example.Main()

To address this issue, make sure that the argument passed to the method is not null, or handle the thrown exception in a try…catch…finally block. For more information, see Handling and Throwing Exceptions.

The following Microsoft intermediate language (MSIL) instructions throw NullReferenceException: callvirt, cpblk, cpobj, initblk, ldelem.<type>, ldelema, ldfld, ldflda, ldind.<type>, ldlen, stelem.<type>, stfld, stind.<type>, throw, and unbox.

NullReferenceException uses the HRESULT COR_E_NULLREFERENCE, which has the value 0x80004003.

For a list of initial property values for an instance of NullReferenceException, see the NullReferenceException constructors.

.NET Framework

.NET Framework Client Profile

Portable Class Library

.NET for Windows Store apps

Windows 8, Windows Server 2012, Windows 7, Windows Vista SP2, Windows Server 2008 (Server Core Role not supported), Windows Server 2008 R2 (Server Core Role supported with SP1 or later; Itanium not supported)

The .NET Framework does not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.

Reference

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