Question

Goal:

1. order records by ‘start_date’
2. select first record
3. get the id of the record returned

When I attempt to order all events by ‘start_date’ and select the first record returned …

code examples:

        var aa = (from a in db.Events
              where a.start_date >= System.DateTime.Now.Date
              orderby a.start_date ascending
              select a).FirstOrDefault();

        Response.Write(aa.id.ToString());

…I throw an “Object reference not set to an instance of an object.” error.

Answer 1

FirstOrDefault() returns null if your IQuerable returns an empty collection – that’s why you get that exception. Looks like there is no event that has a start date larger than DateTime.Now.Date