Question

i have created an app that basically looks for blob records on a mysql server problem i have is that if for whatever reason the blob field is empty the app crashes. I thought on something like

i currently have

byte[] data = (byte[])DbReader[2];

but i was wondering if there is any way to do something like

if (DbReader.IsDbNull(2)
    byte[] data = /* DEFAULT VALUE */
else
    byte[] data = (byte[])DbReader[2];

but can i set a default value?? everything ive tried fails 🙁

Answer 1

How about this:

byte[] data = null;

Arrays are reference types so you can assign null to them. Later on you will be able see if data is null just like this:

if(data != null)
{
    //there is data inside that array, you can go ahead and use it.
}

EDIT: simplification

You could simplicate your code like this:

byte[] data = DbReader.IsDbNull(2) ? null : (byte[])DbReader[2];