Question

I have implemented the IEquatable interface in a class with the following code.

        public bool Equals(ClauseBE other)
        {
            if (this._id == other._id)
            {
                return true;
            }
            return false;
        }

        public override bool Equals(Object obj)
        {
            if (obj == null)
            {
                return base.Equals(obj);
            }

            if (!(obj is ClauseBE))
            {
                throw new InvalidCastException("The 'obj' argument is not a ClauseBE object.");
            }

            return Equals(obj as ClauseBE);
        }

        public override int GetHashCode()
        {
            return this._id.GetHashCode();
        }

        public static bool operator ==(ClauseBE a, ClauseBE b)
        {
            // cast to object so we call the overloaded Equals function which appropriately checks when b is null.
            return a.Equals(b as object);
        }

        public static bool operator !=(ClauseBE a, ClauseBE b)
        {
            // cast to object so we call the overloaded Equals function which appropriately checks when b is null.
            return !a.Equals(b as object);
        }

This code work very well for most all cases. However, the following check throws an exception in the equality operator overload method because a is null and therefore does not have a Equals method.

if(this.Clause != null)
{

}

What is the standard way to solve this issue?

EDIT

I have gone to this, but it seems pretty cumbersome. I was hoping there was a more elegant way to accomplish this.

    public static bool operator ==(ClauseBE a, ClauseBE b)
    {
        if (a as object == null && b as object == null)
        {
            return true;
        }

        if ((a as object == null && b as object != null)
            || (b as object == null && a as object != null))
        {
            return false;
        }

        // cast to object so we call the overloaded Equals function which appropriately checks when b is null.
        return a.Equals(b as object);
    }

    public static bool operator !=(ClauseBE a, ClauseBE b)
    {
        if (a as object == null && b as object == null)
        {
            return false;
        }

        if((a as object == null && b as object != null)
            || (b as object == null && a as object != null))
        {
            return true;
        }

        // cast to object so we call the overloaded Equals function which appropriately checks when b is null.
        return !a.Equals(b as object);
    }

Solution

Thanks all. I got a lot of good tips from everyone, I really appreciate it. This is what I finally settled on, it’s a lot more elegant than what I had started with. All code is the same except operator overloads.

public static bool operator ==(ClauseBE a, ClauseBE b)
{
    if (ReferenceEquals(a, null) && ReferenceEquals(b, null))
    {
        return true;
    }

    if (ReferenceEquals(a, null) || ReferenceEquals(b, null))
    {
        return false;
    }

    return a.Equals(b);
}

public static bool operator !=(ClauseBE a, ClauseBE b)
{
    return !(a == b);
}

Answer 1

I’ve always found it easier to write the static operator with null handling, and have the Equals override call the overloaded operator with “this” as one of the parameters.

From Guidelines for Overloading Equals() and Operator == (C# Programming Guide)

//add this code to class ThreeDPoint as defined previously
//
public static bool operator ==(ThreeDPoint a, ThreeDPoint b)
{
    // If both are null, or both are same instance, return true.
    if (System.Object.ReferenceEquals(a, b))
    {
        return true;
    }

    // If one is null, but not both, return false.
    if (((object)a == null) || ((object)b == null))
    {
        return false;
    }

    // Return true if the fields match:
    return a.x == b.x && a.y == b.y && a.z == b.z;
}

public static bool operator !=(ThreeDPoint a, ThreeDPoint b)
{
    return !(a == b);
}