Question

I’m trying to write the VBScript equivalent of a function similar to what’s below:

object getObject(str)
{
    if ( ... )
    {
        return object_goes_here;
    }

    return null;
}

My guess would be below, except that I’m not understanding the difference between Nothing and Null. As a caller, I’d rather test if the return value is set by using IsNull() versus X Is Nothing.

Function getObject(str)
    If ... Then
        Set getObject = object_goes_here
        Exit Function
    End If

    Set getObject = Nothing  // <-- or should this be Null?
End Function

Answer 1

The correct way to not return an object is to return Nothing and test for Is Nothing.

VB’s Null is a special value of type Variant/Null. There are other special values, such as Variant/Empty or Variant/Error. They all have their use, but it’s not the one.