Question

System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance
of an object.

Am getting this error whenever am trying to read the xml file.

public static DataSet orads;    
String path = Directory.GetCurrentDirectory();
path = path + "\\Mailconfig.xml";

orads.ReadXml(path);

I placed the xml file in bin folder of the application.
I couldnt find what mistake I made.

Answer 1

you haven’t initialized orads, you have just declared it, that is why you are getting the exception.

The following line only declare a DataSet it has not been assigned any value. Currently it is holding null

public static DataSet orads;

Later you are calling an instance method ReadXml on null object that is why you are getting the exception.

You need to instantiate it before using.

orads = new DataSet();

Or you may instantiate it with declaration.

public static DataSet orads = new DataSet();