FirstOrDefault returns NullReferenceException if no match is found

Question

Here is my code:

string displayName = Dictionary.FirstOrDefault(x => x.Value.ID == long.Parse(options.ID)).Value.DisplayName;

The code works

Answer 1

FirstOrDefault returns the default value of a type if no item matches the predicate. For reference types that is null. Thats the reason for the exception.

So you just have to check for null first:

string displayName = null;
var keyValue = Dictionary
    .FirstOrDefault(x => x.Value.ID == long.Parse(options.ID));
if(keyValue  != null)
{
    displayName = keyValue.Value.DisplayName;
} 

But what is the key of the dictionary if you are searching in the values? A Dictionary<tKey,TValue> is used to find a value by the key. Maybe you should refactor it.

Another option is to provide a default value with DefaultIfEmpty:

string displayName = Dictionary
    .Where(kv => kv.Value.ID == long.Parse(options.ID))
    .Select(kv => kv.Value.DisplayName)   // not a problem even if no item matches
    .DefaultIfEmpty("--Option unknown--") // or no argument -> null
    .First();                             // cannot cause an exception

Answer 2

You can use a combination of other LINQ methods to handle not matching condition:

var res = dictionary.Where(x => x.Value.ID == someID)
                    .Select(x => x.Value.DisplayName)
                    .DefaultIfEmpty("Unknown")
                    .First();

Answer 3

Simply use the question mark trick for null checks:

string displayName = Dictionary.FirstOrDefault(x => x.Value.ID == long.Parse(options.ID))?.Value.DisplayName ?? "DEFINE A DEFAULT DISPLAY NAME HERE";

Answer 4

To add to the solutions, here is a LINQ statement that might help

Utilities.DIMENSION_MemTbl.Where(a => a.DIMENSION_ID == format.ContentBrief.DimensionID).Select(a=>a.DIMENSION1).DefaultIfEmpty("").FirstOrDefault();

The result will be an empty string if the result of the query is a null..

Answer 5

That is because FirstOrDefaultcan return null causing your following .Value to cause the exception. You need to change it to something like:

var myThing = things.FirstOrDefault(t => t.Id == idToFind);

if(myThing == null)
    return; // we failed to find what we wanted
var displayName = myThing.DisplayName;

Answer 6

Use the SingleOrDefault() instead of FirstOrDefault().