asked on

handling nullable datatypes when using typed dataset

I have a typed DataSet as my Data Access Layer.

In my BLL, I have the following static method:

public static Support GetJob(int Id)
{
SupportDAL.SupportRequestDataTable dt = sAdapter.GetJob(Id);
Support s = new Support();

if (dt.Count > 0)
{
SupportDAL.SupportRequestRow r = dt[0];

s.AssignedTo = r.IsAssignedToNull() ? <what goes here>: Convert.ToInt16(r.AssignedTo);
// and more stuff goes here
}
return s;
}

s.AssignedTo is of type short and is nullable.
Since my database has null values for "AssignedTo", I need to use IsAssignedToNull(). I am confused on what I should assign to s.AssignedTo if the value is in fact null in the database. see the <what goes here> section in my code.

Please advise.

samtran0331

alot of times for numerics, if I have (and need) nulls in the db, but it comes back to code into a numeric variable, I'll re-assign to -1

samtran0331

...of course using negative one doesn't work if negative one is a valid value for the field,
but I find that using -1 works well with foreign keys and bits in the db...

IUAATech

ASKER

since I have indicated that "AssignedTo" is nullable, why can't I do something like:
s.AssignedTo = r.IsAssignedToNull() ? null : Convert.ToInt16(r.AssignedTo);

and what do you do for datetime?

IUAATech

ASKER

A thought:

can I do something like:
s.AssignedTo = r.IsAssignedToNull() ? s.AssignedTo : Convert.ToInt16(r.AssignedTo);

This compiles and seems to work since s.AssignedTo is null to start with.

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

samtran0331

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IUAATech

ASKER

ah ok. I get it.

Thanks.