LINQ query returning null results - linq

Question

I have the following code
nodes = data.Descendants(XName.Get("{http://schemas.microsoft.com/LiveSearch/2008/04/XML/web}Results")).Nodes();
System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable<Result> res = new List<Result>();
if (nodes.Count() > 0)
{
var results = from uris in nodes
select new Result
{
URL =
((XElement)uris).Element(XName.Get("{http://schemas.microsoft.com/LiveSearch/2008/04/XML/web}Url")).Value,
Title =
((XElement)uris).Element(XName.Get("{http://schemas.microsoft.com/LiveSearch/2008/04/XML/web}Title")).Value,
Description =
((XElement)uris).Element(XName.Get("{http://schemas.microsoft.com/LiveSearch/2008/04/XML/web}Description")).Value,
DateTime =
((XElement)uris).Element(XName.Get("{http://schemas.microsoft.com/LiveSearch/2008/04/XML/web}DateTime")).Value,
};
res = results;
}
Where Results is a object who has those URL, Title, Description, and DateTime variables defined.
This all works fine normally, but when a 'node' in nodes doesnt contain a Description element (or at least I think thats whats throwing it) the program hits the "res = results;"
line of code and throws a 'object reference not set to...' error and highlights the whole section right after "select new Results"..
How do I fix this?

Answer 1

The simplest way is to cast to string instead of using the Value property. That way you'll end up with a null reference for the Description instead.
However, your code can also be made a lot nicer:
XNamespace ns = "http://schemas.microsoft.com/LiveSearch/2008/04/XML/web";
var results = data.Descendants(ns + "Results")
.Elements()
.Select(x => new Result
{
URL = (string) x.Element(ns + "Url"),
Title = (string) x.Element(ns + "Title"),
Description = (string) x.Element(ns + "Description"),
DateTime = (string) x.Element(ns + "DateTime")
})
.ToList();
See how much simpler that is? Techiques used:
Calling ToList() on an empty sequence gives you a list anyway
This way you'll only ever perform the query once; before you were calling Count() which would potentially have iterated over each node. In general, use Any() instead of Count() > 0) - but this time just making the list unconditional is simpler.
Use the Elements() method to get child elements, rather than casting multiple times. (Your previous code would have thrown an exception if it had encountered any non-element nodes)
Use the implicit conversion from string to XNamespace
Use the +(XNamespace, string) operator to get an XName

Answer 2

If the Description element is not included you should test if this
((XElement)uris).Element(XName.Get("{http://schemas.microsoft.com/LiveSearch/2008/04/XML/web}Description"))
is not null before using Value. Try this code:
var results = from uris in nodes let des = ((XElement)uris).Element(XName.Get("{http://schemas.microsoft.com/LiveSearch/2008/04/XML/web}Description"))
select new Result
{
URL = ((XElement)uris).Element(XName.Get("{http://schemas.microsoft.com/LiveSearch/2008/04/XML/web}Url")).Value,
Title = ((XElement)uris).Element(XName.Get("{http://schemas.microsoft.com/LiveSearch/2008/04/XML/web}Title")).Value,
Description = (des != null) ? des.Value : string.Empty,
DateTime = ((XElement)uris).Element(XName.Get("{http://schemas.microsoft.com/LiveSearch/2008/04/XML/web}DateTime")).Value,
};