Android Question Null not evaluating as Null

Computersmith64 · Aug 4, 2017

Upfront disclaimer: I've been working on my latest project pretty hard for the past few weeks, so I'm getting very tired...

I have a sub that takes a String argument & returns a bitmap. I perform a test on the string to see if it's Null & if it isn't loads the file in the string, else it loads a default image:

B4X:

'In my AppUtils module
Public Sub getMarkerIcon(icon As String) As Bitmap
    Private iconImg As Bitmap
   
    If icon <> Null Then 
        iconImg.Initialize(File.DirAssets, icon) 
    Else 
        iconImg.Initialize(File.DirAssets, "icon_default.png")
    End If
   
    Return CreateScaledBitmap(iconImg, 25dip, 25dip)
End Sub

I call this function from a couple of different places in my Main activity. In one call I use the result from a query & in the other I just pass Null, or a String set to Null.

B4X:

    Private icon As String = Starter.sqlDB.ExecQuerySingleResult2("SELECT GroupIcon FROM tblGroups WHERE GroupName=?", Array As String(group))
    Private m1 As Marker = gmap.AddMarker3(lat, lon, title, AppUtils.getMarkerIcon(icon))

'AND

    Private m1 As Marker = gmap.AddMarker3(lat, lon, title, AppUtils.getMarkerIcon(Null))
'OR
    Private icon as String = Null
    Private m1 As Marker = gmap.AddMarker3(lat, lon, title, AppUtils.getMarkerIcon(icon))

So here's the problem. In the first call (where "icon" is the result of the query) if the query returns Null, it works fine - BUT - if I pass Null, the If statement evaluates to true & the app crashes.

According to the documentation, the return type from ExecQueryResult2 is either a String, or Null. The variable ("icon") receiving the return value from the query is a String. Even if I declare a String, assign Null to it & then pass it to the sub, it still crashes. If I change the sub argument type to Object, it works fine.

Why does it work when a String that has been set to Null by ExecQuerySingleResult2 is passed, but not when a String that has been set to Null (or just Null) is passed?

- Colin.

Star-Dust · Aug 4, 2017

I solved every problem as I did:

B4X:

Public Sub getMarkerIcon(icon As String) As Bitmap
    Private iconImg As Bitmap
  
    Try
        iconImg.Initialize(File.DirAssets, icon)
    Catch
        iconImg.Initialize(File.DirAssets, "icon_default.png")
    End Try
  
    Return CreateScaledBitmap(iconImg, 25dip, 25dip)
End Sub

So no matter what returns, null or empty ... goes wrong and passes to the standard image

Computersmith64 · Aug 4, 2017

Star-Dust said:
I solved every problem as I did:

B4X:

Public Sub getMarkerIcon(icon As String) As Bitmap Private iconImg As Bitmap Try iconImg.Initialize(File.DirAssets, icon) Catch iconImg.Initialize(File.DirAssets, "icon_default.png") End Try Return CreateScaledBitmap(iconImg, 25dip, 25dip) End Sub

So no matter what returns, null or empty ... goes wrong and passes to the standard image

Yep - that will work, as does changing "icon As String" to "icon As Object" - but I'm still keen to know why it doesn't work when icon is declared as a String...

I know that Erel will probably have a perfectly logical explanation as to why. I'd like to know what it is!

- Colin.

Star-Dust · Aug 4, 2017

I like this

B4X:

Public Sub getMarkerIcon(iconfile As String) As Bitmap
   Try
      Return CreateScaledBitmap(LoadBitmap(File.DirAssets, iconfile), 25dip, 25dip)
   Catch
      Return CreateScaledBitmap(LoadBitmap(File.DirAssets, "icon_default.png"), 25dip, 25dip)
   End Try
End Sub

Star-Dust · Aug 4, 2017

Add Log(IconFile)
so can see what return

Computersmith64 said:
Yep - that will work, as does changing "icon As String" to "icon As Object" - but I'm still keen to know why it doesn't work when icon is declared as a String...

I know that Erel will probably have a perfectly logical explanation as to why. I'd like to know what it is!

- Colin.

Computersmith64 · Aug 4, 2017

Star-Dust said:
Add Log(IconFile)
so can see what return

It's not the return value that's the problem - it's the value of "icon". When it's declared as a String & I pass Null to it, the statement:

B4X:

    If icon <> Null

evaluates to True - even though when I put a Log(icon) statement before it the log shows Null.

- Colin.

Star-Dust · Aug 4, 2017

Icon=Null or icon="Null", becouse is different

Computersmith64 · Aug 4, 2017

Star-Dust said:

I lime this

B4X:

Public Sub getMarkerIcon(iconfile As String) As Bitmap
   Try
      Return CreateScaledBitmap(LoadBitmap(File.DirAssets, iconfile), 25dip, 25dip)
   Catch
      Return CreateScaledBitmap(LoadBitmap(File.DirAssets, "icon_default.png"), 25dip, 25dip)
   End Try
End Sub

Also - my preference is not to write code that will intentionally trigger an exception. There are times when it is acceptable to pass Null to this sub so I don't want to trigger an exception every time I do.

- Colin.

Star-Dust · Aug 4, 2017

Try also
If isNull(icon) Then

Computersmith64 · Aug 4, 2017

Star-Dust said:
Icon=Null or icon="Null", becouse is different

Yes - I'm aware of that. The result of the query generates either a String or Null (not "Null") & I am passing Null (not "Null").

- Colin.

Computersmith64 · Aug 4, 2017

Star-Dust said:
Try also
If isNull(icon) Then

There is no isNull function in B4A...

- Colin.

Star-Dust · Aug 4, 2017

Now Exist

B4X:

Sub IsNull(O as Object) ad Boolean
     Return (O=Null)
End Sub

Star-Dust · Aug 4, 2017

Computersmith64 said:
Also - my preference is not to write code that will intentionally trigger an exception. There are times when it is acceptable to pass Null to this sub so I don't want to trigger an exception every time I do.

- Colin.

This is your preference, but sometimes managing exceptions appears to be the most practical solution is more reasonable. That does not make you waste precious time

Computersmith64 · Aug 4, 2017

Star-Dust said:
Now Exist

B4X:

Sub IsNull(O as Object) ad Boolean Return (O=Null) End Sub

Yeah - but I can achieve the same thing by just declaring:

B4X:

    Public Sub getMarkerIcon(icon as Object) as Bitmap

So I already have a workaround, but I want to know why Null evaluates differently between 2 different strings. What is is that makes ExecQuerySingleResult return a "true" Null, but passing Null doesn't work?

- Colin.

Computersmith64 · Aug 4, 2017

Star-Dust said:
This is your preference, but sometimes managing exceptions appears to be the most practical solution is more reasonable. That does not make you waste precious time

I use Try Catch End Try blocks in my code all the time to catch unintended exceptions - but I don't like intentionally triggering them. I'd rather write code that only triggers exceptions when something unanticipated happens.

- Colin.

stevel05 · Aug 4, 2017

It may or may not help, but there is a discussion about it here: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/4260723/concatenating-null-strings-in-java

Computersmith64 · Aug 4, 2017

stevel05 said:
It may or may not help, but there is a discussion about it here: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/4260723/concatenating-null-strings-in-java

Thanks - that does explain why assigning Null to a string doesn't work (because it gets converted to "Null"), but it doesn't explain how ExecQuerySingleResult is able to assign Null to a string variable without it being converted to a string.

- Colin.

Star-Dust · Aug 4, 2017

Computersmith64 said:
Yes - I'm aware of that. The result of the query generates either a String or Null (not "Null") & I am passing Null (not "Null").

- Colin.

I had posed with the question specifically because often I also found that the string assumes the "Null" value

Star-Dust · Aug 4, 2017

Computersmith64 said:
Thanks - that does explain why assigning Null to a string doesn't work (because it gets converted to "Null"), but it doesn't explain how ExecQuerySingleResult is able to assign Null to a string variable without it being converted to a string.

- Colin.

Probably the value that returns ExecQuerySingleResult is not a string but an object, because it could also return a numeric value, or any other type contained in the database

Computersmith64 · Aug 4, 2017

Star-Dust said:
Probably the value that returns ExecQuerySingleResult is not a string but an object, because it could also return a numeric value, or any other type contained in the database

That could be true, in which case the documentation is incorrect because it states that the return type is String.

- Colin.

Android Question Null not evaluating as Null

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