VB.NET null coalescing operator?
vb.netNull Coalescing-Operatorvb.net Problem Overview
> Possible Duplicates:
> Coalesce operator and Conditional operator in VB.NET
> Is there a VB.NET equivalent for C#'s ?? operator?
Is there a built-in VB.NET equivalent to the C# null coalescing operator?
vb.net Solutions
Solution 1 - vb.net
Yes, there is, a long as you're using VB 9 or later (included with Visual Studio 2008).
You can use the version of the If operator overloaded to accept only two arguments:
Dim myVar? As Integer = Nothing
Console.WriteLine(If(myVar, 7))
More information can be found here in a blog post by the VB.NET team.
(Yes, this is an operator, even though it looks like a function. It will compile down to the same IL as the "proper" null-coalescing operator in C#.)
Example
Dim b As Boolean?
Console.WriteLine("{0}.", If(b, "this is expected when b is nothing"))
'output: this is expected when b is nothing.
b = False
Console.WriteLine("{0}.", If(b, "this is unexpected when b is false"))
'output: False.
b = True
Console.WriteLine("{0}.", If(b, "this is unexpected when b is true"))
'output: True.
Solution 2 - vb.net
Solution 3 - vb.net
No. Use GetValueOrDefault; that's why it's there!
Solution 4 - vb.net
I don't believe that there is a built in VB.Net equivalent, but here's an answer: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/4594446/null-coalesce-operator-in-vb-net8