Why doesn't NullReferenceException give the name of the identifier?

Asked May 21 '15 at 22:39

Active May 21 '15 at 22:39

Viewed 71 times

This happens to me all the time. I have some code that breaks at run time with a NullReferenceException:

I am told the source file and the line number, but not the actual location of the attempted reference to whatever turned out to be null, in this case I can't tell if it's _request or Banker.

What's is the fundamental reason such valuable information has been omitted?

asked May 21 '15 at 22:39

Aaron Anodide

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Local symbol names are not included in the compiled assembly meta-data. – Dai May 21 '15 at 22:41
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Of course, in this particular example you know that the `Banker` is the problem just by looking at the code... – Jon May 21 '15 at 22:43
@Jon, derrr - you're right of course – Aaron Anodide May 21 '15 at 22:44
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What would the name of the "identifier" be for `((object) null).GetType()`? – dcastro May 21 '15 at 22:45
@dcastro "Identifier at line 10 position 8". – Athari May 21 '15 at 22:49
@Discord Don't you get that if you have the PDB? – Michael Stum May 21 '15 at 23:00
@MichaelStum I don't think I get the position in the line... – Athari May 21 '15 at 23:01

Why doesn't NullReferenceException give the name of the identifier?

0 Answers0