test if a byte array is empty in C#

Question

I have a function to get data from a network endpoint

public Byte[] GetData(string ip, int port ,Byte [] query, int responseLen)
{            
    Connection connection = GetConnection(ip,port);
    Byte[] data;
    try
    {
        data = connection.GetData(query, responseLen);
    }
    catch(IOException e)
    {
        //return an empty array
        data = new Byte[] { };
    }
    return data;
}

In case there is an exception from GetData function I am returning an empty array to the caller of GetData function.

I want to know how the caller can test if the byte array returned is empty or non-empty

check if is not null and if length > 0 – Nkosi Aug 09 '17 at 03:40 — Nkosi, Aug 09 '17 at 03:40
null and empty are not the same thing. Be careful. – nicomp Aug 09 '17 at 03:41 — nicomp, Aug 09 '17 at 03:41

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Aug 09 '17 at 03:50

1

Don't forget about the (new) null propagation operator! The shortest check is

if (data?.Length > 0)
{
    //Data were returned
}
else
{
    //An error occurred
}

If you're on an older version of c# you can use Prabhath's answer.

answered Aug 09 '17 at 03:50

John Wu

50,556
8
44
80

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 09 '17 at 03:43

0

if (data != null  && data.Length > 0)

try this

answered Aug 09 '17 at 03:43

Prabhath Withanage

202
2
10

test if a byte array is empty in C#

2 Answers2