How to handle NullReferenceException in a foreach loop?

Question

I always get this error code. I know what is the problem but I don't know why. I guess my Model is NULL but in my opinion, it is not null. The error code:

An unhandled exception occurred while processing the request. NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

Something is wrong here: @foreach(var emp in Model)

My View:

@model IEnumerable<CRUDDemo.Models.EmployeeInfo>
@{
    ViewData["Title"] = "Index";
    Layout = "~/Views/Shared/_Layout.cshtml";
}

<h1>Index</h1>

<p>
    <a asp-action="Create">Create New</a>
</p>

@*For Display Employee Info*@
<table class="table table-striped">
    <thead>
        <tr>
            <th>
                @Html.DisplayNameFor(model => model.Name)
            </th>
            <th>
                @Html.DisplayNameFor(model => model.Gender)
            </th>
            <th>
                @Html.DisplayNameFor(model => model.Company)
            </th>
            <th>
                @Html.DisplayNameFor(model => model.Department)
            </th>
        </tr>
    </thead>
    <tbody>
        @foreach(var emp in Model)
        {
        <tr>
            <td>
                @Html.DisplayFor(modelItem => emp.Name)
            </td>
            <td>
                @Html.DisplayFor(modelItem => emp.Gender)
            </td>
            <td>
                @Html.DisplayFor(modelItem => emp.Company)
            </td>
            <td>
                @Html.DisplayFor(modelItem => emp.Department)
            </td>
            <td>
                <a asp-action="Edit" asp-route-id="@emp.ID">Edit</a>
                <a asp-action="Details" asp-route-id="@emp.ID">Details</a>
                <a asp-action="Delete" asp-route-id="@emp.ID">Delete</a>
            </td>
        </tr>
        }
    </tbody>
</table>

My Model:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Data;
using System.Data.SqlClient;
using System.Linq;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

namespace CRUDDemo.Models
{
    public class EmployeeDAL
    {
        string connectionString = "Data Source=LENOVOL470\\SQLEXPRESS;Initial Catalog=EMPLOYEEDB;Persist Security Info=False;User ID=sa;password=123;";

        //Get All
        public IEnumerable<EmployeeInfo> GetAllEmployee()
        {
            List<EmployeeInfo> empList = new List<EmployeeInfo>();

            using (SqlConnection con = new SqlConnection(connectionString))
            {
                SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand("SP_GetAllEmployee", con);
                cmd.CommandType = System.Data.CommandType.StoredProcedure;
                con.Open();
                SqlDataReader dr = cmd.ExecuteReader();
                while (dr.Read())
                {
                    EmployeeInfo emp = new EmployeeInfo();
                    emp.ID = Convert.ToInt32(dr["ID"].ToString());
                    emp.Name = dr["Name"].ToString();
                    emp.Gender = dr["Gender"].ToString();
                    emp.Company = dr["Company"].ToString();
                    emp.Department = dr["Department"].ToString();

                    empList.Add(emp);
                }
                con.Close();
            }
            return empList;
        }

        //To Insert Employee
        public void AddEmployee(EmployeeInfo emp)
        {
            using (SqlConnection con = new SqlConnection(connectionString))
            {
                SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand("SP_InsertEmployee", con);
                cmd.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure;

                cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@Name", emp.Name);
                cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@Gender", emp.Gender);
                cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@Company", emp.Company);
                cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@Department", emp.Department);

                con.Open();
                cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();
                con.Close();
            }
        }

        //To Update Employee
        public void UpdateEmployee(EmployeeInfo emp)
        {
            using (SqlConnection con = new SqlConnection(connectionString))
            {
                SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand("SP_UpdateEmployee", con);
                cmd.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure;

                cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@EmpId", emp.ID);
                cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@Name", emp.Name);
                cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@Gender", emp.Gender);
                cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@Company", emp.Company);
                cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@Department", emp.Department);

                con.Open();
                cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();
                con.Close();
            }
        }

        //To Delete Employeee
        public void DeleteEmployee(int? empId)
        {
            using (SqlConnection con = new SqlConnection(connectionString))
            {
                SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand("SP_DeleteEmployee", con);
                cmd.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure;

                cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@EmpId", empId);

                con.Open();
                cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();
                con.Close();
            }
        }

        //Get Employee by ID
        public EmployeeInfo GetEmployeeById(int? empId)
        {
            EmployeeInfo emp = new EmployeeInfo();

            using (SqlConnection con = new SqlConnection(connectionString))
            {
                SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand("SP_GetEmployeeById", con);
                cmd.CommandType = System.Data.CommandType.StoredProcedure;
                cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@EmpId", empId);
                con.Open();
                SqlDataReader dr = cmd.ExecuteReader();
                while(dr.Read())
                {
                    emp.ID = Convert.ToInt32(dr["ID"].ToString());
                    emp.Name = dr["Name"].ToString();
                    emp.Gender = dr["Gender"].ToString();
                    emp.Company = dr["Company"].ToString();
                    emp.Department = dr["Department"].ToString();
                }
                con.Close();
            }
            return emp;
        }
    }
}

My Controller:

    using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using AspNetCore;
using CRUDDemo.Models;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.ActionConstraints;

namespace CRUDDemo.Controllers
{
    public class EmployeeController : Controller
    {
        EmployeeDAL employeeDAL = new EmployeeDAL();
        public IActionResult Index()
        {
            List<EmployeeInfo> empList = new List<EmployeeInfo>();
            empList = employeeDAL.GetAllEmployee().ToList();
            return View(empList);
        }

        [HttpGet]
        public IActionResult Create()
        {
            return View();
        }

        [HttpPost]
        [ValidateAntiForgeryToken]
        public IActionResult Create([Bind] EmployeeInfo objEmp)
        {
            if (ModelState.IsValid)
            {
                employeeDAL.AddEmployee(objEmp);
                return RedirectToAction("Index");
            }
            return View(objEmp);
        }

        public IActionResult Edit(int? id)
        {
            if (id == null)
            {
                return NotFound();
            }
            EmployeeInfo emp = employeeDAL.GetEmployeeById(id);
            if(emp == null)
            {
                return NotFound();
            }
            return View(emp);
        }

        [HttpPost]
        [ValidateAntiForgeryToken]
        public IActionResult Edit(int? id, [Bind] EmployeeInfo objEmp)
        {
            if (id == null)
            {
                return NotFound();
            }
            if (ModelState.IsValid)
            {
                employeeDAL.UpdateEmployee(objEmp);
                return RedirectToAction("Index");
            }
            return View(employeeDAL);
        }
        [HttpGet]
        public IActionResult Details(int? id)
        {
            if (id == null)
            {
                return NotFound();
            }
            EmployeeInfo emp = employeeDAL.GetEmployeeById(id);
            if (emp == null)
            {
                return NotFound();
            }
            return View(emp);
        }

        public IActionResult Delete(int? id)
        {
            if (id == null)
            {
                return NotFound();
            }
            EmployeeInfo emp = employeeDAL.GetEmployeeById(id);
            if (emp == null)
            {
                return NotFound();
            }
            return View(emp);
        }
        [HttpPost,ActionName("Delete")]
        [ValidateAntiForgeryToken]
        public IActionResult DeleteEmp(int? id)
        {
            employeeDAL.DeleteEmployee(id);
            return RedirectToAction("Index");
        }
    }
}

Answer 1

You can either have null as Model, or null as one of the values in array. Nevertheless, foreach(var emp in Model?.Where(x => x != null) ?? Enumerable.Empty<HerePlaceYourClass>) will handle null values properly

Answer 2

Cause your emp object is null. Quick fix: add a if condition to check for null like

    @foreach(var emp in Model)
    {
       @if(emp != null)
       {
            // bind the properties to UI element
       }