使用可为空值的数据类型和System.Nullable(Of T)泛型类型

 

使用可为空值的数据类型和System.Nullable(Of T)泛型类型  

另一个非常有趣的泛型类型是System.Nullable(Of T)，它允许定义为可空值的数据类型。

CLR数据类型有一个固定的可用值范围。例如，可以为System.Boolean数据类型赋予集合{True,False}中的一个值。

然而，自从.NET 2.0发布以后，创建可为空值的数据类型成为了可能。简言之，可为空值的类型可以表示它的底层类型的所有值，加上一个空（也称为未定义）值。因此，如果将可为空值的类型声明为Boolean，则可将集合{True,False，Nothing}中的值赋予该类型。

Another very interesting generic class is System.Nullable(Of T), which allows you to define nullable data types. As you know, CLR data types have a fixed range of possible values. For example, the System.Boolean data type can be assigned a value from the set {True, False}. However, since the release of .NET 2.0, it became possible to create nullable data types. Simply put, a nullable type can represent all the values of its underlying type, plus an empty (aka undefined) value. Thus, if we declare a nullable Boolean, it could be assigned a value from the set {True, False, Nothing}.To define a nullable variable type, simply create a new Nullable(Of T) object and specify the type parameter. 

Be aware, however, that the specified type must be a value type! If you attempt to create a nullable reference type (including Strings, which as you recall are classes and therefore belong to the reference type category), you are issued a compile-time error. For example:

Sub Main()

    ' Define some local nullable types.

    Dim nullableInt As New Nullable(Of Integer)()

    Dim nullableDouble As New Nullable(Of Double)()

    Dim nullableBool As New Nullable(Of Boolean)()

    ' Error! Strings are reference types!

    Dim s As New Nullable(Of String)()

End Sub

Module Program

    Class DatabaseReader

        Public numericValue As Nullable(Of Integer) = Nothing

        Public boolValue As Nullable(Of Boolean) = True

        Public Function GetIntFromDatabase() As Nullable(Of Integer)

            Return numericValue

        End Function

        Public Function GetBoolFromDatabase() As Nullable(Of Boolean)

            Return boolValue

        End Function

    End Class

    Sub Main()

        Console.ForegroundColor = ConsoleColor.Yellow

        Console.WriteLine("*********** Fun with Nullable ***********" & vbLf)

        Dim dr As New DatabaseReader()

        Dim i As Nullable(Of Integer) = dr.GetBoolFromDatabase()

        If (i.HasValue) Then

            Console.WriteLine("Value of 'i' is :{0}", i.Value)

        Else

            Console.WriteLine("Value of 'i' is undefined.")

        End If

        Dim b As Nullable(Of Boolean) = dr.GetBoolFromDatabase()

        If (b.HasValue) Then

            Console.WriteLine("Value of 'b' is :{0}", b.Value)

        Else

            Console.WriteLine("Value of 'b' is undefined.")

        End If

    End Sub

End Module

简便方法：

Module Program

    Class DatabaseReader

        Public numericValue As Integer?

        Public boolValue As Boolean? = True

        Public Function GetIntFromDatabase() As Integer?

            Return numericValue

        End Function

        Public Function GetBoolFromDatabase() As Boolean?

            Return boolValue

        End Function

    End Class

    Sub Main()

        Console.ForegroundColor = ConsoleColor.Yellow

        Console.WriteLine("*********** Fun with Nullable ***********" & vbLf)

        Dim dr As New DatabaseReader()

        Dim i As Integer? = dr.GetBoolFromDatabase()

        If (i.HasValue) Then

            Console.WriteLine("Value of 'i' is :{0}", i.Value)

        Else

            Console.WriteLine("Value of 'i' is undefined.")

        End If

        Dim b As Boolean? = dr.GetBoolFromDatabase()

        If (b.HasValue) Then

            Console.WriteLine("Value of 'b' is :{0}", b.Value)

        Else

            Console.WriteLine("Value of 'b' is undefined.")

        End If

    End Sub

End Module