GetDataTable Object Reference Error

Posted on August 15, 2012 by Stu

Calling the GetDataTable method of a SPListItemCollection object that was retrieved using a join with projected fields will throw the following error:

Object reference not set to an instance of an object

For example:

SPQuery query = new SPQuery();
query.Query = "<Where><Eq><FieldRef Name="Title"/><Value Type="Text">Search Criteria</Value></Eq></Where>";
query.Joins = "<Join Type="Left" ListAlias="Name of join list"><Eq><FieldRef Name="Title" RefType="Id" /><FieldRef List="Name of join list" Name="Id" /></Eq></Join>";
query.ProjectedFields = "<Field Name='Field name' Type='Lookup' List='Name of join list' ShowField='Field name'/>";
query.ViewFields = "<FieldRef Name="Field Name" /><FieldRef Name="Title" />";
 
// Next line will cause a "Object reference not set to an instance of an object" exception.
DataTable table = listItems.GetDataTable();

Simply access the Fields property prior to calling GetDataTable to resolve this issue:

SPFieldCollection fields = listItems.Fields;
DataTable table = listItems.GetDataTable();

Accessing the Fields property instantiates an object that is used by the GetDataTable method when there are projected fields in the join and the exception is resolved.

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kesav

awesome fix.. but when we include orderby a projected field in CAML, no error but the projected column on which I am trying to sort does not have any data in the output. any idea?

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Stu

You could always do the sorting within the data table itself:

table.DefaultView.Sort = columnToSort + " desc";
DataTable sortedTable = table.DefaultView.ToTable();
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