How to check the NULL value in NSString in iOS?

Question

I have an NSString and I want to check if it has a NULL value. If it does, then the if condition should execute. Else it should execute the else condition.

Below is the code which I am using:

if ([appDelegate.categoryName isEqual:[NSNull null]])
{
    select = [[NSString alloc] initWithFormat:@"select * FROM ContentMaster LEFT JOIN Category ON ContentMaster.CategoryID=Category.CategoryID where ContentMaster.ContentTagText='%@'", appDelegate.tagInput];
}
else
{
    select = [[NSString alloc] initWithFormat:@"select * FROM ContentMaster LEFT JOIN Category ON ContentMaster.CategoryID=Category.CategoryID LEFT JOIN Topic ON ContentMaster.TopicID=Topic.TopicID where ContentMaster.ContentTagText='%@' && Category.CategoryName='%@' && Topic.TopicName='%@'", appDelegate.tagInput, appDelegate.categoryName, appDelegate.topicName];
}    

It always executes the else condition, and never the if condition, even when the value is NULL.

Answer 1

The NULL value for Objective-C objects (type id) is nil.

While NULL is used for C pointers (type void *).

(In the end both end up holding the same value (0x0). They differ in type however.)

In Objective-C:

nil (all lower-case) is a null pointer to an Objective-C object.
Nil (capitalized) is a null pointer to an Objective-C class.
NULL (all caps) is a null pointer to anything else (C pointers, that is).
[NSNull null] (singleton) for situations where use of nil is not possible (adding/receiving nil to/from NSArrays e.g.)

So to check against NSNull one can either use:

if ((NSNull *)myString == [NSNull null])

or if one wants to omit the need of casting to NSNull:

if ([myString isKindOfClass:[NSNull class]])

Answer 2

+(BOOL)isEmpty:(NSString *)str{
    if (str == nil || str == (id)[NSNull null] || [[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@",str] length] == 0 || [[[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@",str] stringByTrimmingCharactersInSet:[NSCharacterSet whitespaceAndNewlineCharacterSet]] length] == 0){
        return YES;
    }
    return NO;
}

Just pass your string in Method :)

Answer 3

Add an additional check for length also. This will definitely work.

if ([appDelegate.categoryName isEqual:[NSNull null]] && appDelegate.categoryName.length>0){


        select = [[NSString alloc] initWithFormat:@"select * FROM ContentMaster LEFT JOIN  Category  ON  ContentMaster.CategoryID= Category.CategoryID where ContentMaster.ContentTagText='%@'",appDelegate.tagInput];

        }        else {
          select = [[NSString alloc] initWithFormat:@"select * FROM ContentMaster LEFT JOIN  Category  ON  ContentMaster.CategoryID= Category.CategoryID  LEFT JOIN Topic ON ContentMaster.TopicID=Topic.TopicID where ContentMaster.ContentTagText='%@' && Category.CategoryName='%@' && Topic.TopicName='%@'",appDelegate.tagInput,appDelegate.categoryName,appDelegate.topicName];

    }

Answer 4

#define SAFESTRING(str) ISVALIDSTRING(str) ? str : @""
#define ISVALIDSTRING(str) (str != nil && [str isKindOfClass:[NSNull class]] == NO)
#define VALIDSTRING_PREDICATE [NSPredicate predicateWithBlock:^(id evaluatedObject, NSDictionary *bindings) {return (BOOL)ISVALIDSTRING(evaluatedObject);}]

SAFESTRING("PASS_OBJECT_HERE");