What does “Object reference not set to an instance

Question

This question already has an answer here:

• What is a NullReferenceException, and how do I fix it? 32 answers

I am receiving this error and I'm not sure what it means?

Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

Answer 1

Another easy way to get this:

 Person myPet = GetPersonFromDatabase();
 // check for myPet == null... AND for myPet.PetType == null
 if ( myPet.PetType == "cat" ) <--- fall down go boom!

Answer 2

what does this error mean? Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

exactly what it says, you are trying to use a null object as if it was a properly referenced object.