Reading Null values in field using ArcPy SearchCursor?

Question

I'm using a Python script with ArcGIS 10 to count the number of unique string values in a feature class. My script works if there are values in the field but if there are any NUll values in the field it crashes. Any Ideas?

My code is below:

import arcpy
import operator
inTable = arcpy.GetParameterAsText(0)
stringField = arcpy.GetParameterAsText(1)
stringList = [row.getValue(stringField) for row in arcpy.SearchCursor
 (inTable, "", "",stringField)]

• dmahr: Try using the SearchCursor command with no parameters besides inTable: stringList = [row.getValue(stringField) for row in arcpy.SearchCursor(inTable)]
• Brian: Does the script fail during the loop through the SearchCursor or does it fail later on? It seems that the list comprehension should be able to handle collecting None values, which is the Python representation of NULL.

Answer 1

Null values are equal to the python None so you could also handle null values like this

if row.getValue(stringField) == None:
 do something
if row.getValue(stringField) != None:
 do something else

Answer 2

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Use isNull(field_name) method before getting values. For further info see this help topic

• user5747: Do you mean I need to count the null values seperately?