Recovery of class containing a list returns a null list

Question

I have a couple of classes:

public class MyGoalsModel
{
    [Key]
    public string Name { get; set; }

    /*Some local bools*/

    public List<MyGoalString> myGoals { get; set; }
}

public class MyGoalString
{
    public int MyGoalStringID { get; set; }

    public string GoalString { get; set; }
    public bool Selected { get; set; }
}

I can populate them correctly, and the code (EF?) generates the necessary hidden foreign keys to link them (all ok in SQL) and recover the information for MyGoalsModel, but the List is always null.

I use the following to get the entry I want:

 MyGoalsModel goals = db.MyGoals.Find(Name);

but when I investigate the code goals.MyGoals is always null.

Am I missing something, is there a better way to recover the information with the lists present?

I've always made the list with the class, so its ready to hold data, even if the list is then empty, the list is not null. — BugFinder, Aug 03 '15 at 09:16
What is `db` in this string `MyGoalsModel goals = db.MyGoals.Find(Name);` ? Is it an instance of DbContext ? — Fabjan, Aug 03 '15 at 10:15

score 2 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 11:43

2

Add the keyword virtual so EF can create a proxy for your List and lazy load the data when needed.

Edit: Or as stated in the accepted answer in this question.

edited May 23 '17 at 11:43

Community

1
1

answered Aug 03 '15 at 09:37

cverb

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Aaah, I can't believe I missed something so simple! – Shocklanced Aug 04 '15 at 03:46

Recovery of class containing a list returns a null list

1 Answers1