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soumyodeep Guha 6soumyodeep Guha 6 

NullPointer exception issue

HI All,

i have written the below trigger to populate a number field No_of_updates__c with the number of time a record is updated, but i am getting a Null pointer exception when a try a update a record. can anybody help me with this issue.

trigger
================================

trigger updatecount on Account (after update) {
if(trigger.isupdate)
{
updatecountAcct.countnumber(trigger.new);
}
}
=================================================

Helper class
=================================================
public class updatecountAcct {
public static void countnumber(list<account> a)
{
list<account> c= new list<account>();
    for(account b : a)
    {
    b.No_of_updates__c=b.No_of_updates__c+1;
    c.add(b);
    }
    update c;
    }
}
=====================================================
 
SalesFORCE_enFORCErSalesFORCE_enFORCEr
On which line you are getting null pointer exception? Did you set the default value of the number field to 0?
soumyodeep Guha 6soumyodeep Guha 6
i am getting the exception on line 
b.No_of_updates__c=b.No_of_updates__c+1;

no i have not set the default value to 0
Amit Chaudhary 8Amit Chaudhary 8
Please update event from After to before like below
trigger updatecount on Account (before update) {
if(trigger.isupdate)
{
updatecountAcct.countnumber(trigger.new);
}
}
Then update your apex class like below
public class updatecountAcct 
{
	public static void countnumber(list<account> a)
	{
		for(account b : a)
		{
			if(b.No_of_updates__c != null)
			{
				b.No_of_updates__c=b.No_of_updates__c+1;
			}
		}
    }
}
please check below post to learn triger
1) http://amitsalesforce.blogspot.com/2015/06/trigger-best-practices-sample-trigger.html


Trigger Best Practices | Sample Trigger Example | Implementing Trigger Framework

1) One Trigger Per Object
A single Apex Trigger is all you need for one particular object. If you develop multiple Triggers for a single object, you have no way of controlling the order of execution if those Triggers can run in the same contexts

2) Logic-less Triggers
If you write methods in your Triggers, those can’t be exposed for test purposes. You also can’t expose logic to be re-used anywhere else in your org. 

3) Context-Specific Handler Methods
Create context-specific handler methods in Trigger handlers


4) Bulkify your Code
Bulkifying Apex code refers to the concept of making sure the code properly handles more than one record at a time.

5) Avoid SOQL Queries or DML statements inside FOR Loops
An individual Apex request gets a maximum of 100 SOQL queries before exceeding that governor limit. So if this trigger is invoked by a batch of more than 100 Account records, the governor limit will throw a runtime exception

6) Using Collections, Streamlining Queries, and Efficient For Loops
It is important to use Apex Collections to efficiently query data and store the data in memory. A combination of using collections and streamlining SOQL queries can substantially help writing efficient Apex code and avoid governor limits

7) Querying Large Data Sets
The total number of records that can be returned by SOQL queries in a request is 50,000. If returning a large set of queries causes you to exceed your heap limit, then a SOQL query for loop must be used instead. It can process multiple batches of records through the use of internal calls to query and queryMore

8) Use @future Appropriately
It is critical to write your Apex code to efficiently handle bulk or many records at a time. This is also true for asynchronous Apex methods (those annotated with the @future keyword). The differences between synchronous and asynchronous Apex can be found

9) Avoid Hardcoding IDs
When deploying Apex code between sandbox and production environments, or installing Force.com AppExchange packages, it is essential to avoid hardcoding IDs in the Apex code. By doing so, if the record IDs change between environments, the logic can dynamically identify the proper data to operate against and not fail

Let us know if this will help you
Narendra Varma ANarendra Varma A

The Field "No_of_updates__c" does not have a default value set.

Set the default value to "0".

OR

As record is created the field is set with default null value. Replace line of code as below

//Check for Null Value before usage

b.No_of_updates__c = b.No_of_updates__c !=null ? b.No_of_updates__c +1:1;
soumyodeep Guha 6soumyodeep Guha 6
i have set the default value for the field as 0 now, but even after that i am geeting the same error
 
Narendra Varma ANarendra Varma A
Once you have set the default value, the existing records still hold the same value. 

Create new records to test your logic.
Dilip_VDilip_V
Hi,
Plese modify your class like this and try.
public class updatecountAcct 
{
	public static void countnumber(list<account> a)
	{
		for(account b : a)
		{
			if(b.No_of_updates__c == null)
                               b.No_of_updates__c=0;
			b.No_of_updates__c=b.No_of_updates__c+1;
		 }
	}
}

Please let me know if it solves.
Thanks.