Can't access a field from sObject

Question

I have a controller with a constructor. Where i'm querying lead record with an id. When i'm trying to reference a field from this sObject I get "Variable does not exist: Email"

public Lead_Controller {
public sObject leadrecord {get;set;}
    public Lead_Controller(ApexPages.StandardController controller){
        string leadrecordId = controller.getRecord().id;
        leadrecord = [select id, name, Email from Lead where Id =:leadrecordId];
       if(leadrec.Email != null){
         //trying get the email here and got "Variable does not exist: Email"
       }
    }
}

any ideas? why would this happen?

Answer 1

That error often points to an unrelated syntax error in the code shortly before the field reference, which you should include in your question for more direct answers.

However, you have another issue here - you should change your leadrecord variable to be declared explicitly as a Lead. The type sObject has no property Email, so you'd have to do leadrecord.get('Email') to access it. It's better and easier to declare the correct type at compile time, which also will give you compiler checks and field dependencies tracked by the system.

Answer 2

Is it really necessary to make the additional query there ? ApexPages.StandardController addFields() method with the specified list of arguments already provides you with a record data. I suppose it will be enough in your case:

public Lead_Controller {

    public Lead leadrecord {get;set;}
    public Lead_Controller(ApexPages.StandardController controller){
        controller.addFields(new List<String>{'Email'});
        leadrecord = controller.getRecord();
        if(leadrec.Email != null){
           //record Email should be defined here
        }
    }
}