Before Trigger System.NullPointerException: Attempt to de-reference a null object

Question

I keep getting a null pointer exception error as follows :

System.NullPointerException: Attempt to de-reference a null object Stack Trace: Class.ColloTest_utoStudentIDTrigger.test_latestStudentID: line 20, column 1

trigger AutoStudentIDTrigger on Contact(before insert) {

 list <Contact> l1 =
  [SELECT Id, Type_of_bursary_contact__c, Student_ID_New__c, Do_Not_Auto_Generate_Student_ID__c FROM Contact WHERE
   Type_of_bursary_contact__c = 'Student'
   AND RecordTypeId in (SELECT Id FROM RecordType WHERE Name = 'Bursary Contact') AND Student_ID_New__c != NULL
   ORDER BY Student_ID_New__c desc limit 1
  ];

 list <Contact> l2 =
  [SELECT Id, Beneficiary_Number__c, Role_in_group__c FROM Contact WHERE
   RecordTypeId in (SELECT Id FROM RecordType WHERE Name = 'Community Contact') AND Beneficiary_Number__c != NULL
   ORDER BY Beneficiary_Number__c desc limit 1
  ];

 Integer l1size = l1.size();
 Integer l2size = l2.size();

 Decimal NewLatestStudentID = 0.0;
 Decimal NewLatestBeneficiaryID = 0.0;

 If(l1size > 0) {
  try {
   NewLatestStudentID = l1[0].Student_ID_New__c;
  }

  Catch(System.NullPointerException e) {
   System.debug('The following exception has occurred: ' + e.getMessage());
  }
 }

 If(l2size > 0) {
  NewLatestBeneficiaryID = l2[0].Beneficiary_Number__c;
 }

 If(trigger.isInsert) {
  for (Contact li: Trigger.new) {

   If(li.Type_of_bursary_contact__c == 'Student' & li.Do_Not_Auto_Generate_Student_ID__c == FALSE) {
    li.Student_ID_New__c = NewLatestStudentID + 1;
   }

   If(li.Role_in_group__c != Null & li.Do_Not_Auto_Generate_Beneficiary_Number__c == FALSE) {
    li.Beneficiary_Number__c = NewLatestBeneficiaryID + 1;
   }
  }
 }
}

I've tried everything to fix this but I don't understand why this error is occurring. I've instantiated all my variables, when I run my test it works great, why is this happening on deployment? Thanks in advance

Test Code as shown below:

 @isTest
  private class ColloTest_utoStudentIDTrigger{

  static testmethod void test_latestStudentID(){
    Test.startTest();

    Id BCrtid1 = Schema.SObjectType.Contact.getRecordTypeInfosByName().get('Bursary Contact').getRecordTypeId();

    Contact ct1 = new Contact();
    ct1.LastName = 'Student Last Name';
    ct1.FirstName = 'Student First Name';
    ct1.Email = '[email protected]';
    ct1.MobilePhone = '0725888886';
    ct1.Type_of_bursary_contact__c = 'Student';
    ct1.RecordtypeId = BCrtid1;

    insert ct1;
    system.debug('ct1 inserted');                

    Id CCrtid1 = Schema.SObjectType.Contact.getRecordTypeInfosByName().get('Community Contact').getRecordTypeId();

    Contact cct1 = new Contact();
    cct1.LastName = 'Student Last Name';
    cct1.FirstName = 'Student First Name';
    cct1.Email = '[email protected]';
    cct1.MobilePhone = '0725834986';
    cct1.Role_in_group__c = 'Secretary';
    cct1.RecordtypeId = CCrtid1;

    insert cct1;
    system.debug('cct1 inserted');        

    }
}

Answer 1

I don't know if this will fix your null pointer error (it could) but you have a problem with your if statement at the bottom of the trigger.

You have used an & (bitwise AND) rather than an && (logical AND) in your statement.

This means that it could evaluate to true unexpectedly (or never evaluate to true)

Replace this:

If(li.Type_of_bursary_contact__c == 'Student' & li.Do_Not_Auto_Generate_Student_ID__c == FALSE) {

With this:

If(li.Type_of_bursary_contact__c == 'Student' && li.Do_Not_Auto_Generate_Student_ID__c == FALSE) {

(Do this with the similar statement below it also)

Also, it's possible for Boolean values to be... er... not Boolean in Apex - ie they can be true, false and also... null

So in this same line, you should first check that li.Do_Not_Auto_Generate_Student_ID__c is not only true but is also not null

Answer 2

Can you just try to get ID with the help of developer Name like this

Id RecordTypeIdContact = Schema.SObjectType.Contact.getRecordTypeInfosByName().get('DeveloperNameOfRecordType').getRecordTypeId();

in test class and then use it

Answer 3

You are getting the recordtype “Community Contact” from the map and it does not exist. DeveloperName do not have spaces they have _ but since you are using record type names I think may but you may have the name wrong.

You should also be checking if the key exits before dereferencing as a best practice.

You can also debug the keys to see what they actually are to see if you have it right