If Not String.Empty ignoring empty string - VB.NET

Question

I have a array of strings and I am looping through them, but the string might be empty so I am trying this:

For Each Component As String In Components
    If Component IsNot String.Empty Then
        'Work your magic
    End If
Next

But if Component is an empty string the logic still fires. I've also tried

If Component <> "" Then 

End If

With the same results. So what am I missing?

Answer 1

1. Make sure that your List is of type string

2. Use the String.IsNullOrEmpty method.

   Sub Main
       Dim foo As String
       foo = "Non-Empty string"
       If Not String.IsNullOrEmpty(foo) Then
           Console.WriteLine("Foo is not empty.")
       End If
   End Sub
   

Answer 2

Do your string have default values and are they actually ""? What if you used:

If Not Component Is Nothing Then

End If

Answer 3

One thing that has gotten me before is spaces. You can't see it when you view the variable in the watch window, but it makes the string not empty or null.