how to remove empty strings from list, then remove duplicate values from a list

Question

Lets say I have a list of some column values coming from a table, how do I remove empty strings and duplicate values. Please see the following code:

List<string> dtList = dtReportsList.AsEnumerable().Select(dr => dr.Field<string>("column1")).ToList(); 

This is what I have coded just now but but Amiram's code is way more elegant, so I will choose that answer here is how I did it:

DataTable dtReportsList = someclass.GetReportsList();          if (dtReportsList.Rows.Count > 0)        {             List<string> dtList = dtReportsList.AsEnumerable().Select(dr => dr.Field<string>("column1")).ToList();            dtList.RemoveAll(x=>x == "");            dtList = dtList.Distinct().ToList();                      rcboModule.DataSource = dtList;            rcboModule.DataBind();                           rcboModule.Items.Insert(0, new RadComboBoxItem("All", "All"));        } 

Answer 1

dtList  = dtList.Where(s => !string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(s)).Distinct().ToList() 

I assumed empty string and whitespace are like null. If not you can use IsNullOrEmpty (allow whitespace), or s != null