Session.GetObject in Tridion 2011 returns component for non-existing item

Question

I'm trying to figure out how to check if a component is null (e.g. not found in Tridion) in a custom backend. I just don't see how to check this, other than catching the error.

Component comp = (Component)session.GetObject(base.ComponentUri);

if (component != null)
{
    bool isCheckedOut = component.IsCheckedOut;
}
else
{
    // how do I get in here!
}

I'm 100% sure the uri is correct ('tcm:113-438134') and 100% sure that there's no item in Tridion with that URI. The code above will throw an error at component.IsCheckedOut:

The item tcm:113-438134-16 does not exist.

How do I check the existence of a Tridion item? I've tried placing the cast at the end, which didn't help much:

Component comp = session.GetObject(base.ComponentUri) as Component;

and I've tried not casting at all but using an IdentifiableObject, which also didn't make any difference. Anyone knows how to do this?

Answer 1

This is because of Tridion's lazy loading - It will never return a null object if the URI seems valid. You can use session.IsExistingObject(TcmUriOrWebdavUrl) to check if the object exists.

And...

I'm sure you're expecting this...

in a custom backend

You cannot use the TOM.NET API for processes other than Templates and Event System. Please use the Core Service API instead.