>I'd use the string.IsNullOrEmpty() method instead:
>
>

>        Public Function GetNonNullable(ByVal tcValue As String) As String
>            Dim lcValue As String= ""
>
>            ' If we have a value
>            If Not string.IsNullOrEmpty(tcValue) Then
>                lcValue = tcValue
>            End If
>
>            Return lcValue
>        End Function
>

Declaration already has the variable set to empty. I initialize all my declarations to empty values. So, the only check needed after is to make sure it is not null to put the value in it. That will be in the condition. But, thanks for an alternative way to do it.