title: vb.net Date equivalent to String.Empty
body: <p>In my program, I am writing a class to read values in one database table, and copy them into another. 
  When reading string fields, I have a function that is called which checks whether or not the string value is null, and if it is, it returns an empty string, if not, it returns the string. (See code below)</p>
  
  <p>I also have <code>datetime</code> fields which can contain nulls, and without a similar function, I get a runtime error when trying to copy them. </p>
  
  <p>Is there an equivalent of the code below that I can use for entering in a blank date if the value in the database row is null?</p>
  
  <pre><code> Public Shared Function dbToString(o As Object) As String
  
      If o Is DBNull.Value Then
          Return String.Empty
      Else
          Return CStr(o)
  
      End If
  End Function
  </code></pre>