server/AyaNova/DataList/AyaDataList.cs

@@ -42,14 +42,33 @@ namespace AyaNova.DataList
         //set defaults if not provided in listOptions
         public void SetListOptionDefaultsIfNecessary(DataListBase listOptions)
         {
+            //columns, filter and sortby could all be null
+            if (listOptions.Filter == null)
+                listOptions.Filter = new List<DataListFilterOption>();
+
+            if (listOptions.SortBy == null)
+                listOptions.SortBy = new Dictionary<string, string>();
+
+            //Check Columns
             if (listOptions is DataListTableOptions)
-            {//if this doesn't work then just ditch this method in favor of local code, it's not really saving much 
-                if (((DataListTableOptions)listOptions).Columns.Count == 0)
-                    ((DataListTableOptions)listOptions).Columns = DefaultColumns;
+            {
+                var dlto = ((DataListTableOptions)listOptions);
+                if (dlto.Columns == null)
+                    dlto.Columns = new List<string>();
+                //if this doesn't work then just ditch this method in favor of local code, it's not really saving much 
+                if (dlto.Columns.Count == 0)
+                    dlto.Columns = DefaultColumns;
             }
 
+            //Check SortBy
             if (listOptions.SortBy.Count == 0)
                 listOptions.SortBy = DefaultSortBy;
+
+            //Check filter
+            if (listOptions.Filter == null)
+            {
+
+            }
         }