title: Can WebRequest.GetResponse().GetResponseStream() return null without WebException?
body: <p>Resharper gives the warning </p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>Possible 'null' assignment to entity with '[NotNull]' attribute</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>for the line</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p><code>var strmR = new StreamReader(replyStream);</code></p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>in the following code (detailed exception handling removed).</p>
  
  <pre><code>        Stream replyStream;
          string reply;
  
          var query = _serverBaseUrl + queryText;
          var wreq = WebRequest.Create(query);
          wreq.Timeout = _serverTimeoutLimit;
          try
          {
              replyStream = wreq.GetResponse().GetResponseStream();
              var strmR = new StreamReader(replyStream);
              reply = strmR.ReadLine();
          }
          catch (WebException webex)
          {
              switch (webex.Status)
              {
                /*throw new exceptions*/
              }
          }
          replyStream.Close();
          return reply;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>My idea is that I shouldn't need to check <em>replyStream</em> for null since a <em>WebException</em> (or an unhandled exception) should already have been thrown (which I then handle and throw new custom exception) if any error occurs.</p>
  
  <p>Is it possible for <em>replyStream</em> to be null without an <em>WebException</em> has been thrown?</p>