ASP.NET MVC null ViewResult - asp.net

Question

How should one deal with an MVC controller returning a null ViewResult?
As an example I am creating a simple edit view:
public ActionResult Edit(int id)
{
var person = (from p in context.SWLiftShare_Persons
where p.id == id
select p).SingleOrDefault();
if (person != null)
{
return View(person);
}
else return View();
}
I guess in reality there's no point in checking for a null result in the controller because the view picks out properties from the model:
<h2>Edit - <%= Html.Encode(Model.Name) %></h2>
<%= Html.ValidationSummary("Edit was unsuccessful. Please correct the errors and try again.") %>
<% using (Html.BeginForm()) {%>
<fieldset>
<legend>Fields</legend>
<p>
<label for="id">id:
<%= Html.Encode(Model.id) %></label>
</p>
<p>
<label for="CollarNumber">CollarNumber:</label>
<%= Html.TextBox("CollarNumber", Model.CollarNumber)%>
<%= Html.ValidationMessage("CollarNumber", "*") %>
</p>
<p>
<label for="Name">Name:</label>
<%= Html.TextBox("Name", Model.Name)%>
<%= Html.ValidationMessage("Name", "*") %>
</p>
<p>
<label for="EmailAddress">EmailAddress:</label>
<%= Html.TextBox("EmailAddress", Model.EmailAddress, new { style = "width:300px" })%>
<%= Html.ValidationMessage("EmailAddress", "*") %>
</p>
<p>
<input type="submit" value="Save" />
</p>
</fieldset>
<% } %>
I could just wrap everything in a <% if(Model != null) { //render edit markup... etc. but that seems rather unelegant. Is there a better way to deal with this?

Answer 1

In this case it seems to be an error if person becomes null. You could render a different (error) view if this is the case. For example:
if (person == null)
{
return View("ErrorView");
}
return View(person);
ErrorView.aspx:
<div>Person was not found. Try again.</div>

Answer 2

In this scenario, I would return another view when the person is null to cleanly separate your view logic:
public ActionResult Edit(int id)
{
var person = (from p in context.SWLiftShare_Persons
where p.id == id
select p).SingleOrDefault();
return (person != null) ? View(person) : View("InvalidPerson");
}

Answer 3

I think...
throw new HttpException(404,"Not found");
and set custom errors.