throw-catch logic - c#

try
{
try
{
throw new Exception("From Try");
}
catch
{
throw new Exception("From Catch");
}
finally
{
throw new Exception("From Finally");
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
}
The above code's output is: From Finally.
Why it's not From Catch?
-or-
How can i catch & log from outside both exceptions?

Because the finally block executes after the catch block, overriding the exception.
And when an exception happens during the handling of an earlier one, the first one is lost.
How can i catch & log from outside both exceptions?
By not throwing inside a finally block. That is always a bad idea.
If you want to log in an inner catch block use throw; or pass the first exception as InnerException of the new one. That is why InnerException exists.

This is the behaviour as it is defined by the C# language specification. Handling of the exception thrown inside the try block is aborted and instead the exception thrown in the finally block will be handled.
The relevant section 8.9.5 The throw statement explains how exceptions are propagates:
In the current function member, each try statement that encloses the throw point is examined. For each statement S, starting with the innermost try statement and ending with the outermost try statement, the following steps are evaluated:
If the try block of S encloses the throw point and if S has one or more catch clauses, the catch clauses are examined in order of appearance to locate a suitable handler for the exception. The first catch clause that specifies the exception type or a base type of the exception type is considered a match. A general catch clause (ยง8.10) is considered a match for any exception type. If a matching catch clause is located, the exception propagation is completed by transferring control to the block of that catch clause.
Otherwise, if the try block or a catch block of S encloses the throw point and if S has a finally block, control is transferred to the finally block. If the finally block throws another exception, processing of the current exception is terminated. Otherwise, when control reaches the end point of the finally block, processing of the current exception is continued.

Add an extra layer of try-catch blocks like the following:
try {
Exception fromCatch = null;
try {
throw new Exception("From Try");
}
catch {
try {
throw new Exception("From Catch");
}
catch (Exception e) {
// catch failed -> store exception
fromCatch = e;
}
}
finally {
try {
throw new Exception("From Finally");
}
catch (Exception e) {
// i can think of better exception merging... but this shows the idea
throw new Exception(e.Message, fromCatch);
}
// throw fromCatch, in case "From Finally did not happen"
throw fromCatch;
}
}
catch (Exception ex) {
Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
if (ex.InnerException != null) {
Console.WriteLine(ex.InnerException.Message);
}
}
Reports:
From Finally
From Catch
Edit: this is obviously the answer for question two, as the "why" is answered sufficiently :)

finally always runs; and it always runs last. So the lat thing done by the inner try was the finally and that threw something that was caught by the outer catch
not sure if i understand part2 of the question

finally happens no matter what. Regardless of whether there was an exception in the try or catch. Thus, you see "From Finally". (This actually is the entire purpose of the finally clause. So you can put code in there that will clean up resources and the like no matter what -- even if there's an exception.)

Your code throws a new Exception from each part of the try/catch/finally statement. You are essentially swallowing the previous exception when you create the new error. You can add your "From Try" message to your "From Catch" message with something like
catch(Exception ex)
{
throw new Exception(ex.Message + ":" + "From Catch");
}
I don't know know how you could chain that in the finally though.

This is a very good question, and one that is kind of tricky. Let's go through this step by step:
try
{
throw new Exception("From Try");
}
catch
{
throw new Exception("From Catch");
}
In the code above, Exception("From Try") is thrown and caught by the catch clause (pretty simple so far). The catch clause throws an exception of it's own, which normally we would expect (because the catch is nested in a larger try-catch block) to be caught immediately, but...
finally
{
throw new Exception("From Finally");
}
The finally clause, which is guaranteed to (try to) execute, comes first, and throws an exception of it's own, overwriting the Exception("From Catch") that was thrown earlier.
"A common usage of catch and finally
together is to obtain and use
resources in a try block, deal with
exceptional circumstances in a catch
block, and release the resources in
the finally block" - MSDN Article
Following this train of logic, we should try our best to refrain from writing code in our catch and finally blocks that is exception-prone. If you're worried about situations like the one you presented cropping up, I'd recommend logging the exceptions and their related information out to an external file, which you can reference for debugging.

Because the finally block is always executed.
try
{
try
{
throw new Exception("From Try");
// (1) A new exception object A is created here and thrown.
}
catch // (2) Exception object A is catched.
{
throw new Exception("From Catch");
// (3) A new exception object B is created here and thrown.
}
finally // (4) Execution is forced to continue here!
{
throw new Exception("From Finally");
// (5) A new exception object C is created here and thrown.
}
}
catch (Exception ex) // (6) Exception object C is catched.
{
Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
}
Every new'd exception object in step (3) and (5) discards the previous one. Since the finally block is always executed all what remains is the exception object C from step (5).

Related

Can I delete the e from catch block of try-catch?

catch (HttpAntiForgeryException e)
{
throw new HttpAntiForgeryException("Forgery Exception");
}
When I build the project, there is a warning said: The variable 'e' is declared but never used.
Is that because the e is not necessary?
Yes. You can just simply write
catch (HttpAntiForgeryException)
{
throw new HttpAntiForgeryException("Forgery Exception");
}
But, you are rethrowing same type of exception. You can also simply delete this catch block.
It is no necessary if you don't want to do anything with the exception, in your case you are throwing custom message so its fine to use like this :
catch
{
throw new HttpAntiForgeryException("Forgery Exception");
}
or like this :
// For specific exception
catch (HttpAntiForgeryException)
{
throw new HttpAntiForgeryException("Forgery Exception");
}
But you will not get any information regarding this exception, like error message, stack-Trace, inner exception etc.. I prefer you to handle the exception in Catch, Or properly log them for developer's reference
It's because You have not used the Variable e within any where of the catch block. You can easily catch that exception so you will get better understanding of the root cause of your exception than throwing a new exception.
catch (HttpAntiForgeryException e)
{
Console.WriteLine(e.Message); // Console.Writeline or whichever way you want
}

Finally block in try/catch not working?

Ok, as far as I understand, try/catch blocks try an operation and catch blocks catch exceptions. The more specific exceptions go up top, the more generic towards the bottom of the series of catch blocks. In the following code, I implement try/catch, everything works fine.
As far as I understand, a finally block always executes. Some people have argued that there is no purpose to finally block, because if there is an exception or there isn't, the code after the last catch block gets executed anyways.
However, the argument against this is that if there is an exception thrown in a catch block, there are no subsequent catch blocks to catch that exception. So by putting resource cleanup code in a finally block, you ensure that resources will be released in the event that an exception is thrown in a catch block.
Which is why the following code puzzles me. I throw an exception in the first catch block and the finally block never executes. Why?
*Please note that there is indeed an exception thrown while creating myStreamReader, as the file is actually called generic.txt and is misspelled with purpose, in order to throw the initial exception.
StreamReader myStreamReader = null;
try
{
myStreamReader = new StreamReader("c:\\genneric.txt");
Console.WriteLine(myStreadReader.ReadToEnd());
}
catch(FileNotFoundException Error)
{
Console.WriteLine(Error.Message);
Console.WriteLine();
throw new Exception();
}
catch(Exception Error)
{
Console.WriteLine(Error.Message);
Console.WriteLine();
}
finally
{
if(myStreamReader != null)
{
myStreamReader.Close();
}
Console.WriteLine("Closed the StreamReader.");
}
VIDEO:
The issue with this block of code originates in this video, at the 27:20 mark:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxdSb3ZCWYc&list=PLAC325451207E3105&index=41
The guy directly declares that an Exception that occurs in a catch block will not prevent the finally block from executing. I am seeing that it does.
If that new exception is completely unhandled, the entire process is torn down, and the finally block never gets to run.
If there's some other exception handler at a higher level, or an unhandled exception handler has been installed, the finally block does run.
This sample does show "Closed the StreamReader":
static void Main()
{
try
{
StreamReader myStreamReader = null;
try
{
myStreamReader = new StreamReader("c:\\genneric.txt");
Console.WriteLine(myStreamReader.ReadToEnd());
}
catch (FileNotFoundException Error)
{
Console.WriteLine(Error.Message);
Console.WriteLine();
throw new Exception();
}
catch (Exception Error)
{
Console.WriteLine(Error.Message);
Console.WriteLine();
}
finally
{
if (myStreamReader != null)
{
myStreamReader.Close();
}
Console.WriteLine("Closed the StreamReader.");
}
}
catch
{
}
Console.WriteLine("Done");
Console.ReadLine();
}
Unhandled exception handlers can be registered in the AppDomain.UnhandledException event.
Your understanding is not correct. See try-finally.
By using a finally block, you can clean up any resources that are
allocated in a try block, and you can run code even if an exception
occurs in the try block. Typically, the statements of a finally block
run when control leaves a try statement. The transfer of control can
occur as a result of normal execution, of execution of a break,
continue, goto, or return statement, or of propagation of an exception
out of the try statement.
So finally does executed if you return for instance out of a try block, but not if you throw from a catch block.
However, if the exception is unhandled, execution of the finally block
is dependent on how the exception unwind operation is triggered. That,
in turn, is dependent on how your computer is set up.
Assuming the file is not found, it would first catch the FileNotFoundException:
catch(FileNotFoundException error)
{
Console.WriteLine(error.Message);
Console.WriteLine();
throw new Exception();
}
This writes a message to the console, and then throws a new Exception. This exception however, is unhandled and will halt execution. If you throw an exception from within a Catch block, it will not be caught by any subsequent blocks.
The solution is to handle the exception appropiately instead of throwing a new one. If the file was not found, then act upon it, e.g. let the user choose another file, create the file, etc.
use throw instead and try this. When you throw a new exception, the actual exception will be lost. But when you use just throw it will throw the actual exception which is FileNotFoundException.
StreamReader myStreamReader = null;
try
{
myStreamReader = new StreamReader("c:\\genneric.txt");
Console.WriteLine(myStreadReader.ReadToEnd());
}
catch(FileNotFoundException Error)
{
Console.WriteLine(Error.Message);
Console.WriteLine();
throw;
}
catch(Exception Error)
{
Console.WriteLine(Error.Message);
Console.WriteLine();
}
finally
{
Console.WriteLine("Closing the StreamReader.");
try{
if(myStreamReader != null)
{
myStreamReader.Close();
}
} catch(Exception e) { Console.WriteLine(e.ToString()) };
}
}

Unhandled exception when calling throw

catch (OracleException e)
{
Cursor.Current = Cursors.Default;
_instance = null;
if (e.ErrorCode == -2147483648) // {"ORA-01017: invalid username/password; logon denied"}
{
throw new Exception("Nepravilno ime uporabnika ali geslo");
}
else
{
throw new Exception("Ne morem se povezati na podatkovno bazo. Preveri povezavo!");
}
}
but i always get Unhandled exception. Why?
At the risk of stating the obvious... Because you're not catching the Exception you throw in your catch block? Or, perhaps, something else is being thrown in the try block that isn't an OracleException.
What are you expecting to happen?
Just to be totally clear (to make sure that we're on the same page), an exception that's thrown but never caught will result in an unhandled exception (by definition). Throwing an exception from within a catch block is identical to throwing it from anywhere else; there still needs to be a try-catch somewhere to catch it. For example, this exception will be caught:
try {
throw new Exception("Out of cheese error"); // Caught below
}
catch (Exception) { }
But this one results in a new exception being propogated:
try {
throw new Exception("Out of cheese error"); // Caught below
}
catch (Exception) {
throw new Exception("418: I'm a teapot"); // Never caught
}
And this code catches both exceptions:
try {
try {
throw new Exception("Out of cheese error"); // Caught in inner catch
}
catch (Exception) {
throw new Exception("418: I'm a teapot"); // Caught in outer catch
}
}
catch (Exception e) {
Console.WriteLine(e.Message); // "418: I'm a teapot"
}
Your code does not in anyway swallow an exception. All it does is catch one type of exception and throw another type of exception. If you have an unhandled exception before you write this code, you will still have one after you write it.
--UPDATE --
Referring to your comment to another answer, if you want to display a message and stop executing code then try:-
catch (OracleException e)
{
Cursor.Current = Cursors.Default;
_instance = null;
if (e.ErrorCode == -2147483648) // {"ORA-01017: invalid username/password; logon denied"}
{
MessageBox.Show("Nepravilno ime uporabnika ali geslo");
}
else
{
MessageBox.Show("Ne morem se povezati na podatkovno bazo. Preveri povezavo!");
}
// this exits the program - you can also take other appropriate action here
Environment.FailFast("Exiting because of blah blah blah");
}
I assume you call hierarchy look like this:
Main
|-YourMethod
try {}
catch (OracleException) {throw new Exception("blah blah")}
So you see, the OracleException which occured in YourMethod is being caught by catch block, but then you throw a new one which goes into Main, where nothing handles it. So you should add an exception handler on the previous level.
Also, do not hide the original OracleException, throw your exception this way throw new Exception("your message", e). This will preserve the call stack.
Because you're only handling the OracleException. Nothing is handling the Exception() you are throwing.
You're catching the OracleException which means you're prepared to handle it - what does handling it mean to you? Logging it and moving on? Setting some state and moving on? Surely, you don't want to pop up gui in a data access component right? If you're not prepared to handle it, let it bubble up and handle it at an outer layer.
You also shouldn't throw exceptions of type Exception. Create your own strongly typed exceptions so they can be handled, or, simply log and call throw; which rethrows the original.
If you throw a new type of exception ensure you're passing the original exception as the inner exception to ensure you're not hiding details.
I did a write up on some best practices with C# exceptions:
Trying to understand exceptions in C#
Hope that helps

Can I execute multiple Catch blocks?

This is a bit abstract, but is there any possible way to throw an exception and have it enter multiple catch blocks? For example, if it matches a specific exception followed by a non-specific exception.
catch(Arithmetic exception)
{
//do stuff
}
catch(Exception exception)
{
//do stuff
}
It is perfectly acceptable to have multiple catch blocks of differring types. However, the behavior is that the first candidate block handles the exception.
It will not enter BOTH catch blocks. The first catch block that matches the exception type will handle that specific exception, and no others, even if it's rethrown in the handler. Any subsequent ones will be skipped once an exception enters a catch block.
In order to have an exception caught in BOTH blocks, you would need to either nest blocks like so:
try
{
try
{
// Do something that throws ArithmeticException
}
catch(ArithmeticException arithException)
{
// This handles the thrown exception....
throw; // Rethrow so the outer handler sees it too
}
}
catch (Exception e)
{
// This gets hit as well, now, since the "inner" block rethrew the exception
}
Alternatively, you could filter in a generic exception handler based on the specific type of exception.
No. It isn't possible to execute the code in both catch blocks for a single exception.
I would probably refactor the code in the generic exception block into something that can be called from either.
try
{
// blah blah blah
{
catch(Arithmetic ae)
{
HandleArithmeticException( ae );
HandleGenericException( ae );
}
catch(Exception e)
{
HandleGenericException( e );
}
Like others said the exception will be caught by the most specific catch block.
This brings up a frustration of mine though with exception handling. I wish you could do something like
catch (ArgumentNullExcpetion, ArugmentOutOfRangeException ex)
{
}
Instead of having to do
catch (ArgumentNullExcpetion e)
{
}
catch (ArugmentOutOfRangeException outOfRange)
{
}
I understand the reasoning against this that you probably do different things for different exceptions but sometimes I want combine them.
You can't have more than one exception block handle the same exception. But what you can do is catch the general exception, then attempt to cast to the more specific, like this:
catch (Exception exception)
{
var aex = exception as ArithmeticException
if (aex != null)
{
// do stuff specific to this exception type
}
// then do general stuff
}
If you were using VB.NET you could abstract your error handler in the Arithmetic exception into a function or method call that always returns false.
Then you could write something like:
Catch ex as Arithmetic When HandleArithmetic()
Catch ex as Exception
End Try
Not that I would advocate such usage, though I have seen it recommended for logging purposes before. I don't believe there is a C# equivalent.
This is known as exception filtering and isn't supported in C# (I'm told it is possible in VB.NET).
One work around would be to catch the general exception and then check the exception type in the catch block and do any specific processing on that before carrying on with the rest of the block.

What happens if both catch and finally blocks throw exception?

What happens if both catch and finally blocks throw exception?
When the finally block throws an exception, it will effectively hide the exception thrown from the catch block and will be the one ultimately thrown. It is therefore important to either log exceptions when caught, or make sure that the finally block does not itself throw an exception, otherwise you can get exceptions being thrown that are stifled and never seen.
When catch throws an exception, finally block will be run and then exit with an exception.
If the finally block throws an exception, the block will exit with an exception.
The last exception thrown is thrown.
Its already been answered well by adrianbanks, but the following post should be interesting:
Interesting Exception Results: Throwing Exceptions From the Finally Block
HI Nwaman i think you answer is wrong i have tested it in windows appliaction, i found if u write a program like the below one
try
{
string s = "hu";
int i = int.Parse(s);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
string s = "hu";
int i = int.Parse(s);
throw new Exception();
}
finally
{
MessageBox.Show("hi");
}
and this will not result finally to excute,

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