Recipe 7.5. Assuring Exceptions Are Not Lost When Using Finally Blocks
Problem
You have multiple nested try-catch, try-finally, and try-catch-finally blocks. If a catch block attempts to throw an exception, it is possible that the thrown exception will get discarded and that a new and unexpected exception will be caught by an outer exception handler. You want to prevent this situation from occurring.
Solution
Add an inner try-catch block in the finally block of the outer exception handler:
private void PreventLossOfException( )
{
try
{
//…
}
catch(Exception e)
{
Console.WriteLine("Error message == " + e.Message);
throw;
}
finally
{
try
{
//…
}
catch(Exception e)
{
Console.WriteLine(@"An unexpected error occurred in the finally block.
Error message == " + e.Message);
}
}
}
This block will prevent the original exception from being lost.
Discussion
Consider what would happen if an error were thrown from the inner finally block contained in the ThrowException method, as is instigated by the code shown in Example 7-1.
Example 7-1. Throwing an error from the inner finally block of the ThrowExceptionMethod
private void ThrowException( )
{
try
{
Console.WriteLine("In inner try");
int z2 = 9999999;
checked{z2 *= 999999999;}
}
catch(OverflowException ofe)
{
Console.WriteLine("An Overflow occurred. Error message == " +
ofe.Message);
throw;
}
catch(Exception e)
{
Console.WriteLine("Another type of error occurred. " +
"Error message == " + e.Message);
throw;
}
finally
{
try
{
Console.WriteLine("In inner finally");
throw(new Exception("Oops"));
}
catch(Exception e)
{
Console.WriteLine(@"An error occurred in the finally block. " +
"Error message == " + e.Message);
}
}
}
public void PreventLossOfException( )
{
try
{
Console.WriteLine("In outer try");
ThrowException( );
}
catch(Exception e)
{
Console.WriteLine("In outer catch. ReThrown error == " + e.Message);
}
finally
{
Console.WriteLine("In outer finally");
}
}
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the following output would be displayed:
In outer try
In inner try
An Overflow occurred. Error message == Arithmetic operation resulted in an
overflow.
In inner finally
In outer catch. ReThrown error == Oops
In outer finally
If you modify the inner finally block to handle its own errors (changes are highlighted), similarly to the following code:
public void PreventLossOfException( )
{
try
{
Console.WriteLine("In outer try");
ThrowException( );
}
catch(Exception e)
{
Console.WriteLine("In outer catch. ReThrown error == " + e.Message);
}
finally
{
Console.WriteLine("In outer finally");
}
}
you will get the following output:
In outer try
In inner try
An Overflow occurred. Error message == Arithmetic operation resulted in an
overflow.
In inner finally
An error occurred in the finally block. Error message == Oops
In outer catch. ReThrown error == Arithmetic operation resulted in an overflow.
In outer finally
By handling exceptions within the inner finally block, you assure that the correct rethrown exception bubbles up to the outer exception handler.
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When writing a finally block, consider placing a separate try-catch around the code.
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See Also
See the "Error Raising and Handling Guidelines" topic and the "throw," "try," "catch," and "finally" keywords in the MSDN documentation.
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