Exception and Error Handling in C++ - A detailed Presentation

Exception Handling in C ++ CS-2303, C-Term 2010 1  2006 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Exception Handling in C++ CS-2303 System Programming Concepts (Slides include materials from The C Programming Language, 2nd edition, by Kernighan and Ritchie, from C: How to Program, 5th and 6th editions, by Deitel and Deitel, and from The C++ Programming Language, 3rd edition, by Bjarne Stroustrup)

Exception Handling in C ++ CS-2303, C-Term 2010 2  2006 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Outline • What exceptions are and when to use them • Using try, catch and throw to detect, handle and indicate exceptions, respectively • To process uncaught and unexpected exceptions • To declare new exception classes • How stack unwinding enables exceptions not caught in one scope to be caught in another scope • To handle new failures • To understand the standard exception hierarchy

Exception Handling in C ++ CS-2303, C-Term 2010 3  2006 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Introduction • Exceptions – Indicate problems that occur during a program’s execution – Occur infrequently • Exception handling – Can resolve exceptions • Allow a program to continue executing or • Notify the user of the problem and • Terminate the program in a controlled manner – Makes programs robust and fault-tolerant

Exception Handling in C ++ CS-2303, C-Term 2010 4  2006 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Exception Handling in C++ • A standard mechanism for processing errors – Especially important when working on a project with a large team of programmers • C++ exception handling is much like Java’s • Java’s exception handling is much like C++

Exception Handling in C ++ CS-2303, C-Term 2010 5  2006 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Fundamental Philosophy • Mechanism for sending an exception signal up the call stack • Regardless of intervening calls • Note: there is a mechanism based on same philosophy in C •setjmp(), longjmp() • See man pages

Exception Handling in C ++ CS-2303, C-Term 2010 6  2006 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Traditional Exception Handling • Intermixing program and error-handling logic – Pseudocode outline Perform a task If the preceding task did not execute correctly Perform error processing Perform next task If the preceding task did not execute correctly Perform error processing … • Makes the program difficult to read, modify, maintain and debug • Impacts performance Note:– In most large systems, code to handle errors and exceptions represents >80% of the total code of the system

Exception Handling in C ++ CS-2303, C-Term 2010 7  2006 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Fundamental Philosophy (continued) • Remove error-handling code from the program execution’s “main line” • Programmers can handle any exceptions they choose – All exceptions – All exceptions of a certain type – All exceptions of a group of related types

Exception Handling in C ++ CS-2303, C-Term 2010 8  2006 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Fundamental Philosophy (continued) • Programs can – Recover from exceptions – Hide exceptions – Pass exceptions up the “chain of command” – Ignore certain exceptions and let someone else handle them

Exception Handling in C ++ CS-2303, C-Term 2010 9  2006 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Fundamental Philosophy (continued) • An exception is a class • Usually derived from one of the system’s exception base classes • If an exceptional or error situation occurs, program throws an object of that class • Object crawls up the call stack • A calling program can choose to catch exceptions of certain classes • Take action based on the exception object

Exception Handling in C ++ CS-2303, C-Term 2010 10  2006 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Class exception • The standard C++ base class for all exceptions • Provides derived classes with virtual function what – Returns the exception’s stored error message

Exception Handling in C ++ CS-2303, C-Term 2010 11  2006 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 1 // Fig. 27.1: DivideByZeroException.h 2 // Class DivideByZeroException definition. 3 #include <stdexcept> // stdexcept header file contains runtime_error 4 using std::runtime_error; // standard C++ library class runtime_error 5 6 // DivideByZeroException objects should be thrown by functions 7 // upon detecting division-by-zero exceptions 8 class DivideByZeroException : public runtime_error 9 { 10 public: 11 // constructor specifies default error message 12 DivideByZeroException::DivideByZeroException() 13 : runtime_error( "attempted to divide by zero" ) {} 14 }; // end class DivideByZeroException Example: Handling an Attempt to Divide by Zero

Exception Handling in C ++ CS-2303, C-Term 2010 12  2006 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 1 // Fig. 27.2: Fig27_02.cpp 2 // A simple exception-handling example that checks for 3 // divide-by-zero exceptions. 4 #include <iostream> 5 using std::cin; 6 using std::cout; 7 using std::endl; 8 9 #include "DivideByZeroException.h" // DivideByZeroException class 10 11 // perform division and throw DivideByZeroException object if 12 // divide-by-zero exception occurs 13 double quotient( int numerator, int denominator ) 14 { 15 // throw DivideByZeroException if trying to divide by zero 16 if ( denominator == 0 ) 17 throw DivideByZeroException(); // terminate function 18 19 // return division result 20 return static_cast< double >( numerator ) / denominator; 21 } // end function quotient 22 23 int main() 24 { 25 int number1; // user-specified numerator 26 int number2; // user-specified denominator 27 double result; // result of division 28 29 cout << "Enter two integers (end-of-file to end): "; Zero Divide Example • Fig27-2 – (1 of 2)

Exception Handling in C ++ CS-2303, C-Term 2010 13  2006 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 30 31 // enable user to enter two integers to divide 32 while ( cin >> number1 >> number2 ) 33 { 34 // try block contains code that might throw exception 35 // and code that should not execute if an exception occurs 36 try 37 { 38 result = quotient( number1, number2 ); 39 cout << "The quotient is: " << result << endl; 40 } // end try 41 42 // exception handler handles a divide-by-zero exception 43 catch ( DivideByZeroException &divideByZeroException ) 44 { 45 cout << "Exception occurred: " 46 << divideByZeroException.what() << endl; 47 } // end catch 48 49 cout << "nEnter two integers (end-of-file to end): "; 50 } // end while 51 52 cout << endl; 53 return 0; // terminate normally 54 } // end main Zero Divide Example • Fig27-2 – (2 of 2)

Exception Handling in C ++ CS-2303, C-Term 2010 15  2006 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. try Blocks • Keyword try followed by braces ({}) • Should enclose – Statements that might cause exceptions – Statements that should be skipped in case of an exception

Exception Handling in C ++ CS-2303, C-Term 2010 16  2006 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Software Engineering Observation • Exceptions may surface – through explicitly mentioned code in a try block, – through calls to other functions and – through deeply nested function calls initiated by code in a try block.

Exception Handling in C ++ CS-2303, C-Term 2010 17  2006 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Catch Handlers • Immediately follow a try block – One or more catch handlers for each try block • Keyword catch • Exception parameter enclosed in parentheses – Represents the type of exception to process – Can provide an optional parameter name to interact with the caught exception object • Executes if exception parameter type matches the exception thrown in the try block – Could be a base class of the thrown exception’s class

Exception Handling in C ++ CS-2303, C-Term 2010 18  2006 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Catch Handlers (continued) try { // code to try } catch (exceptionClass1 &name1) { // handle exceptions of exceptionClass1 } catch (exceptionClass2 &name2) { // handle exceptions of exceptionClass2 } catch (exceptionClass3 &name3) { // handle exceptions of exceptionClass3 } ... /* code to execute if no exception or catch handler handled exception*/ All other classes of exceptions are not handled here catch clauses attempted in order; first match wins!

Exception Handling in C ++ CS-2303, C-Term 2010 19  2006 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Common Programming Errors Syntax error to place code between a try block and its corresponding catch handlers Each catch handler can have only a single parameter • Specifying a comma-separated list of exception parameters is a syntax error • Logic error to catch the same type in two different catch handlers following a single try block

Exception Handling in C ++ CS-2303, C-Term 2010 20  2006 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Fundamental Philosophy (continued) • Termination model of exception handling – try block expires when an exception occurs • Local variables in try block go out of scope – Code within the matching catch handler executes – Control resumes with the first statement after the last catch handler following the try block • Stack unwinding – Occurs if no matching catch handler is found – Program attempts to locate another enclosing try block in the calling function Control does not return to throw point

Exception Handling in C ++ CS-2303, C-Term 2010 21  2006 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Stack Unwinding • Occurs when a thrown exception is not caught in a particular scope • Unwinding a Function terminates that function – All local variables of the function are destroyed • Invokes destructors – Control returns to point where function was invoked • Attempts are made to catch the exception in outer try…catch blocks • If the exception is never caught, the function terminate is called

Exception Handling in C ++ CS-2303, C-Term 2010 22  2006 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Observations With exception handling, a program can continue executing (rather than terminating) after dealing with a problem. This helps to support robust applications that contribute to mission-critical computing or business-critical computing When no exceptions occur, there is no performance penalty

Exception Handling in C ++ CS-2303, C-Term 2010 23  2006 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Throwing an Exception • Use keyword throw followed by an operand representing the type of exception – The throw operand can be of any type – If the throw operand is an object, it is called an exception object • The throw operand initializes the exception parameter in the matching catch handler, if one is found

Exception Handling in C ++ CS-2303, C-Term 2010 24  2006 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Notes • Catching an exception object by reference eliminates the overhead of copying the object that represents the thrown exception • Associating each type of runtime error with an appropriately named exception object improves program clarity.

Exception Handling in C ++ CS-2303, C-Term 2010 25  2006 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. When to Use Exception Handling • To process synchronous errors – Occur when a statement executes • Not to process asynchronous errors – Occur in parallel with, and independent of, program execution • To process problems arising in predefined software elements – Such as predefined functions and classes – Error handling can be performed by the program code to be customized based on the application’s needs Don’t use for routine stuff such as end-of-file or null string checking

Exception Handling in C ++ CS-2303, C-Term 2010 26  2006 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Software Engineering Notes • Incorporate exception-handling strategy into system design from the start • Very difficult to retrofit after the system has been implemented! • Exception handling provides uniform technique for processing problems • Helps with understandability of each other’s error handling code • Avoid using exception handling as an alternate form of flow of control • These “additional” exceptions can “get in the way” of genuine error handling

Exception Handling in C ++ CS-2303, C-Term 2010 27  2006 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Rethrowing an Exception • Empty throw; statement • Use when a catch handler cannot or can only partially process an exception • Next enclosing try block attempts to match the exception with one of its catch handlers

Exception Handling in C ++ CS-2303, C-Term 2010 28  2006 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Common Programming Error Executing an empty throw statement outside a catch handler causes a function call to terminate • Abandons exception processing and terminates the program immediately See D&D Fig 27.3

Exception Handling in C ++ CS-2303, C-Term 2010 29  2006 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Exception Specifications • Also called throw lists • Keyword throw – Comma-separated list of exception classes in parentheses • Example – int someFunction( double value ) throw ( ExceptionA, ExceptionB, ExceptionC ) { ... } – Indicates someFunction can throw types ExceptionA, ExceptionB and ExceptionC Optional!

Exception Handling in C ++ CS-2303, C-Term 2010 30  2006 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Exception Specifications (continued) • A function can throw only exceptions of types in its specification (or derived types) – If a function throws a non-specification exception, function unexpected is called • This normally terminates the program • Absence of exception specification indicates that the function can throw any exception • An empty exception specification, throw(), indicates the function cannot throw any exceptions

Exception Handling in C ++ CS-2303, C-Term 2010 31  2006 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Error Note • The compiler will not generate a compilation error if a function contains a throw expression for an exception not listed in the function’s exception specification. • Error occurs only when that function attempts to throw that exception at run time. • To avoid surprises at execution time, carefully check your code to ensure that functions do not throw exceptions not listed in their exception specifications

Exception Handling in C ++ CS-2303, C-Term 2010 33  2006 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Constructors and Destructors • Exceptions and constructors – Exceptions enable constructors to report errors • Unable to return values – Exceptions thrown by constructors cause any already- constructed component objects to call their destructors • Only those objects that have already been constructed will be destructed • Exceptions and destructors – Destructors are called for all automatic objects in the terminated try block when an exception is thrown • Acquired resources can be placed in local objects to automatically release the resources when an exception occurs – If a destructor invoked by stack unwinding throws an exception, function terminate is called

Exception Handling in C ++ CS-2303, C-Term 2010 34  2006 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Note • When an exception is thrown from the constructor for an object that is created in a new expression, … • … the dynamically allocated memory for that object is released.

Exception Handling in C ++ CS-2303, C-Term 2010 35  2006 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Exceptions and Inheritance • New exception classes can be defined to inherit from existing exception classes • A catch handler for a particular exception class can also catch exceptions of classes derived from that class • Enables catching related errors with a concise notation

Exception Handling in C ++ CS-2303, C-Term 2010 36  2006 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Failure of calls to new • Some compilers throw a bad_alloc exception – Compliant to the C++ standard specification • Some compilers return 0 – C++ standard-compliant compilers also have a version of new that returns 0 • Use expression new( nothrow ), where nothrow is of type nothrow_t • Some compilers throw bad_alloc if <new> is included

Exception Handling in C ++ CS-2303, C-Term 2010 37  2006 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Standard Library Exception Hierarchy • Base-class exception – Contains virtual function what for storing error messages • Exception classes derived from exception – bad_alloc – thrown by new – bad_cast – thrown by dynamic_cast – bad_typeid – thrown by typeid – bad_exception – thrown by unexpected • Instead of terminating the program or calling the function specified by set_unexpected • Used only if bad_exception is in the function’s throw list

Exception Handling in C ++ CS-2303, C-Term 2010 39  2006 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Exception Handling Summary • Exceptions are derived from class exception • Exceptional or error condition is indicated by throwing an object of that class • Created by constructor in throw statement • Calling programs can check for exceptions with try...catch construct • Unified method of handling exceptions • Far superior to coding exception handling in long hand • No performance impact when no exceptions

Exception Handling in C ++ CS-2303, C-Term 2010 40  2006 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Exception Handling Summary (continued) • Many more details — see • Deitel & Deitel • Any other textbook • C++ standard

Exception and Error Handling in C++ - A detailed Presentation

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Exception and Error Handling in C++ - A detailed Presentation