Skip to content
  • Categories
  • Recent
  • Tags
  • Popular
  • World
  • Users
  • Groups
Skins
  • Light
  • Cerulean
  • Cosmo
  • Flatly
  • Journal
  • Litera
  • Lumen
  • Lux
  • Materia
  • Minty
  • Morph
  • Pulse
  • Sandstone
  • Simplex
  • Sketchy
  • Spacelab
  • United
  • Yeti
  • Zephyr
  • Dark
  • Cyborg
  • Darkly
  • Quartz
  • Slate
  • Solar
  • Superhero
  • Vapor

  • Default (No Skin)
  • No Skin
Collapse
Code Project
  1. Home
  2. General Programming
  3. C#
  4. a try inside another

a try inside another

Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved C#
help
38 Posts 15 Posters 0 Views 1 Watching
  • Oldest to Newest
  • Newest to Oldest
  • Most Votes
Reply
  • Reply as topic
Log in to reply
This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
  • R Rick van Woudenberg

    .. euhmm .. debatable I guess. Technically speaking you're right, I agree. But what's the use of a try block without a catch block. The try block contains the guarded code that may cause the exception. The block is executed until an exception is thrown or it is completed successfully. The catch clause can be used without arguments, in which case it catches any type of exception, and referred to as the general catch clause. It can also take an object argument derived from System.Exception, in which case it handles a specific exception. So, keeping all that in mind, I'm hard to convince why you'd want two or more try clauses with just one catch clause, as each try block is examined in order of importance and thus handled by the same catch clause. .. or have I completely lost my mind again.

    P Offline
    P Offline
    Pete OHanlon
    wrote on last edited by
    #9

    Rick van Woudenberg wrote:

    But what's the use of a try block without a catch block.

    To ensure that the exception gets thrown up the chain, AND some critical piece of code gets executed. Consider this example:

    private void DoSomething()
    {
    SqlConnection connection = null;
    try
    {
    connection = new SqlConnection();
    // Do something that might cause an exception...
    }
    finally
    {
    if (connection.ConnectionState == ConnectionState.Open)
    connection.Close();
    }
    }

    BTW, try/finally is exactly how the using statement is implemented for auto-disposable behaviour.

    Forgive your enemies - it messes with their heads

    My blog | My articles | MoXAML PowerToys | Mole 2010 - debugging made easier - my favourite utility

    R V 2 Replies Last reply
    0
    • P Pete OHanlon

      Rick van Woudenberg wrote:

      But what's the use of a try block without a catch block.

      To ensure that the exception gets thrown up the chain, AND some critical piece of code gets executed. Consider this example:

      private void DoSomething()
      {
      SqlConnection connection = null;
      try
      {
      connection = new SqlConnection();
      // Do something that might cause an exception...
      }
      finally
      {
      if (connection.ConnectionState == ConnectionState.Open)
      connection.Close();
      }
      }

      BTW, try/finally is exactly how the using statement is implemented for auto-disposable behaviour.

      Forgive your enemies - it messes with their heads

      My blog | My articles | MoXAML PowerToys | Mole 2010 - debugging made easier - my favourite utility

      R Offline
      R Offline
      Rick van Woudenberg
      wrote on last edited by
      #10

      Pete, Good point. I guess you're sample is way better than I used to do it. ( see code below ). Other than the obvious thread freezing and just the fact that handling exceptions are 'expensive'.

      private void DoSomething()
      {
      SqlConnection connection = null;
      try
      {
      connection = new SqlConnection();
      // Do something that might cause an exception...
      connection.Open();
      }
      catch
      {
      MessageBox.Show("Connecting to the database failed..");
      }

      if (connection.ConnectionState == ConnectionState.Open)
      connection.Close();
      }

      J 1 Reply Last reply
      0
      • A Ali Al Omairi Abu AlHassan

        this will hide the inner exception of the inner try?

        Help people,so poeple can help you.

        L Offline
        L Offline
        Luc Pattyn
        wrote on last edited by
        #11

        the finally block is always executed, and any exception that gets thrown will be caught by the first surrounding and matching catch block. So the finally block will execute first (unless the catch belongs to the same try as the finally). :)

        Luc Pattyn [Forum Guidelines] [My Articles] Nil Volentibus Arduum

        Please use <PRE> tags for code snippets, they preserve indentation, improve readability, and make me actually look at the code.

        1 Reply Last reply
        0
        • R Rick van Woudenberg

          Pete, Good point. I guess you're sample is way better than I used to do it. ( see code below ). Other than the obvious thread freezing and just the fact that handling exceptions are 'expensive'.

          private void DoSomething()
          {
          SqlConnection connection = null;
          try
          {
          connection = new SqlConnection();
          // Do something that might cause an exception...
          connection.Open();
          }
          catch
          {
          MessageBox.Show("Connecting to the database failed..");
          }

          if (connection.ConnectionState == ConnectionState.Open)
          connection.Close();
          }

          J Offline
          J Offline
          J4amieC
          wrote on last edited by
          #12

          That code example made me shudder. Separation of concerns; Is the concern database access or User notification, because it sure as hell shouldnt be both.

          R 1 Reply Last reply
          0
          • A Ali Al Omairi Abu AlHassan

            guys; I was exminning some code and i found this:

            try
            {
                try
                {
                    ...
                }
                finally
                {
                    ...
                }
            }
            catch
            {
                throw;
            }
            

            I am wondering if this is legal. I mean catch anything and trow anything; or maybe it's usefull for something. because the developer who write this code is someone i believe he is an expert. Thank you;

            Help people,so poeple can help you.

            P Offline
            P Offline
            PIEBALDconsult
            wrote on last edited by
            #13

            The outer try/catch in this example is pointless, remove it. If the catch in the outer try/catch actually does something (like log the Exception), then the inner try/finally should be removed and the finally moved out to make the try/catch into a try/catch/finally. Nested try/catches (while sometimes necessary) are a code smell and should be investigated thoroughly. (Or Thoreau[^]ly -- simplify simplify.)

            L J 2 Replies Last reply
            0
            • P PIEBALDconsult

              The outer try/catch in this example is pointless, remove it. If the catch in the outer try/catch actually does something (like log the Exception), then the inner try/finally should be removed and the finally moved out to make the try/catch into a try/catch/finally. Nested try/catches (while sometimes necessary) are a code smell and should be investigated thoroughly. (Or Thoreau[^]ly -- simplify simplify.)

              L Offline
              L Offline
              Luc Pattyn
              wrote on last edited by
              #14

              PIEBALDconsult wrote:

              If the catch in the outer try/catch actually does something (like log the Exception), then the inner try/finally should be removed and the finally moved out to make the try/catch into a try/catch/finally.

              If the catch in the outer try/catch actually does something, then your suggestion would change what happens to exceptions thrown by the finally block itself. :)

              Luc Pattyn [Forum Guidelines] [My Articles] Nil Volentibus Arduum

              Please use <PRE> tags for code snippets, they preserve indentation, improve readability, and make me actually look at the code.

              P 1 Reply Last reply
              0
              • P Pete OHanlon

                Rick van Woudenberg wrote:

                But what's the use of a try block without a catch block.

                To ensure that the exception gets thrown up the chain, AND some critical piece of code gets executed. Consider this example:

                private void DoSomething()
                {
                SqlConnection connection = null;
                try
                {
                connection = new SqlConnection();
                // Do something that might cause an exception...
                }
                finally
                {
                if (connection.ConnectionState == ConnectionState.Open)
                connection.Close();
                }
                }

                BTW, try/finally is exactly how the using statement is implemented for auto-disposable behaviour.

                Forgive your enemies - it messes with their heads

                My blog | My articles | MoXAML PowerToys | Mole 2010 - debugging made easier - my favourite utility

                V Offline
                V Offline
                V 0
                wrote on last edited by
                #15

                Suppose the line

                connection = new SqlConnection();

                fails and connection stays null. Won't you receive a very ugly "unhandled exception" message? (haven't tried it).

                V.

                P 1 Reply Last reply
                0
                • V V 0

                  Suppose the line

                  connection = new SqlConnection();

                  fails and connection stays null. Won't you receive a very ugly "unhandled exception" message? (haven't tried it).

                  V.

                  P Offline
                  P Offline
                  Pete OHanlon
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #16

                  You will, but the exception will bubble up (actually, in this case you won't get an exception. The zero parameter constructor doesn't do anything that can cause an exception). I deliberately didn't put exception handling in here to avoid clouding the issue.

                  Forgive your enemies - it messes with their heads

                  My blog | My articles | MoXAML PowerToys | Mole 2010 - debugging made easier - my favourite utility

                  1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • J J4amieC

                    That code example made me shudder. Separation of concerns; Is the concern database access or User notification, because it sure as hell shouldnt be both.

                    R Offline
                    R Offline
                    Rick van Woudenberg
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #17

                    Well, as far as I'm concerned both would be nice. Sure, the connection to the database has priority over user notification, however when something stuffs up, I generally let the user know. In that particular case I would do something like :

                    private void DoSomething()
                    {
                    SqlConnection connection = null;
                    try
                    {
                    connection = new SqlConnection();
                    // Do something that might cause an exception...
                    connection.Open();
                    }
                    catch(SqlException ex)
                    {
                    MessageBox.Show(ex.ToString(); // or something else to notify the customer
                    }
                    finally
                    {
                    if (connection.ConnectionState == ConnectionState.Open)
                    connection.Close();
                    }
                    }

                    Then you actually have both of two worlds. However, that puts us right back to the essence of this discussion. Having a catch clause in a method is not something to be ashamed of, though I get the feeling that many developers think that way.

                    J D 2 Replies Last reply
                    0
                    • R Rick van Woudenberg

                      Well, as far as I'm concerned both would be nice. Sure, the connection to the database has priority over user notification, however when something stuffs up, I generally let the user know. In that particular case I would do something like :

                      private void DoSomething()
                      {
                      SqlConnection connection = null;
                      try
                      {
                      connection = new SqlConnection();
                      // Do something that might cause an exception...
                      connection.Open();
                      }
                      catch(SqlException ex)
                      {
                      MessageBox.Show(ex.ToString(); // or something else to notify the customer
                      }
                      finally
                      {
                      if (connection.ConnectionState == ConnectionState.Open)
                      connection.Close();
                      }
                      }

                      Then you actually have both of two worlds. However, that puts us right back to the essence of this discussion. Having a catch clause in a method is not something to be ashamed of, though I get the feeling that many developers think that way.

                      J Offline
                      J Offline
                      J4amieC
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #18

                      ahhh, no no no. If your UI code is mixed with your database access code; you're doing it wrong If you show Exception messages unsanitized to your users; you're doing it wrong

                      B R G 3 Replies Last reply
                      0
                      • J J4amieC

                        ahhh, no no no. If your UI code is mixed with your database access code; you're doing it wrong If you show Exception messages unsanitized to your users; you're doing it wrong

                        B Offline
                        B Offline
                        BobJanova
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #19

                        Totally agreed on the first point. But regarding the second, he did mention that he might put something else there. I tend to have something which shows them the exception trace in the critical exception handler, because if there is a serious bug, you (the developer) want that information to fix it. In the case of a database connection failure, though, definitely not, because most of those reasons are not because your software is broken.

                        J 1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • B BobJanova

                          Totally agreed on the first point. But regarding the second, he did mention that he might put something else there. I tend to have something which shows them the exception trace in the critical exception handler, because if there is a serious bug, you (the developer) want that information to fix it. In the case of a database connection failure, though, definitely not, because most of those reasons are not because your software is broken.

                          J Offline
                          J Offline
                          J4amieC
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #20

                          BobJanova wrote:

                          you (the developer) want that information to fix it

                          And therein is the point. I want it, but I dont EVER want a user to see it. This is what the Windows Event Log (or, perhaps another type of log) is for. You never have a reason to show a user an unsanitized exception message (caveat: they're programmers and can actually act on the information). There is the potential to give away sensitive information if you do so.

                          P 1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • J J4amieC

                            BobJanova wrote:

                            you (the developer) want that information to fix it

                            And therein is the point. I want it, but I dont EVER want a user to see it. This is what the Windows Event Log (or, perhaps another type of log) is for. You never have a reason to show a user an unsanitized exception message (caveat: they're programmers and can actually act on the information). There is the potential to give away sensitive information if you do so.

                            P Offline
                            P Offline
                            Pete OHanlon
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #21

                            J4amieC wrote:

                            This is what the Windows Event Log (or, perhaps another type of log) is for.

                            Or to put it another way - that's what log4net is for. :-D

                            Forgive your enemies - it messes with their heads

                            My blog | My articles | MoXAML PowerToys | Mole 2010 - debugging made easier - my favourite utility

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • L Luc Pattyn

                              PIEBALDconsult wrote:

                              If the catch in the outer try/catch actually does something (like log the Exception), then the inner try/finally should be removed and the finally moved out to make the try/catch into a try/catch/finally.

                              If the catch in the outer try/catch actually does something, then your suggestion would change what happens to exceptions thrown by the finally block itself. :)

                              Luc Pattyn [Forum Guidelines] [My Articles] Nil Volentibus Arduum

                              Please use <PRE> tags for code snippets, they preserve indentation, improve readability, and make me actually look at the code.

                              P Offline
                              P Offline
                              PIEBALDconsult
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #22

                              Luc Pattyn wrote:

                              exceptions thrown by the finally block itself.

                              Of which there are none. or put a try/catch in the finally. :-D

                              L 1 Reply Last reply
                              0
                              • P PIEBALDconsult

                                Luc Pattyn wrote:

                                exceptions thrown by the finally block itself.

                                Of which there are none. or put a try/catch in the finally. :-D

                                L Offline
                                L Offline
                                Luc Pattyn
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #23

                                PIEBALDconsult wrote:

                                Of which there are none

                                Of course there are, that is exactly what the three dots are standing for. You can't escape nested try constructs if it has to be fool proof... :)

                                Luc Pattyn [Forum Guidelines] [My Articles] Nil Volentibus Arduum

                                Please use <PRE> tags for code snippets, they preserve indentation, improve readability, and make me actually look at the code.

                                P 1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • L Luc Pattyn

                                  PIEBALDconsult wrote:

                                  Of which there are none

                                  Of course there are, that is exactly what the three dots are standing for. You can't escape nested try constructs if it has to be fool proof... :)

                                  Luc Pattyn [Forum Guidelines] [My Articles] Nil Volentibus Arduum

                                  Please use <PRE> tags for code snippets, they preserve indentation, improve readability, and make me actually look at the code.

                                  P Offline
                                  P Offline
                                  PIEBALDconsult
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #24

                                  Luc Pattyn wrote:

                                  You can't escape nested try constructs

                                  Sure I can, I'll write a method. And I did say that some times they're necessary. However, taking the least scope route, if you want to protect against Exceptions in a finally (and you shouldn't need too), then put the try/catch there.

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • P PIEBALDconsult

                                    The outer try/catch in this example is pointless, remove it. If the catch in the outer try/catch actually does something (like log the Exception), then the inner try/finally should be removed and the finally moved out to make the try/catch into a try/catch/finally. Nested try/catches (while sometimes necessary) are a code smell and should be investigated thoroughly. (Or Thoreau[^]ly -- simplify simplify.)

                                    J Offline
                                    J Offline
                                    Jan Holst Jensen2
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #25

                                    Pointless with regards to how the code executes, but not pointless if you are debugging. The outer catch block gives you a place to put a breakpoint so you can see when exceptions occur. I expect that is the reason for it. But the outer try-catch block can be safely removed for production code.

                                    P 1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • J J4amieC

                                      ahhh, no no no. If your UI code is mixed with your database access code; you're doing it wrong If you show Exception messages unsanitized to your users; you're doing it wrong

                                      R Offline
                                      R Offline
                                      Rick van Woudenberg
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #26

                                      I totally agree with you, and I would never show an exception to a user. Hence the

                                      // or show something else..

                                      , but I still think that you should at least say something when anything important messes up, like .. euhh .. a database connection that fails ? I don't think it's wise to redirect general user messages that could be caused by an exception to the windows logs. Not very user friendly.

                                      1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • J J4amieC

                                        ahhh, no no no. If your UI code is mixed with your database access code; you're doing it wrong If you show Exception messages unsanitized to your users; you're doing it wrong

                                        G Offline
                                        G Offline
                                        Gary Wheeler
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #27

                                        J4amieC wrote:

                                        If your UI code is mixed with your database access code; you're doing it wrong
                                         
                                        If you show Exception messages unsanitized to your users; you're doing it wrong

                                        Ahhh, no. It depends upon the scope of the problem you're trying to solve. If this is a 1,000 line utility app that you're the only user for, this might be perfectly appropriate. If it's a 200,000 line client for a LOB app, then you might have issues.

                                        Software Zen: delete this;

                                        1 Reply Last reply
                                        0
                                        • J Jan Holst Jensen2

                                          Pointless with regards to how the code executes, but not pointless if you are debugging. The outer catch block gives you a place to put a breakpoint so you can see when exceptions occur. I expect that is the reason for it. But the outer try-catch block can be safely removed for production code.

                                          P Offline
                                          P Offline
                                          PIEBALDconsult
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #28

                                          Then put a catch on the try/finally.

                                          J 1 Reply Last reply
                                          0
                                          Reply
                                          • Reply as topic
                                          Log in to reply
                                          • Oldest to Newest
                                          • Newest to Oldest
                                          • Most Votes


                                          • Login

                                          • Don't have an account? Register

                                          • Login or register to search.
                                          • First post
                                            Last post
                                          0
                                          • Categories
                                          • Recent
                                          • Tags
                                          • Popular
                                          • World
                                          • Users
                                          • Groups