Pass object (List) as part of Exception

Question

I am constructing a list of strings and then want to throw an exception and let the UI handle the list and create the error message for the user.

Is there a way to do that?

`let the UI parse the list` - Why is the UI responsible for that? — Federico Berasategui, Jun 25 '13 at 16:50
@HighCore: I think he just means formatting the list into something readable for a messagebox — Cemafor, Jun 25 '13 at 16:52

score 45 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 25 '13 at 16:50

45

Exceptions contains Data property (which is a dictionary). It can be used to pass additional information:

try
{
    // throw new Exception
}
catch(Exception e)
{
    // whatever
    e.Data["SomeData"] = new List<string>();
}

answered Jun 25 '13 at 16:50

Zbigniew

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And if you need to include the object in a throw statement (in case you want it to bubble up potentially several levels), you can just do `var e = new Exception("some error") { Data = { {"obj1", obj1}, {"obj2", obj2} } } }` and then `throw e` – jbyrd May 09 '18 at 13:25

Z . · Answer 2 · 2013-06-25T20:09:36.240

36

You can use the Exception.Data property to pass arbitrary data but a better (cleaner) solution would be to create your own custom exception class derived from Exception and add whatever properties you need to it.

Sample code:

public class MyException: Exception
{
    public List<String> MyStrings { get; private set; }

    public MyException(List<String> myStrings)
    {
        this.MyStrings = myStrings;
    }
}

edited Jun 25 '13 at 20:09

answered Jun 25 '13 at 17:07

Z .

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I like the subclass idea as I prefer strong[er] typing. – Paul Jun 25 '13 at 17:11
2

strong typing is good, but the big advantage is cleaner and more obvious code when you try to handle the exception (using cascading catch statements) – Z . Jun 25 '13 at 17:14
2

Yeah, strong[er] typing :D – Paul Jun 25 '13 at 17:17
The microsoft article that supports this: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/vstudio/ms229064(v=vs.100).aspx – Jim Yarbro Jan 18 '15 at 13:31

Pass object (List) as part of Exception

2 Answers2