TIP proposal: Try/Catch Exception Handling
Draft proposal by Twylite 2008-09-12.
Update: this proposal has matured into TIP #329 which has been voted upon and accepted.
This TIP proposes the addition of new core commands to improve the exception handling mechanism. It supersedes TIP #89 by providing support for the error options dict introduced in Tcl 8.5 by TIP #90.
See TIP #89 for general rationale for enhancing exception handling.
The [try...catch] syntax presented here is not intended to replace [catch], but to simplify the expression of existing exception/error handling techniques, leading to greater code clarity and less error-prone workarounds for [finally] blocks. There is no deficiency in the functionality of Tcl's exception handling mechanisms - what is lacking is a more readable syntax and a standard for behavior across packages for the common case of catching a subset errors that are thrown from within a particular block of code.
In Tcl 8.4 exceptions could be caught using [catch], and exception information was available via the [catch] return value and resultvar. If the return value was TCL_ERROR (1) then the globals ::errorCode and ::errorInfo would be set according to the exception raised.
TIP #89 was written to work with this model, such that a catch handler (in a try...catch) would be able to capture the resultvar, errorCode and errorInfo.
Tcl 8.5 implements TIP #90 which extends [catch] to allow an additional dict of options (error information) to be captured. These options supersede the ::errorInfo and ::errorCode globals.
It is logical to extend/correct the syntax of TIP #89 to support the options dict in preference to the older mechanism for capturing exception information.
Benefits of adding this functionality to the core:
Simple example of try/catch/finally logic in Tcl using currently available syntax:
proc read_hex_file {fname} {
set f [open $fname "r"]
set data {}
set code [catch {
while { [gets $f line] >= 0 } {
append data [binary format H* $line]
}
} em opts]
if { $code != 0 } {
dict set opts -code 1
set em "Could not process file '$fname': $em"
}
close $f
return -options $opts $em
}And the same example rewritten to use [try...catch...finally]:
proc read_hex_file {fname} {
set f [open $fname "r"]
set data {}
try {
while { [gets $f line] >= 0 } {
append data [binary format H* $line]
}
} catch {* em} {
error "Could not process file '$fname': $em"
} finally {
close $f
}
}This illustrates how the intent of the code is more clearly expressed by [try...catch], but does not demonstrate the use of multiple catch blocks.
Since the catch handlers in the try...catch control structure will filter based on the exception's errorcode, it makes sense to have a command that will encourage the use of error codes when throwing an exception. [throw] is merely a reordering of the arguments of the [error] command.
type should be constructed as a list to maintain compatibility with ::errorcode, but it is treated as a string by [try...catch].
The try body is evaluated in the caller's scope. If the result is TCL_ERROR then each catch handler is considered in order until one is found with a type that matches the exception's errorcode, then the body of that handler is executed.
Returns the result of the last executed body (but not the finally body). If [try] returns TCL_OK then it will return the result of the try body, otherwise it will return the result of the catch body.
Rules:
Irrespective of the outcome of the try or catch bodies that are executed, the finally body (if present) will be executed as the last step before the result is propagated up the call stack. If the result of the finally body is anything other than TCL_OK, that result will take precedence.
Twylite 2008-10-03: Following discussions on TCL-CORE there will be some updates to the specification, which will be merged in as the proposals become more concrete.
Bezoar: I'm surprised that there has been no mention of the existing Tclx 's try_eval command : try_eval {script } {catch script } ?{ finally script}? . It already provides much of what is requested here, just move it into the core.
Twylite 20081016: try_eval is quite trivial to implement in pure Tcl and lacks at least two core features of this TIP: (1) the option to have a handler for the success case (then clause), and (2) the ability to handle only those exceptions that match a filter. To support matching/filtering using try_eval one would need to use a switch statement in the catch script, with a default cause to re-raise the existing exception. In addition try_eval as it exists currently isn't compatible with TIP #90 (it supports only the return code, ::errorInfo and ::errorCode, so it can't re-raise the existing exception correctly), and uses global variables to get the exception information into the catch script (ugly).
KD: What I'm missing in this is that Tcl has already a mechanism for throwing exceptions, namely special return codes. For example, the following throws an exception with return code 7:
return -code 7 "User provided incomplete input"
which can be catched somewhere on the call tree with:
switch [catch {do something} result] {
0 {do the next thing}
1 {return -code 1 -errorcode $::errorCode -errorinfo $::errorInfo $result}
7 {tk_messageBox -type ok -icon error -message $result}
}Tip 89 seems to use ::errorCode for everything, but exceptions are not errors, and currently ::errorCode in Tcl is used only for I/O and OS errors. To me it seems better to keep return code 1 for these errors, and use special return codes for user-defined exceptions.
Twylite The [try...catch] syntax is not intended to replace [catch], but to simplify the expression of existing exception/error handling techniques, leading to greater code clarity and less error-prone workarounds for [finally] blocks. There is no deficiency in the functionality of Tcl's exception handling mechanisms - what is lacking is a more readable syntax and a standard for behaviour across packages for the common case of catching a subset errors that are thrown from within a particular block of code.
The Tcl return code is usually used to indicate an exceptional change in program flow - but it does not indicate the cause of that change. The cause is captured in the return options (including error message, errorinfo, errorcode).
My understanding of your suggestion is to use a different return code for each possible "type" of exception. I can't see that providing value for the following reasons:
I contend that one return code should be used to indicate an exceptional return condition corresponding to an "exception", and the nature of that exception (used for filtering) should be encoded in the return options.
Which leaves two questions:
You assert that "exceptions are not errors", but that is a matter of perception and is often determined by the language. Some distinguish based on compile-time (error) versus runtime (exception) - e.g. PHP, C. To some an error is something necessarily unrecoverable while an exception is just an unexpected transient condition (e.g. Java). To others an error is something local to a routine that prevents it from behaving correctly (like bad arguments) while an exception is an error that originates in subroutines it calls.
The definition of an exception is simply a condition that changes the normal flow of execution, typically indicating that a routine could not execute normally. In systems without SEH this change of flow is normally accomplished with error return codes.
A Tcl error (return -code 1) is exactly that - a change in the normal flow of execution because execution couldn't complete normally. There is also a mechanism to indicate the class/type/nature of the exception: errorCode.
KD: Thanks for the clarifications. In my projects, I've found special return codes the easiest (clearest, most readable) way to distinguish between "real" Tcl errors and user-defined exceptions. But as you say, the reason is that Tcl had no standard syntax for exceptions. With your new syntax there will be no need for special return codes. OK.
I still feel somewhat uneasy about using ::errorCode, mainly because I've found Tcl itself to be not really consistent with it. For example, sometimes the error message itself is repeated in ::errorCode, sometimes not. All to often it is just "NONE", but sometimes undocumented values are returned. (For example, [puts dummy blah] gives errorCode "TCL LOOKUP CHANNEL dummy".)
In any case, errorCode is certainly a list, so string matching should be done on [lindex $::errorCode 0].
NEM: Should try be able to catch non-error exceptions (e.g. break/continue)? Should throw be able to create them? Throw and rethrow need an options dict argument, or take options separately (e.g. -errorinfo). Is type considered to be a string or a list? An exception in a catch handler should abort with error immediately -- don't keep searching through other handlers, as they might throw errors too. I'd say execute only first matching catch handler. Given that type matching is glob-style, the catch handler may also want to capture it so it can determine what exact errorCode matched. Drop the RETHROW errorCode idea - I can't see a good use-case for this. try should return the result of its body. If an error is thrown and caught, then the result of the corresponding catch block should be returned, allowing catch blocks to implement defaults.
Twylite Quick repeat of what I've said above: The [try...catch] syntax is not intended to replace [catch], but to simplify the expression of existing exception/error handling techniques.
NEM: Finally, my ideal would be that try/catch creates a lambda(s) for catch handlers and these are invoked at the point of error, rather than when the stack has unwound, as this allows for resumes (via break/ continue). This isn't possible to do for errors in general, however (e.g. C code errors).
Twylite This does sound interesting (although it did rather freak me out when I first encountered it in PHP ;) ) - but it is beyond the scope of what I'm trying to accomplish here, since it does introduce completely new behaviour that is distinct from Tcl's existing mechanisms.
Lars H: One thing you could do is to interpret a continue in some catch body as a signal that "I won't handle this, but keep on looking, since maybe some subsequent catch will." There is a sort-of precendence for this (although with the opposite default) in the use of break within Tk binding scripts to stop more generic bindings from firing.
Twylite While it would be nice to have a "keep on looking" signal, using return codes (like continue/break) would make [try...catch] less useful within loops and other control structures that use such return codes. e.g.
while { [gets $f line] >= 0 } {
try {
# process the line
} catch {badlineformat* em} {
# log $em
continue ;# keep processing more lines
}
}It is possible to use extra fields in the return options dict to communicate this sort of signal - I will investigate.
Lars H: Would it make sense to make throw more distinct (in terms of return code or return options) from error? (Of course, the -level 2 below is a difference.) It feels like an outright error in a catch body might need slightly different treatment than an error being thrown; in the former case, it is important to learn the exact position in the catch body where this error occurred, but in the latter it is the position within the try body that the errorinfo should focus on.
Twylite Making throw use a different return code from error makes it incompatible with existing practice in Tcl code; in particular it won't interact well with how catch is often used. Using different return options would make sense. The current prototype implementation chains the exceptions in the -during field of the return options dict so that context is available - I'm hoping to improve on that approach though.
JBR: I strongly object to an addition which redefines catch as a keyword. The new try command should not use the catch keyword to introduce the caught code arm. I understand that catch itself is not actually redefined and that try...catch is a common usage in some other languages (which interests me not one bit). This is confusing. When looking at code there will be two very similar contexts where catch will appear as a keyword and have very different meanings. Would it be better to extend catch to simplify the typical usage where catch is wrapped inside if?
catch { code } reply {
ERROR1 { code }
ERROR2 { code }
}Twylite Objection noted - it could cause confusion while scanning the code. Does anyone have suggestions for an alternative? Perhaps onerror. I would like to reserve except and catchcode for future use in case we need to handle return codes other than TCL_ERROR.
The problem with extending catch as you have suggested is that it would be natural for the switch cases to match the return code, which is not what [try...catch] is trying to achieve. Also I feel that this approach would be less familiar and less readable (it is more deeply nested) than [try...catch] syntax.
Duoas I've always liked Delphi's try..except keywords. Would "except" break anyone's code?
Twylite 20081016: I am looking at except as a keyword for catching exceptions in the generic case (see the Updates section). Combined with the objections to catch as a keyword in this context the syntax is starting to look more like:
try {
#code
} then {
#success continuation
} onerror {glob emvar optsvar} {
#handle errors based on errorCode
} except {spec emvar optsvar} {
#handle errors based on any matching information in optsvar
} finally {
#always execute this as the last action before leaving the try command
}AMG: The trycatch 2.0 package, available at http://www.wjduquette.com/tcl , includes a try ... finally ... construct, as well as other exception handling mechanisms. Documentation here: [L7 ]
First-pass implementation based on features from TIP #90:
namespace eval ::control {
# These are not local, since this allows us to [uplevel] a [catch] rather than
# [catch] the [uplevel]ing of something, resulting in a cleaner -errorinfo:
variable em {}
variable opts {}
}
proc ::control::throw {type message} {
return -code error -errorcode $type -errorinfo $message -level 2 $message
}
# For future reference: rethrow can be implemented by adding a "-rethrow"
# key to the return options dict
# proc ::control::rethrow {{type {}} {message {}}} {
# return -code error -errorcode $type -rethrow 1 $message
# }
proc ::control::try {args} {
# Check parameters
set try_block [lindex $args 0]
set has_finally false
set i 1
# Check args after try_block - should be zero or more 'catch {spec} body'
# followed by zero or one 'finally body'
while { $i < [llength $args] } {
switch -- [lindex $args $i] {
"catch" {
# catch {spec} body
# spec = {type emvar optsvar} is not checked here, to avoid performance issues
incr i 3
}
"finally" {
# finally body (and no further handlers)
set has_finally true
incr i 2
break
}
default {
break
}
}
}
# If we broke out before the last arg then there was a parameter problem
if { $i != [llength $args] } {
error "wrong # args: should be \"try body ?catch {type ?emvar? ?optvar?} body? ?...? ?finally body?\""
}
# Execute the try_block, catching errors
variable em
variable opts
set code [uplevel 1 [list ::catch $try_block \
[namespace which -variable em] [namespace which -variable opts] ]]
# Quickly handle the common case of no errors + no finally
if { ($code == 0) && ! $has_finally } {
# Return the result of the try body
return $em
}
# Keep track of the original error message & options
set _em $em
set _opts $opts
# If we got a TCL_ERROR then look for catch blocks (all other return codes
# propagate to the caller)
if { $code == 1 } {
set errorcode [dict get $opts -errorcode]
# Search catch handlers looking for a match ('type' glob matches errorcode)
set i 1
while { [lindex $args $i] eq "catch" } {
set spec [lindex $args $i+1]
lassign $spec type emvar optsvar
incr i 3
if { ! [string match $type $errorcode] } {
continue
}
# Found a matching catch handler, make error msg/opts available to caller
if { $emvar ne {} } {
upvar 1 $emvar _emvar
set _emvar $em
}
if { $optsvar ne {} } {
upvar 1 $optsvar _optsvar
set _optsvar $opts
}
# Execute catch block
set catch_block [lindex $args $i-1]
set code [uplevel 1 [list ::catch $catch_block \
[namespace which -variable em] [namespace which -variable opts] ]]
# Handler result replaces the original result (whether success or
# failure); capture context of original exception for reference
dict set opts -during $_opts
set _em $em
set _opts $opts
# Handler has been executed - stop looking for more
break
}
# No catch handler found -- error falls through to caller
# OR catch handler executed -- result falls through to caller
}
# If we have a finally block then execute it
if { $has_finally } {
set finally_block [lindex $args end]
set code [uplevel 1 [list ::catch $finally_block \
[namespace which -variable em] [namespace which -variable opts] ]]
# Finally result takes precedence except on success
if { $code != 0 } {
dict set opts -during $_opts
set _em $em
set _opts $opts
}
# Otherwise our result is not affected
}
# Propegate the error or the result of the executed catch body to the caller
#FIXME -level 2 will hide the try...catch itself from errorInfo, but it
# breaks nested 'try { try ... catch } catch'
dict incr _opts -level 1
return -options $_opts $_em
}
interp alias {} ::try {} ::control::try
interp alias {} ::throw {} ::control::throw