Function that checks if function executes successfully, otherwise exception. Possible in PHP? - php

I need some function that will accept a function as the parameter and will run it in try {} catch (Exception $e) {}. If it runs successfully, do nothing, otherwise, throw new Exception. That's something like function-checker, which checks functions if they ran successfully. Anybody can help me or give advice?
Thanks for any replies.
The function should work like that:
function itwillfail () {
echo 10 / 0;
}
check("itwillfail");
Output: Caught exception: Custom exception text here, because it has been thrown as custom.
("check" is that function I need)
What I tried:
function check($func) {
try {
call_user_func($func);
} catch (Exception $e) {
throw new Exception("Custom text here.");
}
}
EDIT: More explained: I need to create function, which do the same as "try" and a lot of different "catch"es for different types of exceptions.

Summarizing your question:
You want a way to call a custom function from a string variable (which you have already figured out that would be via call_user_func($var);.
You then want that function to throw a custom exception error
Confused
What is not clear is the reason you would opt to not define your error handler using the set_error_handler function which would effectively do what your asking and set a switch statement to output different messages based on the error generated.
Example
The following example is not using a call_user_func but it effectively allows you to write how the error will be handled
<?php
function myerror($error_no, $error_msg) {
echo "Error: [$error_no] $error_msg ";
echo "\n Now Script will end";
die();
}
// Setting set_error_handler
set_error_handler("myerror");
$a = 10;
$b = 0;
// Force the error
echo($a / $b);
?>

Not every function throws an exception when they fail. Many functions, especially ones that have been around for a long time, simply trigger PHP errors rather than exceptions.
To handle those, you would use a custom error handler:
https://www.php.net/manual/en/function.set-error-handler.php
So you could set up a custom error handler that would intercept those kinds of failures and throw them as exceptions. The whole point of that function is to do what you're trying to do - handle errors in a custom way.

Related

Handling PHP exceptions the correct way

I'm developing my own PHP framework and my code althought is working like it should, it's getting bigger and bigger; that of course leads to multiple ways for my framework to break, so I have decided it is time to implement Exception handling like any other PHP framework does, that 'nice' error view that tells you what might went wrong.
I have done my research and kind of understand how the Extension PHP default class works, I know that I'm able to extend this class and customize the error messages.
I also know that to trigger an Exception you gotta throw it and catch it with a "try/catch" statement, somethin like this...
class MyCustomException extends \Exception()
{
// My stuff
}
public function dontBeZero($number)
{
if ($number == 0) {
throw new MyCustomException('You gave me zero!!');
}
}
try {
dontBeZero(0);
} catch (MyCustomException $e) {
echo '<pre>';
$e->getMessage();
echo '</pre>';
}
I understand that, but my real question is: How does this popular frameworks such as Laravel, Symfony, etc manage to throw you a pretty message showing you what the error was, where do they keep all the logic that verifies whether it should or should not throw an exception, and most importantly where did they catch them?.
Most frameworks show these errors via a custom error handler. A popular one used by laravel is whoops.
You just need to register it as a custom handler, and you'll see the pretty error pages:
$whoops = new \Whoops\Run;
$whoops->pushHandler(new \Whoops\Handler\PrettyPageHandler);
$whoops->register();
Keep in mind, you should disable these on production (so that your stack traces/code isn't exposed).
See the two functions set_error_handler and set_exception_handler. These functions allow you to register a callback function which is called when an error or exception occurs.
These callback functions are called by the Php runtime and provided with error details as arguments. The error details include error line number, stack trace, file name and more. The callback function can then format and display this information

Writing functions that deal with exceptions

Building upon a question I already asked regarding exceptions, I fear that I might be writing php functions wrong then, or abusing the use of exceptions. The reason I say this, is because if custom exceptions are to be caught using try/catch blocks then the following function:
public function get_specific_page($page) {
if (!is_array( $this->_page )){
throw new AisisCore_Template_TemplateException( "<div class='error'>Trying to get a property from a non array.</div>" );
}
return $this->_page[$page];
}
Would then be called such as:
try{
get_specific_page($page);
}
catch(Exception $e){
echo $e->getMessage();
}
The problem with this approach is that I have many functions that are written like this, either checking to see if a file exists, throwing an error. Checking to see if a value is set in an array, throwing an error and my issue is that the file which deals with these function calls may become over loaded with try catch.....
So my question is, how would I better write functions like this so that I don't have php files over loaded with try catch statements, yet still be able to have y own custom functions.
Is it as obvious as writing the try catch inside the function it's self?
The reason I ask, if because I am use to working with fameworks and in companies where we write our functions as you see above. How ver I have worked with code bases that have tons of these functions and I dont see half the files that are useing them doing a bunch of try catches...
Update:
I was looking through zend source to better understand exceptions and came across this:
public function setMessage($messageString, $messageKey = null)
{
if ($messageKey === null) {
$keys = array_keys($this->_messageTemplates);
foreach($keys as $key) {
$this->setMessage($messageString, $key);
}
return $this;
}
if (!isset($this->_messageTemplates[$messageKey])) {
require_once 'Zend/Validate/Exception.php';
throw new Zend_Validate_Exception("No message template exists for key '$messageKey'");
}
$this->_messageTemplates[$messageKey] = $messageString;
return $this;
}
You can see how they throw a new exception message near the bottom, this function is not called by doing:
try{}catch(){}
yet when it throws an exception, there is no issue with "uncaught exception with message"
In my opinion, your approach is correct in general. However, a few notes:
You should refrain from using HTML formatting in exception messages. Generally, you don't know how the exception that you throw will be handled. For example, an exception handler could just write the message to a log file (you don't want HTML formatting then), present it to the user in a special error view (in which case the view itself should contain the HTML formatting), or simply ignore it (no need for formatting then, anyway).
Catch only exceptions that you can handle. If you know that your function throws an AisisCore_Template_TemplateException, you should just catch that exception and let all other exceptions bubble up to an exception handler that can handle them. You can use set_exception_handler to define such an exception handler that catches all uncaught exceptions by default (this is probably the case in your example from Zend Framework). Plainly put: Only catch exceptions in places where you know how to handle them.
Only use exceptions as what the name implies: to handle (unexpected) exceptions in your control flow. Using exceptions to control the regular flow of your program is possible, but generally considered bad design (just as a side note, your code samples look alright).
For the sake of completeness, some alternatives to using exceptions:
Use return codes instead of exceptions. This is old-school C-style. The advantage is that you don't need to wrap statements with try/catch-statements. However, you have to check the return values of each procedure, which is easy to forget. When using exceptions on the other hand, you reduce the risk of unexpected errors, since uncaught exceptions produce a fatal error per default.
Use PHP errors. See the trigger_error function for this. Custom errors are however nearly impossible to catch in PHP (except by using set_error_handler, which only works at global level).

Cannot destroy active lambda function

Can someone tell me the most common reasons to see this error in PHP:
Cannot destroy active lambda function in...
I'm guessing that somewhere there is code that's trying to destroy a closure that contains a reference to itself and the compiler is annoyed at this.
We get these more regularly than I'd like and I'm wondering what pattern we are using that's the likely culprit that's causing it.
I would attach a code snippet but the error typically points to a file not to a line in a file that might provide a hint.
There is similar bug posted in php.net regarding the same. Below is the link .
Hope it will be helpful to you.
https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=62452
Such a fatal error will result in code like this:
set_exception_handler(function ($e) {
echo "My exception handler";
restore_exception_handler();
throw new Exception("Throw this instead.");
});
throw new Exception("An exception");
Or like this:
function destroy_handler() {
restore_exception_handler();
}
function update_handler() {
destroy_handler();
}
set_exception_handler(function ($e) {
echo "My exception handler";
update_handler();
throw new Exception("Throw this instead.");
});
throw new Exception("An exception");
When an exception is thrown the callback given to set_exception_handler() is executed and as soon as the restore_exception_handler() is called, the fatal error occurs because the same reference to that closure is being destroyed (or reassigned) inside its own scope (the same goes in the example of hanskrentel at yahoo dot de in the link posted by Sameer K).
You can see from the second example that, even with nested scopes, the same occurs. This is because restore_exception_handler will destroy the last set exception handler, and not a copy of it (it's like re-assigning a variable or unset it while you are still evaluating the expression that will give the variable an initial value).
If you say that the error in your code points to another file, I suggest you to check all the calls in your lambda which execution "jumps" in functions and or methods in other files and check there if you are reassigning or destroying a reference to the lambda itself.
The set_exception_handler will return the previous exception handler:
Returns the name of the previously defined exception handler, or NULL on error. If no previous handler was defined, NULL is also returned.
php.net: set_exception_handler
<?php
class MyException extends Exception {}
set_exception_handler(function(Exception $e){
echo "Old handler:".$e->getMessage();
});
$lastHandler = set_exception_handler(function(Exception $e) use (&$lastHandler) {
if ($e instanceof MyException) {
echo "New handler:".$e->getMessage();
return;
}
if (is_callable($lastHandler)) {
return call_user_func_array($lastHandler, [$e]);
}
throw $e;
});
Trigger the exception handler:
throw new MyException("Exception one", 1);
Output: New handler:Exception one
throw new Exception("Exception two", 1);
Output: Old handler:Exception two

How can I retrieve the current error handler?

I'd like to find out what error handler is currently, well, handling errors.
I know that set_error_handler() will return the previous error handler, but is there a way to find out what the current error handler is without setting a new one?
Despite the lack of a get_error_handler() function in PHP, you can use a little trickery with set_error_handler() to retrieve the current error handler, although you might not be able to do much with that information, depending on it's value. Nonetheless:
set_error_handler($handler = set_error_handler('var_dump'));
// Set the handler back to itself immediately after capturing it.
var_dump($handler); // NULL | string | array(2) | Closure
Look, ma, it's idempotent!
Yes, there is a way to find out the error handler without setting up new one. This is not the one step native php function. but its effects are exactly that what you need.
summarizing all suggestions of #aurbano, #AL the X, #Jesse and #Dominic108 replacement method can look like this
function get_error_handler(){
$handler = set_error_handler(function(){});
restore_error_handler();
return $handler;
}
You could use set_error_handler(). set_error_handler() returns the current error handler (though as 'mixed'). After you retrieved it, use restore_error_handler(), which will leave it as it was.
This isn't possible in PHP - as you said, you could retrive the current error handler when you call set_error_handler and restore it with restore_error_handler
<?php
class MyException extends Exception {}
set_exception_handler(function(Exception $e){
echo "Old handler:".$e->getMessage();
});
$lastHandler = set_exception_handler(function(Exception $e) use (&$lastHandler) {
if ($e instanceof MyException) {
echo "New handler:".$e->getMessage();
return;
}
if (is_callable($lastHandler)) {
return call_user_func_array($lastHandler, [$e]);
}
throw $e;
});
Trigger the exception handler:
throw new MyException("Exception one", 1);
Output: New handler:Exception one
throw new Exception("Exception two", 1);
Output: Old handler:Exception two
one can also use https://stackoverflow.com/a/43342227 for getting the last exception handler:
function get_exception_handler()
{
$handler = set_exception_handler(function () {});
restore_exception_handler();
return $handler;
}
this might be useful if you want - eg in a unit test - which exception handler has been registered.
I check the source and the answer is no.

Why and how would you use Exceptions in this sample PHP code?

I've been wondering why would I use Exceptions in my PHP. Let's take a look at a simple example:
class Worker
{
public function goToWork()
{
return $isInThatMood ?
// Okay, I'll do it.
true :
// In your dreams...
false;
}
}
$worker = new Worker;
if (!$worker->goToWork())
{
if (date('l',time()) == 'Sunday')
echo "Fine, you don't have to work on Sundays...";
else
echo "Get your a** back to work!";
}
else
echo "Good.";
Is there a reason for me to use Exceptions for that kind of code? Why? How would the code be built?
And what about code that may produce errors:
class FileOutputter
{
public function outputFile($file)
{
if (!file_exists($file))
return false;
return file_get_contents($file);
}
}
Why would I use Exceptions in the above case? I have a feeling that Exceptions help you to recognize the type of the problem, which occured, true?
So, am I using Exceptions appropriately in this code:
class FileOutputter
{
public function outputFile($file)
{
if (!file_exists($file))
return throw new Exception("File not found.",123);
try
{
$contents = file_get_contents($file);
}
catch (Exception $e)
{
return $e;
}
return $contents;
}
}
Or is that poor? Now the underlying code can do this:
$fo = new FileOutputter;
try
{
$fo->outputFile("File.extension");
}
catch (Exception $e)
{
// Something happened, we could either display the error/problem directly
echo $e->getMessage();
// Or use the info to make alternative execution flows
if ($e->getCode() == 123) // The one we specified earlier
// Do something else now, create "an exception"
}
Or am I completely lost here?
When should I use an exception?
You use an exception to indicate an exceptional condition; that is, something which prevents a method from fulfilling its contract, and which shouldn't have occurred at that level.
For example, you might have a method, Record::save(), which saves changes to a record into a database. If, for some reason, this can't be done (e.g. a database error occurs, or a data constraint is broken), then you could throw an exception to indicate failure.
How do I create custom exceptions?
Exceptions are usually named such that they indicate the nature of the error, for example, DatabaseException. You can subclass Exception to create custom-named exceptions in this manner, e.g.
class DatabaseException extends Exception {}
(Of course, you could take advantage of inheritance to give this exception some additional diagnostic information, such as connection details or a database error code, for example.)
When shouldn't I use an exception?
Consider a further example; a method which checks for file existence. This should probably not throw an exception if the file doesn't exist, since the purpose of the method was to perform said check. However, a method which opens a file and performs some processing could throw an exception, since the file was expected to exist, etc.
Initially, it's not always clear when something is and isn't exceptional. Like most things, experience will teach you, over time, when you should and shouldn't throw an exception.
Why use exceptions instead of returning special error codes, etc?
The useful thing about exceptions is that they immediately leap out of the current method and head up the call stack until they're caught and handled, which means you can move error-handling logic higher up, although ideally, not too high.
By using a clear mechanism to deal with failure cases, you automatically kick off the error handling code when something bad happens, which means you can avoid dealing with all sorts of magic sentinel values which have to be checked, or worse, a global error flag to distinguish between a bunch of different possibilities.
I'm not a PHP programmer, but this looks similar to C#.
Typically you'd want to throw errors if it is a point of no return. Then you would be able to log something to show that the impossible happened.
If you can tell that the file doesn't exist then you could just say that. No real need in my mind to also throw an exception.
Now if the file was found and you are processing it, and say only half the file was uploaded and you had no way of telling that without an exception, then it'd be nice to have around.
I would say it's a good design practice to avoid the catch all exceptions "catch (Exception $e)" and design by contract instead, just like you seem to be doing in the prior example. I would at first be more specific with the type of exception being thrown and then work from there if needed. Otherwise, stay away from the try->catch and exceptions.
In no way can you assume that a file exists just because you called file_exists()! The function file_exists doesn't open the file, so the file can potentially be deleted or renamed or moved at any time!
class FileOutputter
{
public function outputFile($file)
{
if (!file_exists($file))
return false;
///<--- file may be deleted right here without you knowing it
return file_get_contents($file);//<-- then this will throw an error
//if you don't catch it, you're program may halt.
}
}
I believe this it better:
class FileOutputter
{
public function outputFile($file)
{
try{
if (!file_exists($file))
return false;
return file_get_contents($file);
}catch(Exception e){
check_what_went_wrong_and_go_to_plan_B();
}
}
}
(Edit: And it's probably even better to actually try to open the file from the beginning. If you succeed then you have a 'lock' on the file and it won't just disappear. If not, then catch the exception and see what went wrong.
Then again, you might feel that this level of reduncancy is just silly. In that case I don't think you need to worry about try/catch at all :)
Just a note really, your code for file outputter is invalid, since file_get_contents($file)
does not throw an exception. It will however raise a warning if the file doesn't exist, or can't be accessed for some reason. Additionally, you are returning an exception from outputFile, when you should probably be just letting the error propagate up the call stack.
However, you can register the error handler in php to throw exceptions when an error occurs:
function exception_error_handler($errno, $errstr, $errfile, $errline ) {
throw new ErrorException($errstr, 0, $errno, $errfile, $errline);
}
set_error_handler("exception_error_handler");
That way, any standard function calls that cause an error will throw an exception.
So, I would change FileOutputter to this (with that snippet above added):
class FileOutputter
{
public function outputFile($file)
{
if (!file_exists($file))
throw new Exception("File not found.",123);
return file_get_contents($file);
}
}
The calling code is then basically the same.
Basically rule is not to return an Exception when an error occurs - you can catch it if you want, and throw a custom exception, but let the exception go up the call stack until you want to use it.

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