Logging where an error occurred

[annethorne]

Hi,

We are currently building a Windows Application with Visual Studio, C# and SQL. Exceptions are caught and logged.
Is there a way for us to determine the exact spot in the code where the error occurred, that is the CLASS and the METHOD?

Here is the code we use now:

catch (Exception error)
{
ExceptionHandler.LogError(error, Applications.ID, UserProfile.UserID, Applications.Version);
throw error;
}

The error object gives us Source and StackTrace, but not location.

Thanks for any help,
Anne

 

[JurkMonkey]

error.StackTrace

That'll take good care of it for you.

 

[Aptitude]

The stack trace will give you the line numbers in your source code if you include the pdb files. These will be generated automatically from a debug build but you can also get them for a release build.

If you are using Csc.exe you just include the /debugdbonly switch. There is a setting in the Visual Studio 2005's project properties dialogue (Build Tab -> Advanced Button -> Debug Info field). You can't set this option in Visual Studio 2003 so you need to use Csc.exe for .Net 1.1 apps.

As a side note you should ensure that any error handlers that re-thow the error just use "throw;" and don't use "throw ex;" as the latter restarts the stack trace.

So use code like this:

try
{
    // Do some stuff
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
    // Do some error processing
    throw;
}

And not like this:

try
{
    // Do some stuff
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
    // Do some error processing
    throw ex;
}

 

[GoTerps88]

Are you going to store this information in a database or in a log file or in the event log?

I actually think it's a good idea to store it in a database and in an event log. The database will provide quick access and reporting while the event log provides info to admins.

 

[JurkMonkey]

Or get Log4Net

http://logging.apache.org/log4net/