Catch multiple exceptions at once?

Question

It is discouraged to simply catch System.Exception. Instead, only the "known" exceptions should be caught.

Now, this sometimes leads to unneccessary repetitive code, for example:

try
{
    WebId = new Guid(queryString["web"]);
}
catch (FormatException)
{
    WebId = Guid.Empty;
}
catch (OverflowException)
{
    WebId = Guid.Empty;
}

I wonder: Is there a way to catch both exceptions and only call the WebId = Guid.Empty call once?

The given example is rather simple, as it's only a GUID. But imagine code where you modify an object multiple times, and if one of the manipulations fail in an expected way, you want to "reset" the object. However, if there is an unexpected exception, I still want to throw that higher.

Answer 1

This is a variant of Matt's answer (I feel that this is a bit cleaner)...use a method:

public void TryCatch(...)
{
    try
    {
       // something
       return;
    }
    catch (FormatException) {}
    catch (OverflowException) {}

    WebId = Guid.Empty;
}

Any other exceptions will be thrown and the code WebId = Guid.Empty; won't be hit. If you don't want other exceptions to crash your program, just add this AFTER the other two catches:

...
catch (Exception)
{
     // something, if anything
     return; // only need this if you follow the example I gave and put it all in a method
}

Answer 2

Catch System.Exception and switch on the types

catch (Exception ex)            
{                
    if (ex is FormatException || ex is OverflowException)
    {
        WebId = Guid.Empty;
        return;
    }

    throw;
}

Answer 3

With C# 7 the answer from Michael Stum can be improved while keeping the readability of a switch statement:

catch (Exception ex)
{
    switch (ex)
    {
        case FormatException _:
        case OverflowException _:
            WebId = Guid.Empty;
            break;
        default:
            throw;
    }
}

Answer 4

How about

try
{
    WebId = Guid.Empty;
    WebId = new Guid(queryString["web"]);
}
catch (FormatException)
{
}
catch (OverflowException)
{
}

Answer 5

Update 2015-12-15: See https://stackoverflow.com/a/22864936/1718702 for C#6. It's a cleaner and now standard in the language.

Geared for people that want a more elegant solution to catch once and filter exceptions, I use an extension method as demonstrated below.

I already had this extension in my library, originally written for other purposes, but it worked just perfectly for type checking on exceptions. Plus, imho, it looks cleaner than a bunch of || statements. Also, unlike the accepted answer, I prefer explicit exception handling so ex is ... had undesireable behaviour as derrived classes are assignable to there parent types).

Usage

if (ex.GetType().IsAnyOf(
    typeof(FormatException),
    typeof(ArgumentException)))
{
    // Handle
}
else
    throw;

IsAnyOf.cs Extension (See Full Error Handling Example for Dependancies)

namespace Common.FluentValidation
{
    public static partial class Validate
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// Validates the passed in parameter matches at least one of the passed in comparisons.
        /// </summary>
        /// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
        /// <param name="p_parameter">Parameter to validate.</param>
        /// <param name="p_comparisons">Values to compare against.</param>
        /// <returns>True if a match is found.</returns>
        /// <exception cref="ArgumentNullException"></exception>
        public static bool IsAnyOf<T>(this T p_parameter, params T[] p_comparisons)
        {
            // Validate
            p_parameter
                .CannotBeNull("p_parameter");
            p_comparisons
                .CannotBeNullOrEmpty("p_comparisons");

            // Test for any match
            foreach (var item in p_comparisons)
                if (p_parameter.Equals(item))
                    return true;

            // Return no matches found
            return false;
        }
    }
}

Full Error Handling Example (Copy-Paste to new Console app)

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using Common.FluentValidation;

namespace IsAnyOfExceptionHandlerSample
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            // High Level Error Handler (Log and Crash App)
            try
            {
                Foo();
            }
            catch (OutOfMemoryException ex)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("FATAL ERROR! System Crashing. " + ex.Message);
                Console.ReadKey();
            }
        }

        static void Foo()
        {
            // Init
            List<Action<string>> TestActions = new List<Action<string>>()
            {
                (key) => { throw new FormatException(); },
                (key) => { throw new ArgumentException(); },
                (key) => { throw new KeyNotFoundException();},
                (key) => { throw new OutOfMemoryException(); },
            };

            // Run
            foreach (var FooAction in TestActions)
            {
                // Mid-Level Error Handler (Appends Data for Log)
                try
                {
                    // Init
                    var SomeKeyPassedToFoo = "FooParam";

                    // Low-Level Handler (Handle/Log and Keep going)
                    try
                    {
                        FooAction(SomeKeyPassedToFoo);
                    }
                    catch (Exception ex)
                    {
                        if (ex.GetType().IsAnyOf(
                            typeof(FormatException),
                            typeof(ArgumentException)))
                        {
                            // Handle
                            Console.WriteLine("ex was {0}", ex.GetType().Name);
                            Console.ReadKey();
                        }
                        else
                        {
                            // Add some Debug info
                            ex.Data.Add("SomeKeyPassedToFoo", SomeKeyPassedToFoo.ToString());
                            throw;
                        }
                    }
                }
                catch (KeyNotFoundException ex)
                {
                    // Handle differently
                    Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);

                    int Count = 0;
                    if (!Validate.IsAnyNull(ex, ex.Data, ex.Data.Keys))
                        foreach (var Key in ex.Data.Keys)
                            Console.WriteLine(
                                "[{0}][\"{1}\" = {2}]",
                                Count, Key, ex.Data[Key]);

                    Console.ReadKey();
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

namespace Common.FluentValidation
{
    public static partial class Validate
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// Validates the passed in parameter matches at least one of the passed in comparisons.
        /// </summary>
        /// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
        /// <param name="p_parameter">Parameter to validate.</param>
        /// <param name="p_comparisons">Values to compare against.</param>
        /// <returns>True if a match is found.</returns>
        /// <exception cref="ArgumentNullException"></exception>
        public static bool IsAnyOf<T>(this T p_parameter, params T[] p_comparisons)
        {
            // Validate
            p_parameter
                .CannotBeNull("p_parameter");
            p_comparisons
                .CannotBeNullOrEmpty("p_comparisons");

            // Test for any match
            foreach (var item in p_comparisons)
                if (p_parameter.Equals(item))
                    return true;

            // Return no matches found
            return false;
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Validates if any passed in parameter is equal to null.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="p_parameters">Parameters to test for Null.</param>
        /// <returns>True if one or more parameters are null.</returns>
        public static bool IsAnyNull(params object[] p_parameters)
        {
            p_parameters
                .CannotBeNullOrEmpty("p_parameters");

            foreach (var item in p_parameters)
                if (item == null)
                    return true;

            return false;
        }
    }
}

namespace Common.FluentValidation
{
    public static partial class Validate
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// Validates the passed in parameter is not null, throwing a detailed exception message if the test fails.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="p_parameter">Parameter to validate.</param>
        /// <param name="p_name">Name of tested parameter to assist with debugging.</param>
        /// <exception cref="ArgumentNullException"></exception>
        public static void CannotBeNull(this object p_parameter, string p_name)
        {
            if (p_parameter == null)
                throw
                    new
                        ArgumentNullException(
                        string.Format("Parameter \"{0}\" cannot be null.",
                        p_name), default(Exception));
        }
    }
}

namespace Common.FluentValidation
{
    public static partial class Validate
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// Validates the passed in parameter is not null or an empty collection, throwing a detailed exception message if the test fails.
        /// </summary>
        /// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
        /// <param name="p_parameter">Parameter to validate.</param>
        /// <param name="p_name">Name of tested parameter to assist with debugging.</param>
        /// <exception cref="ArgumentNullException"></exception>
        /// <exception cref="ArgumentOutOfRangeException"></exception>
        public static void CannotBeNullOrEmpty<T>(this ICollection<T> p_parameter, string p_name)
        {
            if (p_parameter == null)
                throw new ArgumentNullException("Collection cannot be null.\r\nParameter_Name: " + p_name, default(Exception));

            if (p_parameter.Count <= 0)
                throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException("Collection cannot be empty.\r\nParameter_Name: " + p_name, default(Exception));
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Validates the passed in parameter is not null or empty, throwing a detailed exception message if the test fails.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="p_parameter">Parameter to validate.</param>
        /// <param name="p_name">Name of tested parameter to assist with debugging.</param>
        /// <exception cref="ArgumentException"></exception>
        public static void CannotBeNullOrEmpty(this string p_parameter, string p_name)
        {
            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(p_parameter))
                throw new ArgumentException("String cannot be null or empty.\r\nParameter_Name: " + p_name, default(Exception));
        }
    }
}

Two Sample NUnit Unit Tests

Matching behaviour for Exception types is exact (ie. A child IS NOT a match for any of its parent types).

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using Common.FluentValidation;
using NUnit.Framework;

namespace UnitTests.Common.Fluent_Validations
{
    [TestFixture]
    public class IsAnyOf_Tests
    {
        [Test, ExpectedException(typeof(ArgumentNullException))]
        public void IsAnyOf_ArgumentNullException_ShouldNotMatch_ArgumentException_Test()
        {
            Action TestMethod = () => { throw new ArgumentNullException(); };

            try
            {
                TestMethod();
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                if (ex.GetType().IsAnyOf(
                    typeof(ArgumentException), /*Note: ArgumentNullException derrived from ArgumentException*/
                    typeof(FormatException),
                    typeof(KeyNotFoundException)))
                {
                    // Handle expected Exceptions
                    return;
                }

                //else throw original
                throw;
            }
        }

        [Test, ExpectedException(typeof(OutOfMemoryException))]
        public void IsAnyOf_OutOfMemoryException_ShouldMatch_OutOfMemoryException_Test()
        {
            Action TestMethod = () => { throw new OutOfMemoryException(); };

            try
            {
                TestMethod();
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                if (ex.GetType().IsAnyOf(
                    typeof(OutOfMemoryException),
                    typeof(StackOverflowException)))
                    throw;

                /*else... Handle other exception types, typically by logging to file*/
            }
        }
    }
}

Answer 6

Just call the try and catch twice.

try
{
    WebId = new Guid(queryString["web"]);
}
catch (FormatException)
{
    WebId = Guid.Empty;
}
try
{
    WebId = new Guid(queryString["web"]);
}
catch (OverflowException)
{
    WebId = Guid.Empty;
}

It is just that Simple!!