Exceptions
Exceptions in Raku are objects that hold information about errors. An error can be, for example, the unexpected receiving of data or a network connection no longer available, or a missing file. The information that an exception object stores is, for instance, a human-readable message about the error condition, the backtrace of the raising of the error, and so on.
All built-in exceptions inherit from Exception, which provides some basic behavior, including the storage of a backtrace and an interface for the backtrace printer.
Ad hoc exceptions
Ad hoc exceptions can be used by calling die with a description of the error:
die "oops, something went wrong";
# OUTPUT: Ā«oops, something went wrong in block <unit> at my-script.raku:1ā¤Ā»
It is worth noting that die prints the error message to the standard error
$*ERR.
Typed exceptions
Typed exceptions provide more information about the error stored within an exception object.
For example, if while executing .frobnicate on an object, a needed path
foo/bar becomes unavailable, then an
X::IO::DoesNotExist exception can be thrown:
method frobnicate($path) {
X::IO::DoesNotExist.new(:$path, :trying("frobnicate")).throw
unless $path.IO.e;
# do the actual frobnication
}
frobnicate("foo/bar");
# OUTPUT: Ā«Failed to find 'foo/bar' while trying to do '.frobnicate'
# in block <unit> at my-script.raku:1Ā»
Note how the object has provided the backtrace with information about what went wrong. A user of the code can now more easily find and correct the problem.
Instead of calling the .throw method on the X::IO::DoesNotExist
object, one can also use that object as a parameter to die:
die X::IO::DoesNotExist.new(:$path, :trying("frobnicate"));
Catching exceptions
It's possible to handle exceptional circumstances by supplying a CATCH block:
CATCH {
when X::IO { $*ERR.say: "some kind of IO exception was caught!" }
}
X::IO::DoesNotExist.new(:$path, :trying("frobnicate")).throw
# OUTPUT: Ā«some kind of IO exception was caught!Ā»
Here, we are saying that if any exception of type X::IO occurs, then the
message some kind of IO exception was caught! will be sent to stderr,
which is what $*ERR.say does, getting displayed on whatever constitutes the
standard error device in that moment, which will probably be the console by
default.
A CATCH block uses smartmatching similar to how given/when
smartmatches on options, thus it's possible to catch and handle various
categories of exceptions inside a when block. And it does so because,
within the block, $_ is set to the exception that has been raised.
To handle all exceptions, use a default statement. This example prints out
almost the same information as the normal backtrace printer; the dot
methods apply to $_, which holds the Exception within the CATCH block.
CATCH {
default {
$*ERR.say: .message;
for .backtrace.reverse {
next if .file.starts-with('SETTING::');
next unless .subname;
$*ERR.say: " in block {.subname} at {.file} line {.line}";
}
}
}
Note that the match target is a role. To allow user defined exceptions to
match in the same manner, they must implement the given role. Just existing
in the same namespace will look alike but won't match in a CATCH block.
Note that the CATCH block semantics apply to the entire lexical scope
in which it is defined, regardless of where it is defined inside that
lexical scope. It is therefore advised to put any CATCH block at the
start of the lexical scope to which they apply so that the casual reader
of the code can immediately see that there is something special going on.
Exception handlers and enclosing blocks
After a CATCH has handled the exception, the block enclosing the CATCH block
is exited.
In other words, even when the exception is handled successfully, the rest of the code in the enclosing block will never be executed.
die "something went wrong ...";
CATCH {
# will definitely catch all the exception
default { .Str.say; }
}
say "This won't be said."; # but this line will be never reached since
# the enclosing block will be exited immediately
# OUTPUT: Ā«something went wrong ...ā¤Ā»
Compare with this:
CATCH {
CATCH {
default { .Str.say; }
}
die "something went wrong ...";
}
say "Hi! I am at the outer block!"; # OUTPUT: Ā«Hi! I am at the outer block!ā¤Ā»
See Resuming of exceptions, for how to return control back to where the exception originated.
try blocks|Language,try blocks
A try block is a normal block which implicitly turns on the
use fatal pragma and
includes an implicit CATCH block that drops the exception, which
means you can use it to contain them. Caught exceptions are stored
inside the $! variable, which holds a value of type Exception.
A normal block like this one will simply fail:
{
my $x = +"a";
say $x.^name;
} # OUTPUT: Ā«Failureā¤Ā»
However, a try block will contain the exception and put it into the
$! variable:
try {
my $x = +"a";
say $x.^name;
}
if $! { say "Something failed!" } # OUTPUT: Ā«Something failed!ā¤Ā»
say $!.^name; # OUTPUT: Ā«X::Str::Numericā¤Ā»
Any exception that is thrown in such a block will be caught by a
CATCH block, either implicit or provided by the user. In the latter
case, any unhandled exception will be rethrown. If you choose not to
handle the exception, they will be contained by the block.
try {
die "Tough luck";
say "Not gonna happen";
}
try {
fail "FUBAR";
}
In both try blocks above, exceptions will be contained within the
block, but the say statement will not be run. We can handle them,
though:
class E is Exception { method message() { "Just stop already!" } }
try {
E.new.throw; # this will be local
say "This won't be said.";
}
say "I'm alive!";
try {
CATCH {
when X::AdHoc { .Str.say; .resume }
}
die "No, I expect you to DIE Mr. Bond!";
say "I'm immortal.";
E.new.throw;
say "No, you don't!";
}
Which would output:
I'm alive!
No, I expect you to DIE Mr. Bond!
I'm immortal.
Just stop already!
in block <unit> at exception.raku line 21
Since the CATCH block is handling just the X::AdHoc exception
thrown by the die statement, but not the E exception. In the
absence of a CATCH block, all exceptions will be contained and
dropped, as indicated above. resume will resume execution right after
the exception has been thrown; in this case, in the die statement.
Please consult the section on
resuming of exceptions
for more information on this.
A try-block is a normal block and as such treats its last statement
as the return value of itself. We can therefore use it as a right-hand
side.
say try { +"99999" } // "oh no"; # OUTPUT: Ā«99999ā¤Ā»
say try { +"hello" } // "oh no"; # OUTPUT: Ā«oh noā¤Ā»
Try blocks support else blocks indirectly by returning the return
value of the expression or Nil if an exception was thrown.
with try +"ā„" {
say "this is my number: $_"
} else {
say "not my number!"
}
# OUTPUT: Ā«not my number!ā¤Ā»
try can also be used with a statement instead of a block, that is, as a
statement prefix:
say try "some-filename.txt".IO.slurp // "sane default";
# OUTPUT: Ā«sane defaultā¤Ā»
What try actually causes is, via the use fatal pragma, an immediate throw
of the exceptions that happen within its scope, but by doing so the CATCH
block is invoked from the point where the exception is thrown, which defines its
scope.
my $error-code = "333";
sub bad-sub {
die "Something bad happened";
}
try {
my $error-code = "111";
bad-sub;
CATCH {
default {
say "Error $error-code ", .^name, ': ',.Str
}
}
}
# OUTPUT: Ā«Error 111 X::AdHoc: Something bad happenedā¤Ā»
Throwing exceptions
Exceptions can be thrown explicitly with the .throw method of an
Exception object.
This example throws an X::AdHoc exception, catches it and allows the code
to continue from the point of the exception by calling the .resume method.
{
X::AdHoc.new(:payload<foo>).throw;
"OHAI".say;
CATCH {
when X::AdHoc { .resume }
}
}
"OBAI".say;
# OUTPUT: Ā«OHAIā¤OBAIā¤Ā»
If the CATCH block doesn't match the exception thrown, then the
exception's payload is passed on to the backtrace printing mechanism.
{
X::AdHoc.new(:payload<foo>).throw;
"OHAI".say;
CATCH { }
}
"OBAI".say;
# OUTPUT: Ā«foo
# in block <unit> at my-script.raku:1Ā»
This next example doesn't resume from the point of the exception. Instead,
it continues after the enclosing block, since the exception is caught, and then
control continues after the CATCH block.
{
X::AdHoc.new(:payload<foo>).throw;
"OHAI".say;
CATCH {
when X::AdHoc { }
}
}
"OBAI".say;
# OUTPUT: Ā«OBAIā¤Ā»
throw can be viewed as the method form of die, just that in this
particular case, the sub and method forms of the routine have different
names.
Resuming of exceptions
Exceptions interrupt control flow and divert it away from the statement
following the statement that threw it. Any exception handled by the
user can be resumed and control flow will continue with the statement
following the statement that threw the exception. To do so, call the
method .resume on the exception object.
CATCH { when X::AdHoc { .resume } } # this is step 2
die "We leave control after this."; # this is step 1
say "We have continued with control flow."; # this is step 3
Resuming will occur right after the statement that has caused the exception, and in the innermost call frame:
sub bad-sub {
die "Something bad happened";
return "not returning";
}
{
my $return = bad-sub;
say "Returned $return";
CATCH {
default {
say "Error ", .^name, ': ',.Str;
$return = '0';
.resume;
}
}
}
# OUTPUT:
# Error X::AdHoc: Something bad happened
# Returned not returning
In this case, .resume is getting to the return statement that happens
right after the die statement. Please note that the assignment to $return
is taking no effect, since the CATCH statement is happening inside the
call to bad-sub, which, via the return statement, assigns the not
returning value to it.
Uncaught exceptions
If an exception is thrown and not caught, it causes the program to exit with a
non-zero status code, and typically prints a message to the standard error
stream of the program. This message is obtained by calling the gist method
on the exception object. You can use this to suppress the default behavior of
printing a backtrace along with the message:
class X::WithoutLineNumber is X::AdHoc {
multi method gist(X::WithoutLineNumber:D:) {
$.payload
}
}
die X::WithoutLineNumber.new(payload => "message")
# prints "message\n" to $*ERR and exits, no backtrace
Control exceptions
Control exceptions are raised when throwing an Exception which does the X::Control role (since Rakudo 2019.03). They are usually thrown by certain keywords and are handled either automatically or by the appropriate phaser. Any unhandled control exception is converted to a normal exception.
{ return; CATCH { default { $*ERR.say: .^name, ': ', .Str } } }
# OUTPUT: Ā«X::ControlFlow::Return: Attempt to return outside of any Routineā¤Ā»
# was CX::Return