1 /* GLIB - Library of useful routines for C programming
2 * Copyright (C) 1995-1997 Peter Mattis, Spencer Kimball and Josh MacDonald
4 * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
5 * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
6 * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
7 * version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
9 * This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
10 * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
11 * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
12 * Lesser General Public License for more details.
14 * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
15 * License along with this library; if not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
19 * Modified by the GLib Team and others 1997-2000. See the AUTHORS
20 * file for a list of people on the GLib Team. See the ChangeLog
21 * files for a list of changes. These files are distributed with
22 * GLib at ftp://ftp.gtk.org/pub/gtk/.
26 * SECTION:error_reporting
27 * @Title: Error Reporting
28 * @Short_description: a system for reporting errors
30 * GLib provides a standard method of reporting errors from a called
31 * function to the calling code. (This is the same problem solved by
32 * exceptions in other languages.) It's important to understand that
33 * this method is both a data type (the #GError struct) and a set of
34 * rules. If you use #GError incorrectly, then your code will not
35 * properly interoperate with other code that uses #GError, and users
36 * of your API will probably get confused.
38 * First and foremost: #GError should only be used to report recoverable
39 * runtime errors, never to report programming errors. If the programmer
40 * has screwed up, then you should use g_warning(), g_return_if_fail(),
41 * g_assert(), g_error(), or some similar facility. (Incidentally,
42 * remember that the g_error() function should only be used for
43 * programming errors, it should not be used to print any error
44 * reportable via #GError.)
46 * Examples of recoverable runtime errors are "file not found" or
47 * "failed to parse input." Examples of programming errors are "NULL
48 * passed to strcmp()" or "attempted to free the same pointer twice."
49 * These two kinds of errors are fundamentally different: runtime errors
50 * should be handled or reported to the user, programming errors should
51 * be eliminated by fixing the bug in the program. This is why most
52 * functions in GLib and GTK+ do not use the #GError facility.
54 * Functions that can fail take a return location for a #GError as their
55 * last argument. For example:
56 * |[<!-- language="C" -->
57 * gboolean g_file_get_contents (const gchar *filename,
62 * If you pass a non-%NULL value for the `error` argument, it should
63 * point to a location where an error can be placed. For example:
64 * |[<!-- language="C" -->
68 * g_file_get_contents ("foo.txt", &contents, NULL, &err);
69 * g_assert ((contents == NULL && err != NULL) || (contents != NULL && err == NULL));
72 * // Report error to user, and free error
73 * g_assert (contents == NULL);
74 * fprintf (stderr, "Unable to read file: %s\n", err->message);
79 * // Use file contents
80 * g_assert (contents != NULL);
83 * Note that `err != NULL` in this example is a reliable indicator
84 * of whether g_file_get_contents() failed. Additionally,
85 * g_file_get_contents() returns a boolean which
86 * indicates whether it was successful.
88 * Because g_file_get_contents() returns %FALSE on failure, if you
89 * are only interested in whether it failed and don't need to display
90 * an error message, you can pass %NULL for the @error argument:
91 * |[<!-- language="C" -->
92 * if (g_file_get_contents ("foo.txt", &contents, NULL, NULL)) // ignore errors
93 * // no error occurred
100 * The #GError object contains three fields: @domain indicates the module
101 * the error-reporting function is located in, @code indicates the specific
102 * error that occurred, and @message is a user-readable error message with
103 * as many details as possible. Several functions are provided to deal
104 * with an error received from a called function: g_error_matches()
105 * returns %TRUE if the error matches a given domain and code,
106 * g_propagate_error() copies an error into an error location (so the
107 * calling function will receive it), and g_clear_error() clears an
108 * error location by freeing the error and resetting the location to
109 * %NULL. To display an error to the user, simply display the @message,
110 * perhaps along with additional context known only to the calling
111 * function (the file being opened, or whatever - though in the
112 * g_file_get_contents() case, the @message already contains a filename).
114 * When implementing a function that can report errors, the basic
115 * tool is g_set_error(). Typically, if a fatal error occurs you
116 * want to g_set_error(), then return immediately. g_set_error()
117 * does nothing if the error location passed to it is %NULL.
119 * |[<!-- language="C" -->
121 * foo_open_file (GError **error)
125 * fd = open ("file.txt", O_RDONLY);
129 * g_set_error (error,
130 * FOO_ERROR, // error domain
131 * FOO_ERROR_BLAH, // error code
132 * "Failed to open file: %s", // error message format string
133 * g_strerror (errno));
141 * Things are somewhat more complicated if you yourself call another
142 * function that can report a #GError. If the sub-function indicates
143 * fatal errors in some way other than reporting a #GError, such as
144 * by returning %TRUE on success, you can simply do the following:
145 * |[<!-- language="C" -->
147 * my_function_that_can_fail (GError **err)
149 * g_return_val_if_fail (err == NULL || *err == NULL, FALSE);
151 * if (!sub_function_that_can_fail (err))
153 * // assert that error was set by the sub-function
154 * g_assert (err == NULL || *err != NULL);
158 * // otherwise continue, no error occurred
159 * g_assert (err == NULL || *err == NULL);
163 * If the sub-function does not indicate errors other than by
164 * reporting a #GError, you need to create a temporary #GError
165 * since the passed-in one may be %NULL. g_propagate_error() is
166 * intended for use in this case.
167 * |[<!-- language="C" -->
169 * my_function_that_can_fail (GError **err)
173 * g_return_val_if_fail (err == NULL || *err == NULL, FALSE);
176 * sub_function_that_can_fail (&tmp_error);
178 * if (tmp_error != NULL)
180 * // store tmp_error in err, if err != NULL,
181 * // otherwise call g_error_free() on tmp_error
182 * g_propagate_error (err, tmp_error);
186 * // otherwise continue, no error occurred
190 * Error pileups are always a bug. For example, this code is incorrect:
191 * |[<!-- language="C" -->
193 * my_function_that_can_fail (GError **err)
197 * g_return_val_if_fail (err == NULL || *err == NULL, FALSE);
200 * sub_function_that_can_fail (&tmp_error);
201 * other_function_that_can_fail (&tmp_error);
203 * if (tmp_error != NULL)
205 * g_propagate_error (err, tmp_error);
210 * @tmp_error should be checked immediately after sub_function_that_can_fail(),
211 * and either cleared or propagated upward. The rule is: after each error,
212 * you must either handle the error, or return it to the calling function.
214 * Note that passing %NULL for the error location is the equivalent
215 * of handling an error by always doing nothing about it. So the
216 * following code is fine, assuming errors in sub_function_that_can_fail()
217 * are not fatal to my_function_that_can_fail():
218 * |[<!-- language="C" -->
220 * my_function_that_can_fail (GError **err)
224 * g_return_val_if_fail (err == NULL || *err == NULL, FALSE);
226 * sub_function_that_can_fail (NULL); // ignore errors
229 * other_function_that_can_fail (&tmp_error);
231 * if (tmp_error != NULL)
233 * g_propagate_error (err, tmp_error);
239 * Note that passing %NULL for the error location ignores errors;
241 * `try { sub_function_that_can_fail (); } catch (...) {}`
242 * in C++. It does not mean to leave errors unhandled; it means
243 * to handle them by doing nothing.
245 * Error domains and codes are conventionally named as follows:
247 * - The error domain is called <NAMESPACE>_<MODULE>_ERROR,
248 * for example %G_SPAWN_ERROR or %G_THREAD_ERROR:
249 * |[<!-- language="C" -->
250 * #define G_SPAWN_ERROR g_spawn_error_quark ()
253 * g_spawn_error_quark (void)
255 * return g_quark_from_static_string ("g-spawn-error-quark");
259 * - The quark function for the error domain is called
260 * <namespace>_<module>_error_quark,
261 * for example g_spawn_error_quark() or g_thread_error_quark().
263 * - The error codes are in an enumeration called
264 * <Namespace><Module>Error;
265 * for example, #GThreadError or #GSpawnError.
267 * - Members of the error code enumeration are called
268 * <NAMESPACE>_<MODULE>_ERROR_<CODE>,
269 * for example %G_SPAWN_ERROR_FORK or %G_THREAD_ERROR_AGAIN.
271 * - If there's a "generic" or "unknown" error code for unrecoverable
272 * errors it doesn't make sense to distinguish with specific codes,
273 * it should be called <NAMESPACE>_<MODULE>_ERROR_FAILED,
274 * for example %G_SPAWN_ERROR_FAILED. In the case of error code
275 * enumerations that may be extended in future releases, you should
276 * generally not handle this error code explicitly, but should
277 * instead treat any unrecognized error code as equivalent to
280 * Summary of rules for use of #GError:
282 * - Do not report programming errors via #GError.
284 * - The last argument of a function that returns an error should
285 * be a location where a #GError can be placed (i.e. "#GError** error").
286 * If #GError is used with varargs, the #GError** should be the last
287 * argument before the "...".
289 * - The caller may pass %NULL for the #GError** if they are not interested
290 * in details of the exact error that occurred.
292 * - If %NULL is passed for the #GError** argument, then errors should
293 * not be returned to the caller, but your function should still
294 * abort and return if an error occurs. That is, control flow should
295 * not be affected by whether the caller wants to get a #GError.
297 * - If a #GError is reported, then your function by definition had a
298 * fatal failure and did not complete whatever it was supposed to do.
299 * If the failure was not fatal, then you handled it and you should not
300 * report it. If it was fatal, then you must report it and discontinue
301 * whatever you were doing immediately.
303 * - If a #GError is reported, out parameters are not guaranteed to
304 * be set to any defined value.
306 * - A #GError* must be initialized to %NULL before passing its address
307 * to a function that can report errors.
309 * - "Piling up" errors is always a bug. That is, if you assign a
310 * new #GError to a #GError* that is non-%NULL, thus overwriting
311 * the previous error, it indicates that you should have aborted
312 * the operation instead of continuing. If you were able to continue,
313 * you should have cleared the previous error with g_clear_error().
314 * g_set_error() will complain if you pile up errors.
316 * - By convention, if you return a boolean value indicating success
317 * then %TRUE means success and %FALSE means failure.
318 * <footnote><para>Avoid creating functions which have a boolean
319 * return value and a GError parameter, but where the boolean does
320 * something other than signal whether the GError is set. Among other
321 * problems, it requires C callers to allocate a temporary error. Instead,
322 * provide a "gboolean *" out parameter. There are functions in GLib
323 * itself such as g_key_file_has_key() that are deprecated because of this.
326 * returned, the error must be set to a non-%NULL value.
327 * <footnote><para>One exception to this is that in situations that are
328 * already considered to be undefined behaviour (such as when a
329 * g_return_val_if_fail() check fails), the error need not be set.
330 * Instead of checking separately whether the error is set, callers
331 * should ensure that they do not provoke undefined behaviour, then
332 * assume that the error will be set on failure.</para></footnote>
334 * - A %NULL return value is also frequently used to mean that an error
335 * occurred. You should make clear in your documentation whether %NULL
336 * is a valid return value in non-error cases; if %NULL is a valid value,
337 * then users must check whether an error was returned to see if the
338 * function succeeded.
340 * - When implementing a function that can report errors, you may want
341 * to add a check at the top of your function that the error return
342 * location is either %NULL or contains a %NULL error (e.g.
343 * `g_return_if_fail (error == NULL || *error == NULL);`).
351 #include "gstrfuncs.h"
352 #include "gtestutils.h"
355 * g_error_new_valist:
356 * @domain: error domain
358 * @format: printf()-style format for error message
359 * @args: #va_list of parameters for the message format
361 * Creates a new #GError with the given @domain and @code,
362 * and a message formatted with @format.
364 * Returns: a new #GError
369 g_error_new_valist (GQuark domain,
376 /* Historically, GError allowed this (although it was never meant to work),
377 * and it has significant use in the wild, which g_return_val_if_fail
378 * would break. It should maybe g_return_val_if_fail in GLib 4.
379 * (GNOME#660371, GNOME#560482)
381 g_warn_if_fail (domain != 0);
382 g_warn_if_fail (format != NULL);
384 error = g_slice_new (GError);
386 error->domain = domain;
388 error->message = g_strdup_vprintf (format, args);
395 * @domain: error domain
397 * @format: printf()-style format for error message
398 * @...: parameters for message format
400 * Creates a new #GError with the given @domain and @code,
401 * and a message formatted with @format.
403 * Returns: a new #GError
406 g_error_new (GQuark domain,
414 g_return_val_if_fail (format != NULL, NULL);
415 g_return_val_if_fail (domain != 0, NULL);
417 va_start (args, format);
418 error = g_error_new_valist (domain, code, format, args);
425 * g_error_new_literal:
426 * @domain: error domain
428 * @message: error message
430 * Creates a new #GError; unlike g_error_new(), @message is
431 * not a printf()-style format string. Use this function if
432 * @message contains text you don't have control over,
433 * that could include printf() escape sequences.
435 * Returns: a new #GError
438 g_error_new_literal (GQuark domain,
440 const gchar *message)
444 g_return_val_if_fail (message != NULL, NULL);
445 g_return_val_if_fail (domain != 0, NULL);
447 err = g_slice_new (GError);
449 err->domain = domain;
451 err->message = g_strdup (message);
460 * Frees a #GError and associated resources.
463 g_error_free (GError *error)
465 g_return_if_fail (error != NULL);
467 g_free (error->message);
469 g_slice_free (GError, error);
476 * Makes a copy of @error.
478 * Returns: a new #GError
481 g_error_copy (const GError *error)
485 g_return_val_if_fail (error != NULL, NULL);
486 /* See g_error_new_valist for why these don't return */
487 g_warn_if_fail (error->domain != 0);
488 g_warn_if_fail (error->message != NULL);
490 copy = g_slice_new (GError);
494 copy->message = g_strdup (error->message);
501 * @error: (allow-none): a #GError or %NULL
502 * @domain: an error domain
503 * @code: an error code
505 * Returns %TRUE if @error matches @domain and @code, %FALSE
506 * otherwise. In particular, when @error is %NULL, %FALSE will
509 * If @domain contains a `FAILED` (or otherwise generic) error code,
510 * you should generally not check for it explicitly, but should
511 * instead treat any not-explicitly-recognized error code as being
512 * equilalent to the `FAILED` code. This way, if the domain is
513 * extended in the future to provide a more specific error code for
514 * a certain case, your code will still work.
516 * Returns: whether @error has @domain and @code
519 g_error_matches (const GError *error,
524 error->domain == domain &&
528 #define ERROR_OVERWRITTEN_WARNING "GError set over the top of a previous GError or uninitialized memory.\n" \
529 "This indicates a bug in someone's code. You must ensure an error is NULL before it's set.\n" \
530 "The overwriting error message was: %s"
534 * @err: (allow-none): a return location for a #GError, or %NULL
535 * @domain: error domain
537 * @format: printf()-style format
538 * @...: args for @format
540 * Does nothing if @err is %NULL; if @err is non-%NULL, then *@err
541 * must be %NULL. A new #GError is created and assigned to *@err.
544 g_set_error (GError **err,
557 va_start (args, format);
558 new = g_error_new_valist (domain, code, format, args);
565 g_warning (ERROR_OVERWRITTEN_WARNING, new->message);
571 * g_set_error_literal:
572 * @err: (allow-none): a return location for a #GError, or %NULL
573 * @domain: error domain
575 * @message: error message
577 * Does nothing if @err is %NULL; if @err is non-%NULL, then *@err
578 * must be %NULL. A new #GError is created and assigned to *@err.
579 * Unlike g_set_error(), @message is not a printf()-style format string.
580 * Use this function if @message contains text you don't have control over,
581 * that could include printf() escape sequences.
586 g_set_error_literal (GError **err,
589 const gchar *message)
595 *err = g_error_new_literal (domain, code, message);
597 g_warning (ERROR_OVERWRITTEN_WARNING, message);
602 * @dest: error return location
603 * @src: error to move into the return location
605 * If @dest is %NULL, free @src; otherwise, moves @src into *@dest.
606 * The error variable @dest points to must be %NULL.
608 * Note that @src is no longer valid after this call. If you want
609 * to keep using the same GError*, you need to set it to %NULL
610 * after calling this function on it.
613 g_propagate_error (GError **dest,
616 g_return_if_fail (src != NULL);
628 g_warning (ERROR_OVERWRITTEN_WARNING, src->message);
638 * @err: a #GError return location
640 * If @err is %NULL, does nothing. If @err is non-%NULL,
641 * calls g_error_free() on *@err and sets *@err to %NULL.
644 g_clear_error (GError **err)
655 g_error_add_prefix (gchar **string,
662 prefix = g_strdup_vprintf (format, ap);
664 *string = g_strconcat (prefix, oldstring, NULL);
671 * @err: (allow-none): a return location for a #GError, or %NULL
672 * @format: printf()-style format string
673 * @...: arguments to @format
675 * Formats a string according to @format and prefix it to an existing
676 * error message. If @err is %NULL (ie: no error variable) then do
679 * If *@err is %NULL (ie: an error variable is present but there is no
680 * error condition) then also do nothing. Whether or not it makes sense
681 * to take advantage of this feature is up to you.
686 g_prefix_error (GError **err,
694 va_start (ap, format);
695 g_error_add_prefix (&(*err)->message, format, ap);
701 * g_propagate_prefixed_error:
702 * @dest: error return location
703 * @src: error to move into the return location
704 * @format: printf()-style format string
705 * @...: arguments to @format
707 * If @dest is %NULL, free @src; otherwise, moves @src into *@dest.
708 * *@dest must be %NULL. After the move, add a prefix as with
714 g_propagate_prefixed_error (GError **dest,
719 g_propagate_error (dest, src);
725 va_start (ap, format);
726 g_error_add_prefix (&(*dest)->message, format, ap);