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<H2><A NAME="sec:4.9"><SPAN class="sec-nr">4.9</SPAN> <SPAN class="sec-title">ISO 
compliant Exception handling</SPAN></A></H2>

<A NAME="sec:exception"></A>

<P>SWI-Prolog defines the predicates <A NAME="idx:catch3:522"></A><A class="pred" href="exception.html#catch/3">catch/3</A> 
and <A NAME="idx:throw1:523"></A><A class="pred" href="exception.html#throw/1">throw/1</A> 
for ISO compliant raising and catching of exceptions. In the current 
implementation (4.0.6), most of the built-in predicates generate 
exceptions, but some obscure predicates merely print a message, start 
the debugger and fail, which was the normal behaviour before the 
introduction of exceptions.

<DL>
<DT class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><A NAME="catch/3"><STRONG>catch</STRONG>(<VAR>:Goal, 
+Catcher, :Recover</VAR>)</A></DT>
<DD class="defbody">
Behaves as <A NAME="idx:call1:524"></A><A class="pred" href="metacall.html#call/1">call/1</A> 
if no exception is raised when executing <VAR>Goal</VAR>. If a exception 
is raised using <A NAME="idx:throw1:525"></A><A class="pred" href="exception.html#throw/1">throw/1</A> 
while <VAR>Goal</VAR> executes, and the <VAR>Goal</VAR> is the innermost 
goal for which <VAR>Catcher</VAR> unifies with the argument of <A NAME="idx:throw1:526"></A><A class="pred" href="exception.html#throw/1">throw/1</A>, 
all choice-points generated by <VAR>Goal</VAR> are cut, the system 
backtracks to the start of <A NAME="idx:catch3:527"></A><A class="pred" href="exception.html#catch/3">catch/3</A> 
while preserving the thrown exception term and <VAR>Recover</VAR> is 
called as in <A NAME="idx:call1:528"></A><A class="pred" href="metacall.html#call/1">call/1</A>.

<P>The overhead of calling a goal through <A NAME="idx:catch3:529"></A><A class="pred" href="exception.html#catch/3">catch/3</A> 
is very comparable to
<A NAME="idx:call1:530"></A><A class="pred" href="metacall.html#call/1">call/1</A>. 
Recovery from an exception is much slower, especially if the 
exception-term is large due to the copying thereof.</DD>
<DT class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><A NAME="throw/1"><STRONG>throw</STRONG>(<VAR>+Exception</VAR>)</A></DT>
<DD class="defbody">
Raise an exception. The system looks for the innermost <A NAME="idx:catch3:531"></A><A class="pred" href="exception.html#catch/3">catch/3</A> 
ancestor for which <VAR>Exception</VAR> unifies with the <VAR>Catcher</VAR> 
argument of the <A NAME="idx:catch3:532"></A><A class="pred" href="exception.html#catch/3">catch/3</A> 
call. See <A NAME="idx:catch3:533"></A><A class="pred" href="exception.html#catch/3">catch/3</A> 
for details.

<P>ISO demands <A NAME="idx:throw1:534"></A><A class="pred" href="exception.html#throw/1">throw/1</A> 
to make a copy of <VAR>Exception</VAR>, walk up the stack to a <A NAME="idx:catch3:535"></A><A class="pred" href="exception.html#catch/3">catch/3</A> 
call, backtrack and try to unify the copy of
<VAR>Exception</VAR> with <VAR>Catcher</VAR>. SWI-Prolog delays making a 
copy of
<VAR>Exception</VAR> and backtracking until it actually found a matching
<A NAME="idx:catch3:536"></A><A class="pred" href="exception.html#catch/3">catch/3</A> 
goal. The advantage is that we can start the debugger at the first 
possible location while preserving the entire exception context if there 
is no matching <A NAME="idx:catch3:537"></A><A class="pred" href="exception.html#catch/3">catch/3</A> 
goal. This approach can lead to different behaviour if <VAR>Goal</VAR> 
and <VAR>Catcher</VAR> of <A NAME="idx:catch3:538"></A><A class="pred" href="exception.html#catch/3">catch/3</A> 
call share variables. We assume this to be highly unlikely and could not 
think of a scenario where this is useful.<SUP class="fn">30<SPAN class="fn-text">I'd 
like to acknowledge Bart Demoen for his clarifications on these matters.</SPAN></SUP>

<P>If an exception is raised in a callback from C (see <A class="sec" href="foreign.html">chapter 
9</A>) and not caught in the same call-back, PL_next_solution() fails 
and the exception context can be retrieved using PL_exception().
</DD>
</DL>

<H3><A NAME="sec:4.9.1"><SPAN class="sec-nr">4.9.1</SPAN> <SPAN class="sec-title">Debugging 
and exceptions</SPAN></A></H3>

<P><A NAME="idx:exceptionsdebugging:539"></A><A NAME="idx:debuggingexceptions:540"></A>Before 
the introduction of exceptions in SWI-Prolog a runtime error was handled 
by printing an error message, after which the predicate failed. If the 
Prolog flag <A class="flag" href="flags.html#flag:debug_on_error">debug_on_error</A> 
was in effect (default), the tracer was switched on. The combination of 
the error message and trace information is generally sufficient to 
locate the error.

<P>With exception handling, things are different. A programmer may wish 
to trap an exception using <A NAME="idx:catch3:541"></A><A class="pred" href="exception.html#catch/3">catch/3</A> 
to avoid it reaching the user. If the exception is not handled by 
user-code, the interactive top-level will trap it to prevent 
termination.

<P>If we do not take special precautions, the context information 
associated with an unexpected exception (i.e., a programming error) is 
lost. Therefore, if an exception is raised, which is not caught using
<A NAME="idx:catch3:542"></A><A class="pred" href="exception.html#catch/3">catch/3</A> 
and the top-level is running, the error will be printed, and the system 
will enter trace mode.

<P>If the system is in an non-interactive callback from foreign code and 
there is no <A NAME="idx:catch3:543"></A><A class="pred" href="exception.html#catch/3">catch/3</A> 
active in the current context, it cannot determine whether or not the 
exception will be caught by the external routine calling Prolog. It will 
then base its behaviour on the Prolog flag
<A class="flag" href="flags.html#flag:debug_on_error">debug_on_error</A>:

<P>
<UL>
<LI><I>current_prolog_flag(debug_on_error, false)</I><BR>
The exception does not trap the debugger and is returned to the foreign 
routine calling Prolog, where it can be accessed using PL_exception(). 
This is the default.
<LI><I>current_prolog_flag(debug_on_error, true)</I><BR>
If the exception is not caught by Prolog in the current context, it will 
trap the tracer to help analysing the context of the error.
</UL>

<P>While looking for the context in which an exception takes place, it 
is advised to switch on debug mode using the predicate <A NAME="idx:debug0:544"></A><A class="pred" href="debugger.html#debug/0">debug/0</A>. 
The hook
<A NAME="idx:prologexceptionhook4:545"></A><A class="pred" href="excepthook.html#prolog_exception_hook/4">prolog_exception_hook/4</A> 
can be used to add more debugging facilities to exceptions. An example 
is the library <CODE>library(http/http_error)</CODE>, generating a full 
stack trace on errors in the HTTP server library.

<H3><A NAME="sec:4.9.2"><SPAN class="sec-nr">4.9.2</SPAN> <SPAN class="sec-title">The 
exception term</SPAN></A></H3>

<A NAME="sec:exceptterm"></A>

<P>Built-in predicates generates exceptions using a term
<CODE>error(Formal, Context)</CODE>. The first argument is the `formal' 
description of the error, specifying the class and generic defined 
context information. When applicable, the ISO error-term definition is 
used. The second part describes some additional context to help the 
programmer while debugging. In its most generic form this is a term of 
the form <CODE>context(Name/Arity, Message)</CODE>, where
<VAR>Name</VAR>/<VAR>Arity</VAR> describes the built-in predicate that 
raised the error, and <VAR>Message</VAR> provides an additional 
description of the error. Any part of this structure may be a variable 
if no information was present.

<H3><A NAME="sec:4.9.3"><SPAN class="sec-nr">4.9.3</SPAN> <SPAN class="sec-title">Printing 
messages</SPAN></A></H3>

<A NAME="sec:printmsg"></A>

<P>The predicate <A NAME="idx:printmessage2:546"></A><A class="pred" href="exception.html#print_message/2">print_message/2</A> 
may be used to print a message term in a human readable format. The 
other predicates from this section allow the user to refine and extend 
the message system. The most common usage of <A NAME="idx:printmessage2:547"></A><A class="pred" href="exception.html#print_message/2">print_message/2</A> 
is to print error messages from exceptions. The code below prints errors 
encountered during the execution of <VAR>Goal</VAR>, without further 
propagating the exception and without starting the debugger.

<PRE class="code">
        ...,
        catch(Goal, E,
              ( print_message(error, E),
                fail
              )),
        ...
</PRE>

<P>Another common use is to defined <A NAME="idx:messagehook3:548"></A><A class="pred" href="exception.html#message_hook/3">message_hook/3</A> 
for printing messages that are normally <EM>silent</EM>, suppressing 
messages, redirecting messages or make something happen in addition to 
printing the message.

<DL>
<DT class="pubdef"><A NAME="print_message/2"><STRONG>print_message</STRONG>(<VAR>+Kind, 
+Term</VAR>)</A></DT>
<DD class="defbody">
The predicate <A NAME="idx:printmessage2:549"></A><A class="pred" href="exception.html#print_message/2">print_message/2</A> 
is used to print messages, notably from exceptions in a human-readable 
format. <VAR>Kind</VAR> is one of
<CODE>informational</CODE>, <CODE>banner</CODE>, <CODE>warning</CODE>, <CODE>error</CODE>,
<CODE>help</CODE> or <CODE>silent</CODE>. A human-readable message is 
printed to the stream <CODE>user_error</CODE>.

<P><A NAME="idx:silent:550"></A><A NAME="idx:quiet:551"></A>If the 
Prolog flag <A class="flag" href="flags.html#flag:verbose">verbose</A> 
is <CODE>silent</CODE>, messages with
<VAR>Kind</VAR> <CODE>informational</CODE>, or <CODE>banner</CODE> are 
treated as silent. See <STRONG>-q</STRONG>.

<P>This predicate first translates the <VAR>Term</VAR> into a list of 
`message lines' (see <A NAME="idx:printmessagelines3:552"></A><A class="pred" href="exception.html#print_message_lines/3">print_message_lines/3</A> 
for details). Next it will call the hook <A NAME="idx:messagehook3:553"></A><A class="pred" href="exception.html#message_hook/3">message_hook/3</A> 
to allow the user intercepting the message. If <A NAME="idx:messagehook3:554"></A><A class="pred" href="exception.html#message_hook/3">message_hook/3</A> 
fails it will print the message unless <VAR>Kind</VAR> is silent.

<P>The <A NAME="idx:printmessage2:555"></A><A class="pred" href="exception.html#print_message/2">print_message/2</A> 
predicate and its rules are in the file
<CODE>&lt;<VAR>plhome</VAR>&gt;/boot/messages.pl</CODE>, which may be 
inspected for more information on the error messages and related error 
terms. If you need to report errors from your own predicates, we advise 
you to stick to the existing error terms if you can; but should you need 
to invent new ones, you can define corresponding error messages by 
asserting clauses for prolog:message. You will need to declare the 
predicate as multifile.

<P>See also <A NAME="idx:messagetostring2:556"></A><A class="pred" href="exception.html#message_to_string/2">message_to_string/2</A>.</DD>
<DT class="pubdef"><A NAME="print_message_lines/3"><STRONG>print_message_lines</STRONG>(<VAR>+Stream, 
+Prefix, +Lines</VAR>)</A></DT>
<DD class="defbody">
Print a message (see <A NAME="idx:printmessage2:557"></A><A class="pred" href="exception.html#print_message/2">print_message/2</A>) 
that has been translated to a list of message elements. The elements of 
this list are:

<DL>
<DT><B>&lt;<VAR>Format</VAR>&gt;-&lt;<VAR>Args</VAR>&gt;</B></DT>
<DD class="defbody">
Where <VAR>Format</VAR> is an atom and <VAR>Args</VAR> is a list of 
format argument. Handed to <A NAME="idx:format3:558"></A><A class="pred" href="format.html#format/3">format/3</A>.
</DD>
<DT><B><CODE>flush</CODE></B></DT>
<DD class="defbody">
If this appears as the last element, <VAR>Stream</VAR> is flushed (see <A NAME="idx:flushoutput1:559"></A><A class="pred" href="chario.html#flush_output/1">flush_output/1</A>) 
and no final newline is generated.
</DD>
<DT><B><CODE>at_same_line</CODE></B></DT>
<DD class="defbody">
If this appears as first element, no prefix is printed for the first 
line and the line-position is not forced to 0 (see <A NAME="idx:format1:560"></A><A class="pred" href="format.html#format/1">format/1</A>, <CODE>~N</CODE>).
</DD>
<DT><B>&lt;<VAR>Format</VAR>&gt;</B></DT>
<DD class="defbody">
Handed to <A NAME="idx:format3:561"></A><A class="pred" href="format.html#format/3">format/3</A> 
as <CODE>format(Stream, Format, [])</CODE>.
</DD>
<DT><B>nl</B></DT>
<DD class="defbody">
A new line is started and if the message is not complete the <VAR>Prefix</VAR> 
is printed too.
</DD>
</DL>

<P>See also <A NAME="idx:printmessage2:562"></A><A class="pred" href="exception.html#print_message/2">print_message/2</A> 
and <A NAME="idx:messagehook3:563"></A><A class="pred" href="exception.html#message_hook/3">message_hook/3</A>.</DD>
<DT class="pubdef"><A NAME="message_hook/3"><STRONG>message_hook</STRONG>(<VAR>+Term, 
+Kind, +Lines</VAR>)</A></DT>
<DD class="defbody">
Hook predicate that may be defined in the module <CODE>user</CODE> to 
intercept messages from <A NAME="idx:printmessage2:564"></A><A class="pred" href="exception.html#print_message/2">print_message/2</A>. <VAR>Term</VAR> 
and <VAR>Kind</VAR> are the same as passed to <A NAME="idx:printmessage2:565"></A><A class="pred" href="exception.html#print_message/2">print_message/2</A>. <VAR>Lines</VAR> 
is a list of format statements as described with <A NAME="idx:printmessagelines3:566"></A><A class="pred" href="exception.html#print_message_lines/3">print_message_lines/3</A>. 
See also
<A NAME="idx:messagetostring2:567"></A><A class="pred" href="exception.html#message_to_string/2">message_to_string/2</A>.

<P>This predicate should be defined dynamic and multifile to allow other 
modules defining clauses for it too.</DD>
<DT class="pubdef"><A NAME="message_to_string/2"><STRONG>message_to_string</STRONG>(<VAR>+Term, 
-String</VAR>)</A></DT>
<DD class="defbody">
Translates a message-term into a string object (see <A class="sec" href="strings.html">section 
4.23</A>). Primarily intended to write messages to Windows in XPCE (see
<A class="sec" href="xpce.html">section 1.5</A>) or other GUI 
environments.
</DD>
</DL>

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