When I talk about exceptions in my product team I often talk about two kind of exceptions, business and critical exceptions. Business exceptions are exceptions thrown based on “business rules”, for example if you aren’t allowed to do a purchase. Business exceptions in most case aren’t important to log into a log file, they can directly be shown to the user. An example of a business exception could be "DeniedToPurchaseException”, or some validation exceptions such as “FirstNameIsMissingException” etc.

Critical Exceptions are all other kind of exceptions such as the SQL server is down etc. Those kind of exception message need to be logged and should not reach the user, because they can contain information that can be harmful if it reach out to wrong kind of users.

I often distinguish business exceptions from critical exceptions by creating a base class called BusinessException, then in my error handling code I catch on the type BusinessException and all other exceptions will be handled as critical exceptions.

This blog post will be about different ways to handle exceptions and how Business and Critical Exceptions could be handled.

Web API and Exceptions the basics

When an exception is thrown in a ApiController a response message will be returned with a status code set to 500 and a response formatted by the formatters based on the “Accept” or “Content-Type” HTTP header, for example JSON or XML. Here is an example:

 

        public IEnumerable<string> Get()
        {
            throw new ApplicationException("Error!!!!!");

            return new string[] { "value1", "value2" };
        }

The response message will be:

HTTP/1.1 500 Internal Server Error
Content-Length: 860
Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8

{ "ExceptionType":"System.ApplicationException","Message":"Error!!!!!","StackTrace":"   at ..."}

 

The stack trace will be returned to the client, this is because of making it easier to debug. Be careful so you don’t leak out some sensitive information to the client. So as long as you are developing your API, this is not harmful. In a production environment it can be better to log exceptions and return a user friendly exception instead of the original exception.

There is a specific exception shipped with ASP.NET Web API that will not use the formatters based on the “Accept” or “Content-Type” HTTP header, it is the exception is the HttpResponseException class.

Here is an example where the HttpReponseExcetpion is used:

        // GET api/values
        [ExceptionHandling]
        public IEnumerable<string> Get()
        {
            throw new HttpResponseException(new HttpResponseMessage(HttpStatusCode.InternalServerError));

            return new string[] { "value1", "value2" };
        }

The response will not contain any content, only header information and the status code based on the HttpStatusCode passed as an argument to the HttpResponseMessage. Because the HttpResponsException takes a HttpResponseMessage as an argument, we can give the response a content:

        public IEnumerable<string> Get()
        {
            throw new HttpResponseException(new HttpResponseMessage(HttpStatusCode.InternalServerError)
                                                {
                                                    Content = new StringContent("My Error Message"),
                                                    ReasonPhrase = "Critical Exception"
                                                });

            return new string[] { "value1", "value2" };
        }

 

The code above will have the following response:

 

HTTP/1.1 500 Critical Exception
Content-Length: 5
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8

My Error Message

The Content property of the HttpResponseMessage doesn’t need to be just plain text, it can also be other formats, for example JSON, XML etc.

By using the HttpResponseException we can for example catch an exception and throw a user friendly exception instead:

        public IEnumerable<string> Get()
        {
            try
            {
                DoSomething();

                return new string[] { "value1", "value2" };

            }
            catch (Exception e)
            {
                throw new HttpResponseException(new HttpResponseMessage(HttpStatusCode.InternalServerError)
                                                {
                                                    Content = new StringContent("An error occurred, please try again or contact the administrator."),
                                                    ReasonPhrase = "Critical Exception"
                                                });
            }
        }

 

Adding a try catch to every ApiController methods will only end in duplication of code, by using a custom ExceptionFilterAttribute or our own custom ApiController base class we can reduce code duplicationof code and also have a more general exception handler for our ApiControllers . By creating a custom ApiController’s and override the ExecuteAsync method, we can add a try catch around the base.ExecuteAsync method, but I prefer to skip the creation of a own custom ApiController, better to use a solution that require few files to be modified.

The ExceptionFilterAttribute has a OnException method that we can override and add our exception handling. Here is an example:

    using System;
    using System.Diagnostics;
    using System.Net;
    using System.Net.Http;
    using System.Web.Http;
    using System.Web.Http.Filters;

    public class ExceptionHandlingAttribute : ExceptionFilterAttribute
    {
        public override void OnException(HttpActionExecutedContext context)
        {
            if (context.Exception is BusinessException)
            {
                throw new HttpResponseException(new HttpResponseMessage(HttpStatusCode.InternalServerError)
                {
                    Content = new StringContent(context.Exception.Message),
                    ReasonPhrase = "Exception"
                });

            }

            //Log Critical errors
            Debug.WriteLine(context.Exception);

            throw new HttpResponseException(new HttpResponseMessage(HttpStatusCode.InternalServerError)
            {
                Content = new StringContent("An error occurred, please try again or contact the administrator."),
                ReasonPhrase = "Critical Exception"
            });
        }
    }

 

Note: Something to have in mind is that the ExceptionFilterAttribute will be ignored if the ApiController action method throws a HttpResponseException.

The code above will always make sure a HttpResponseExceptions will be returned, it will also make sure the critical exceptions will show a more user friendly message. The OnException method can also be used to log exceptions.

By using a ExceptionFilterAttribute the Get() method in the previous example can now look like this:

        public IEnumerable<string> Get()
        {
                DoSomething();

                return new string[] { "value1", "value2" };
        }

To use the an ExceptionFilterAttribute, we can for example add the ExceptionFilterAttribute to our ApiControllers methods or to the ApiController class definition, or register it globally for all ApiControllers. You can read more about is here.

Note: If something goes wrong in the ExceptionFilterAttribute and an exception is thrown that is not of type HttpResponseException, a formatted exception will be thrown with stack trace etc to the client.

How about using a custom IHttpActionInvoker?

We can create our own IHTTPActionInvoker and add Exception handling to the invoker. The IHttpActionInvoker will be used to invoke the ApiController’s ExecuteAsync method. Here is an example where the default IHttpActionInvoker, ApiControllerActionInvoker, is used to add exception handling:

    public class MyApiControllerActionInvoker : ApiControllerActionInvoker
    {
        public override Task<HttpResponseMessage> InvokeActionAsync(HttpActionContext actionContext, System.Threading.CancellationToken cancellationToken)
        {
            var result = base.InvokeActionAsync(actionContext, cancellationToken);

            if (result.Exception != null && result.Exception.GetBaseException() != null)
            {
                var baseException = result.Exception.GetBaseException();

                if (baseException is BusinessException)
                {
                    return Task.Run<HttpResponseMessage>(() => new HttpResponseMessage(HttpStatusCode.InternalServerError)
                                                                {
                                                                    Content = new StringContent(baseException.Message),
                                                                    ReasonPhrase = "Error"

                                                                });
                }
                else
                {
                    //Log critical error
                    Debug.WriteLine(baseException);

                    return Task.Run<HttpResponseMessage>(() => new HttpResponseMessage(HttpStatusCode.InternalServerError)
                    {
                        Content = new StringContent(baseException.Message),
                        ReasonPhrase = "Critical Error"
                    });
                }
            }

            return result;
        }
    }

You can register the IHttpActionInvoker with your own IoC to resolve the MyApiContollerActionInvoker, or add it in the Global.asax:

GlobalConfiguration.Configuration.Services.Remove(typeof(IHttpActionInvoker), GlobalConfiguration.Configuration.Services.GetActionInvoker());

GlobalConfiguration.Configuration.Services.Add(typeof(IHttpActionInvoker), new MyApiControllerActionInvoker());

 

How about using a Message Handler for Exception Handling?

By creating a custom Message Handler, we can handle error after the ApiController and the ExceptionFilterAttribute is invoked and in that way create a global exception handler, BUT, the only thing we can take a look at is the HttpResponseMessage, we can’t add a try catch around the Message Handler’s SendAsync method. The last Message Handler that will be used in the Wep API pipe-line is the HttpControllerDispatcher and this Message Handler is added to the HttpServer in an early stage. The HttpControllerDispatcher will use the IHttpActionInvoker to invoke the ApiController method. The HttpControllerDipatcher has a try catch that will turn ALL exceptions into a HttpResponseMessage, so that is the reason why a try catch around the SendAsync in a custom Message Handler want help us. If we create our own Host for the Wep API we could create our own custom HttpControllerDispatcher and add or exception handler to that class, but that would be little tricky but is possible.

We can in a Message Handler take a look at the HttpResponseMessage’s IsSuccessStatusCode property to see if the request has failed and if we throw the HttpResponseException in our ApiControllers, we could use the HttpResponseException and give it a Reason Phrase and use that to identify business exceptions or critical exceptions.

I wouldn’t add an exception handler into a Message Handler, instead I should use the ExceptionFilterAttribute and register it globally for all ApiControllers. BUT, now to another interesting issue. What will happen if we have a Message Handler that throws an exception?  Those exceptions will not be catch and handled by the ExceptionFilterAttribute.

I found a  bug in my previews blog post about “Log message Request and Response in ASP.NET WebAPI” in the MessageHandler I use to log incoming and outgoing messages. Here is the code from my blog before I fixed the bug:

 

    public abstract class MessageHandler : DelegatingHandler
    {
        protected override async Task<HttpResponseMessage> SendAsync(HttpRequestMessage request, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
        {
            var corrId = string.Format("{0}{1}", DateTime.Now.Ticks, Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId);
            var requestInfo = string.Format("{0} {1}", request.Method, request.RequestUri);

            var requestMessage = await request.Content.ReadAsByteArrayAsync();

            await IncommingMessageAsync(corrId, requestInfo, requestMessage);

            var response = await base.SendAsync(request, cancellationToken);

            var responseMessage = await response.Content.ReadAsByteArrayAsync();

            await OutgoingMessageAsync(corrId, requestInfo, responseMessage);

            return response;
        }


        protected abstract Task IncommingMessageAsync(string correlationId, string requestInfo, byte[] message);
        protected abstract Task OutgoingMessageAsync(string correlationId, string requestInfo, byte[] message);
    }

 

If a ApiController throws a HttpResponseException, the Content property of the HttpResponseMessage from the SendAsync will be NULL. So a null reference exception is thrown within the MessageHandler. The yellow screen of death will be returned to the client, and the content is HTML and the Http status code is 500. The bug in the MessageHandler was solved by adding a check against the HttpResponseMessage’s IsSuccessStatusCode property:

    public abstract class MessageHandler : DelegatingHandler
    {
        protected override async Task<HttpResponseMessage> SendAsync(HttpRequestMessage request, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
        {
            var corrId = string.Format("{0}{1}", DateTime.Now.Ticks, Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId);
            var requestInfo = string.Format("{0} {1}", request.Method, request.RequestUri);

            var requestMessage = await request.Content.ReadAsByteArrayAsync();

            await IncommingMessageAsync(corrId, requestInfo, requestMessage);

            var response = await base.SendAsync(request, cancellationToken);

            byte[] responseMessage;

            if (response.IsSuccessStatusCode)
                responseMessage = await response.Content.ReadAsByteArrayAsync();
            else
                responseMessage = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(response.ReasonPhrase);

            await OutgoingMessageAsync(corrId, requestInfo, responseMessage);

            return response;
        }


        protected abstract Task IncommingMessageAsync(string correlationId, string requestInfo, byte[] message);
        protected abstract Task OutgoingMessageAsync(string correlationId, string requestInfo, byte[] message);
    }

If we don’t handle the exceptions that can occur in a custom Message Handler, we can have a hard time to find the problem causing the exception. The savior in this case is the Global.asax’s Application_Error:

        protected void Application_Error()
        {
            var exception = Server.GetLastError();

            Debug.WriteLine(exception);
        }

I would recommend you to add the Application_Error to the Global.asax and log all exceptions to make sure all kind of exception is handled.

Summary

There are different ways we could add Exception Handling to the Wep API, we can use a custom ApiController, ExceptionFilterAttribute, IHttpActionInvoker or Message Handler. The ExceptionFilterAttribute would be a good place to add a global exception handling, require very few modification, just register it globally for all ApiControllers, even the IHttpActionInvoker can be used to minimize the modifications of files. Adding the Application_Error to the global.asax is a good way to catch all unhandled exception that can occur, for example exception thrown in a Message Handler.

 

If you want to know when I have posted a blog post, you can follow me on twitter @fredrikn