Node Exception Handling

Question

What is the best way in node to handle unhandled expections that are coming out of core node code? I have a background process that runs and crawls web content and will run for long periods of time without issue, but every so often an unexpected exception occurs and I can't seem to gracefully handle it. The usual culprit appears to be some networking issue (lost connectivity) where the http calls I'm making fail. All of the functions that I have created follow the pattern of FUNCTION_NAME(error, returned_data), but in the situations where the error occurs I'm not seeing any of the functions I created in the call stack that is printed out, instead its showing some of the core node modules. I'm not really worried about these infrequent errors and their root cause, the purpose of this posting is just trying to find a graceful way of handling these exceptions.

I've tried putting a try/catch at the top level of my code where everything runs under but it doesn't seem to capture these exceptions. Is it good practice in node to use try/catch within all the lower level functions that use any core code? Or is there some way to globally capture all unhandled exceptions?

Thanks

Chris

UPDATED TO ADD STACK

node.js:201
        throw e; // process.nextTick error, or 'error' event on first tick
              ^
Error: connect Unknown system errno 10060
    at errnoException (net.js:642:11)
    at Object.afterConnect [as oncomplete] (net.js:633:18)

Can you copy the stack of some of this uncaught exception stacks? — seppo0010
– seppo0010, Commented Mar 5, 2012 at 18:23
I just added the stack print out to the main question from one of the recent errors. It was confusing to me since it didn't show any of my code within it. — Chris Dellinger
– Chris Dellinger, Commented Mar 6, 2012 at 13:39
Which version of node are you using? I'm asking because the line numbers doesn't match my local copy. — seppo0010
– seppo0010, Commented Mar 6, 2012 at 14:23

seppo0010 · Accepted Answer · 2012-03-05 18:35:29Z

4

is there some way to globally capture all unhandled exceptions?

You can catch all exceptions using process.on('uncaughtException'). Listening to this event will avoid the default action of printing the stack and exiting. However be conscious that ignoring exceptions may lead to problems in your app execution.

Link: http://nodejs.org/docs/latest/api/process.html#process_event_uncaughtexception

Pay attention to the documentation advice:

Note that uncaughtException is a very crude mechanism for exception handling. Using try / catch in your program will give you more control over your program's flow. Especially for server programs that are designed to stay running forever, uncaughtException can be a useful safety mechanism.

edited Mar 5, 2012 at 18:35

answered Mar 5, 2012 at 18:29

seppo0010

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seppo0010 · Accepted Answer · 2012-03-06 18:27:41Z

1

To catch network errors and avoid the default behavior (printing stack and exit) you have to listen to "error" events.

For example

var net = require('net');
var client = net.connect(80, 'invalid.host', function () {
    console.log("Worked");
})
client.on('error', console.log);

answered Mar 6, 2012 at 18:27

seppo0010

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Simon Maynard · Accepted Answer · 2013-01-10 00:25:24Z

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I wrote about this recently at http://snmaynard.com/2012/12/21/node-error-handling/. A new feature of node in version 0.8 is domains and allow you to combine all the forms of error handling into one easier manage form. You can read about them in my post and in the docs.

You can use domains to handle callback error arguments, error event emitters and exceptions all in one place. The problem in this specific case is that when you dont handle an error event emitter, node by default will print the stack trace and exit the app.

answered Jan 10, 2013 at 0:25

Simon Maynard

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Dean Rather · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-15 16:32:11Z

0

I've put together a quick error handling file which logs and emails me whenever an unhandled exception is thrown. it then (optionally) tries to restart the server.

Check it out!

answered May 15, 2012 at 16:32

Dean Rather

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