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Exception Categories

Other versions: 7.31 | 7.40 | 7.54

Background

Each class-based exception belongs to one of three different exception categories, each of which define whether the exceptions need to be declared in procedure interfaces. The assignment of an exception to an exception class is realized (technically) using inheritance. All exception classes are subclasses of the following abstract global classes, which themselves inherit from CX_ROOT:

  • CX_STATIC_CHECK
    Exceptions of this category must be declared explicitly in the interface of a procedure, if they are to be propagated from this interface. The syntax check makes a static check to determine whether all exceptions raised in the procedure with RAISE EXCEPTION or declared in the interfaces of called procedures are either handled with CATCH or explicitly declared in the interface.
  • CX_DYNAMIC_CHECK
    Exceptions of this category must also be declared explicitly in the interface of a procedure to enable them to be propagated. This is not subject to a static syntax check, however, and is checked dynamically at runtime instead.
  • CX_NO_CHECK
    Exceptions of this category cannot be declared explicitly in the interface of the procedure. The class CX_NO_CHECK (and consequently its subclasses) are always declared implicitly and the associated exceptions are always propagated.

Rule

Use a suitable exception category

When creating and raising class-based exceptions, always use an exception category suitable for the current error situation:

  • CX_STATIC_CHECK for the static protection of the exception handler
  • CX_DYNAMIC_CHECK for error situations that can be prevented by preconditions
  • CX_NO_CHECK for situations that cannot be handled immediately

Details

The exception categories are designed for the the following error situations:

  • As a rule, exceptions that are raised in a procedure should be handled there or declared in the interface for the procedure in order to declare to the caller which exceptions are to be expected. A syntax check to verify this is run on exceptions from the CX_STATIC_CHECK category. This category is therefore always warranted if a procedure (method) is to be forced to handle an exception or to at least forward it explicitly. However, if an exception can be prevented by prior checks, exceptions of the CX_DYNAMIC_CHECK category are preferable.
  • If the program logic can eliminate potential error situations, the corresponding exceptions do not have to be handled or declared in the interface. This is the case if prior to a division, for example, there is an explicit precondition for the denominator not to equal zero. In this case, exceptions from the CX_DYNAMIC_CHECK category can and should be used. These exceptions only need to be handled and declared if their occurrence cannot be otherwise prevented. In well modeled applications, exceptions are generally prevented by incorporating appropriate conditions in program code and CX_DYNAMIC_CHECK category should then be the most frequently used exception category.
  • For exception situations that can occur at any time and that cannot be handled directly, the CX_NO_CHECK category can be used. Otherwise, all exceptions that can be raised due to resource bottlenecks would have to be caught or declared. These exceptions would then have to be specified in practically every interface, which would result in more complex programs lacking in clarity.


Note

The resumability of a class-based exception is not an attribute of the exception class; it is defined instead by the RESUMABLE addition of the RAISE EXCEPTION statement when the exception is raised. This attribute can be lost for exceptions of the categories CX_STATIC_CHECK and CX_DYNAMIC_CHECK during propagation, if the exceptions are not also declared there using RESUMABLE. CX_NO_CHECK always preserves its resumability implicitly.