Error Handling A Pattern Language [ sd&m Home | ARCUS Home | What's New | Contact ]

This paper informs about design and implementation of error handling facilities in business information systems. It presents a pattern language for the object oriented design of components needed for error handling and also present sample code in different programming languages (C++, Java, Cobol, Smalltalk).

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More from the Introduction

.. The pattern language does not contain ultimate design for error handling. Some patterns result from pattern mining activities among various sd&m projects whereas others reflects own ideas or input from other sources. Thus, it is a recording of a current status; hopefully, the document will mature by your feedback: criticism, suggestions for improvement, known uses which are yet undocumented or even new patterns which should be included - all kinds of comments are welcome.

List of Patterns

To get a better idea of the various patterns and the problems they are related to, we list all pattern names together with page references and questions defining the problems:

Error Object

• What characterizes an error? How to structure and administrate error information?

Exception Hierarchy

• How to structure error types? What role does inheritance play in the structuring of errors?

Error Traps

• What indicators are useful to detect erroneous situations and where to install the traps in the application code?

Assertion Checking Object

• How to implement Error Traps in an object oriented language without using a generative approach?

Backtrace

• How to collect and trace useful information for the system developers or the maintenance team, so that it supports them by the analysis of the error situation? Especially, if we have no or limited access to the stack administered by the system itself.

Centralized Error Logging

• How do you organize exception reporting so that you can offer your maintenance personnel good enough information for analyzing the branch offices problems?

Error Handler

• Where and how do you handle errors?

Default Error Handling

• How do you ensure that you handle every possible exception correctly (no unhandled exception and limited damage)?

Error Dialog

• How to signal errors to an application user?

Resource Preallocation

• How to ensure error processing although resources are short?

Checkpoint Restart

• How do you avoid a complete rerun of a batch as a result of an error?

Exception Abstraction

• How do you generate reasonable error messages without violating abstraction levels?

Exception Wrapper

• How do you integrate a ready-to-use library into your exception handling system?

Multithread Exception Handling

• How to schedule exceptions in a multithread environment?

Copyright © 1996 sd&m GmbH & Co KG, arcus@sdm.de K Renzel, 28.11.96

Last modified Mon Sep 8 16:05:14 1997 by Jens Coldewey