CODEWITHSUNDEEP
php
party-ring
party-ring

Reputation: 1871

Should PHP exception try/catch blocks be specific to the exception?

I am trying to determine what is best practice for PHP exception handling.

For example, a basic function which checks validation:

public function myValidationChecker(MyForm $form, $dateFrom, $dateTo) {
    try {

        $start = $dateFrom->format('Y-m-d'); // could cause exception
        $finish = $dateTo->format('Y-m-d'); // could cause exception

        // lots more logic here

        $diff = $dateTo->diff($dateFrom); // could cause different exception

        // ... more non-exception causing logic

    } catch (\Exception $e) {

        $this->log($e->getMessage());

        // attach error to $form so that code stops executing
        // & display generic error message to user
    }
}

Should I potentially be catching a specific exception rather than just \Exception, e.g. UnexpectedValueException or InvalidArgumentException and have the catch surrounding just that specific, scary area of code?

Or equally, is it best to surround the entire function, in the case that there is an exception that I have not planned for? Either way, in this catch block, the code is prevented from being executed, as after this function is run, $form is checked for an error message.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 54

Answers (1)

Dharman
Dharman

Reputation: 33238

You should only ever catch the exception you know how to handle. Don't just catch, because you want it, catch them only when you need to. Most of the time the exception should bubble up and be caught by the general logger, preferably the one built-in to PHP.

If you know what to do with the exception, then you know what you need to catch. Catch the exception you need to handle and let the others bubble up.

Upvotes: 2

Related Questions