PHP Exceptions

What is an Exception?

An exception is an object that describes an error or unexpected behaviour of a PHP script.

Exceptions are thrown by many PHP functions and classes.

User defined functions and classes can also throw exceptions.

Exceptions are a good way to stop a function when it comes across data that it cannot use.

Throwing an Exception

The throw statement allows a user defined function or method to throw an exception. When an exception is thrown, the code following it will not be executed.

If an exception is not caught, a fatal error will occur with an "Uncaught Exception" message.

Example

This example shows how to encode an associative array into a JSON object:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>

<?php
function divide($dividend, $divisor) {
  if($divisor == 0) {
    throw new Exception("Division by zero");
  }
  return $dividend / $divisor;
}

echo divide(5, 0);
?>

</body>
</html>

Output

Fatal error: Uncaught Exception: Division by zero in C:\webfolder\test.php:4
Stack trace: #0 C:\webfolder\test.php(9):
divide(5, 0) #1 {main} thrown in C:\webfolder\test.php on line 4

The result will look something like this:

Fatal error: Uncaught Exception: Division by zero in C:\webfolder\test.php:4
Stack trace: #0 C:\webfolder\test.php(9):
divide(5, 0) #1 {main} thrown in C:\webfolder\test.php on line 4

• The try...catch Statement

To avoid the error from the example above, we can use the try...catch statement to catch exceptions and continue the process.

Syntax

try {
code that can throw exceptions
} catch(Exception $e) {
code that runs when an exception is caught
}

Example

Show a message when an exception is thrown:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>

<?php
function divide($dividend, $divisor) {
  if($divisor == 0) {
    throw new Exception("Division by zero");
  }
  return $dividend / $divisor;
}

try {
  echo divide(5, 0);
} catch(Exception $e) {
  echo "Unable to divide.";
}
?>

</body>
</html>

Output

Unable to divide.

• The try...catch...finally Statement

The try...catch...finally statement can be used to catch exceptions. Code in the finally block will always run regardless of whether an exception was caught. If finally is present, the catch block is optional.

Syntax

try {
code that can throw exceptions
} catch(Exception $e) {
code that runs when an exception is caught
} finally {
code that always runs regardless of whether an exception was caught
}

Example

Show a message when an exception is thrown and then indicate that the process has ended:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>

<?php
function divide($dividend, $divisor) {
  if($divisor == 0) {
    throw new Exception("Division by zero");
  }
  return $dividend / $divisor;
}

try {
  echo divide(5, 0);
} catch(Exception $e) {
  echo "Unable to divide. ";
} finally {
  echo "Process complete.";
}
?>

</body>
</html>

Output

Unable to divide. Process complete.

Example

Output a string even if an exception was not caught:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>

<?php
function divide($dividend, $divisor) {
  if($divisor == 0) {
    throw new Exception("Division by zero");
  }
  return $dividend / $divisor;
}

try {
  echo divide(5, 0);
} finally {
  echo 'Process complete.';
}
?>

</body>
</html>

Output

Process complete.

• The Exception Object

The Exception Object contains information about the error or unexpected behaviour that the function encountered.

Syntax

new Exception(message, code, previous)

Parameter Values

Parameter	Description
message	Optional. A string describing why the exception was thrown
code	Optional. An integer that can be used to easily distinguish this exception from others of the same type
previous	Optional. If this exception was thrown in a catch block of another exception, it is recommended to pass that exception into this parameter

Methods

When catching an exception, the following table shows some of the methods that can be used to get information about the exception:

Parameter	Description
getMessage()	Returns a string describing why the exception was thrown
getPrevious()	If this exception was triggered by another one, this method returns the previous exception. If not, then it returns null
getCode()	Returns the exception code
getFile()	Returns the full path of the file in which the exception was thrown
getLine()	Returns the line number of the line of code which threw the exception

Example

Output information about an exception that was thrown:

<?php
function divide($dividend, $divisor) {
  if($divisor == 0) {
    throw new Exception("Division by zero", 1);
  }
  return $dividend / $divisor;
}

try {
  echo divide(5, 0);
} catch(Exception $ex) {
  $code = $ex->getCode();
  $message = $ex->getMessage();
  $file = $ex->getFile();
  $line = $ex->getLine();
  echo "Exception thrown in $file on line $line: [Code $code]
  $message";
}
?>

</body>
</html>

Output

Exception thrown in /home/TwT0ln/prog.php on line 8: [Code 1] Division by zero