As described in Capture all unhandled exceptions automatically with WebService there really is no good solution.
The reason that you cannot capture the HttpApplication.Error etc has to do with how the RestHandler has been implemented by the good folks at Microsoft. Specifically, the RestHandler explicitly catches (handles) the exception and writes out the exception details to the Response:
internal static void ExecuteWebServiceCall(HttpContext context, WebServiceMethodData methodData)
{
try
{
NamedPermissionSet namedPermissionSet = HttpRuntime.NamedPermissionSet;
if (namedPermissionSet != null)
{
namedPermissionSet.PermitOnly();
}
IDictionary<string, object> rawParams = GetRawParams(methodData, context);
InvokeMethod(context, methodData, rawParams);
}
catch (Exception exception)
{
WriteExceptionJsonString(context, exception);
}
}
To make matters worse, there is no clean extension point (that I could find) where you can change/extend the behavior. If you want to go down the path of writing your own IHttpHandler, I believe you will pretty much have to re-implement the RestHandler (or RestHandlerWithSession); regardless Reflector will be your friend.
For those that may choose to modify their WebMethods
If you are using Visual Studio 2008 or later, using Lambda expressions makes things not too bad (although not global/generic solution) in terms or removing duplicated code.
[WebMethod]
[ScriptMethod(UseHttpGet = true, ResponseFormat = ResponseFormat.Json)]
public String GetServerTime()
{
return Execute(() => DateTime.Now.ToString());
}
public T Execute<T>(Func<T> action)
{
if (action == null)
throw new ArgumentNullException("action");
try
{
return action.Invoke();
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
throw; // Do meaningful error handling/logging...
}
}
Where Execute can be implemented in a subclass of WebService or as an extension method.
UPDATE: Reflection Evil
As mentioned in my origional answer, you can abuse reflection to get what you want... specifically you can create your own HttpHandler that makes use of the internals of the RestHandler to provide an interception point for capturing exception details. I have include an "unsafe" code example below to get you started.
Personally, I would NOT use this code; but it works.
namespace WebHackery
{
public class AjaxServiceHandler : IHttpHandler
{
private readonly Type _restHandlerType;
private readonly MethodInfo _createHandler;
private readonly MethodInfo _getRawParams;
private readonly MethodInfo _invokeMethod;
private readonly MethodInfo _writeExceptionJsonString;
private readonly FieldInfo _webServiceMethodData;
public AjaxServiceHandler()
{
_restHandlerType = typeof(ScriptMethodAttribute).Assembly.GetType("System.Web.Script.Services.RestHandler");
_createHandler = _restHandlerType.GetMethod("CreateHandler", BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Static, null, new[] { typeof(HttpContext) }, null);
_getRawParams = _restHandlerType.GetMethod("GetRawParams", BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Static);
_invokeMethod = _restHandlerType.GetMethod("InvokeMethod", BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Static);
_writeExceptionJsonString = _restHandlerType.GetMethod("WriteExceptionJsonString", BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Static, null, new[] { typeof(HttpContext), typeof(Exception) }, null);
_webServiceMethodData = _restHandlerType.GetField("_webServiceMethodData", BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.GetField);
}
public bool IsReusable
{
get { return true; }
}
public void ProcessRequest(HttpContext context)
{
var restHandler = _createHandler.Invoke(null, new Object[] { context });
var methodData = _webServiceMethodData.GetValue(restHandler);
var rawParams = _getRawParams.Invoke(null, new[] { methodData, context });
try
{
_invokeMethod.Invoke(null, new[] { context, methodData, rawParams });
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
while (ex is TargetInvocationException)
ex = ex.InnerException;
// Insert Custom Error Handling HERE...
_writeExceptionJsonString.Invoke(null, new Object[] { context, ex});
}
}
}
}
