Is there a way to catch all exceptions in C++?

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How can I catch all types of exceptions in one catch block?

In C++ is there a way to catch ALL exceptions? If so, what would the syntax for that be?

Merci

You need to clarify; do you mean *all* exceptions or *all unhandled* exceptions ? After all, you could wrap your entry point in a try-catch block as Seth mentioned, but if there is inner code that explicitly handles the exception and lets the program continue, it won't hit your entry point catch block. — Russ Clarke, Feb 27 '12 at 02:37
If you're doing this to debug an exception there is an easier way in Visual Studio; On the debug menu go to the Exceptions option and you can select options to VS stop when ever an exception occurs, even if it's handled, and a few other things. — Russ Clarke, Feb 27 '12 at 02:39
And by the way, that's typically "poor form". Especially if you do something like `try { ... } catch (...) { ; }` (i.e. silently eat any/all possible exceptions). — paulsm4, Feb 27 '12 at 02:39

Seth Carnegie · Accepted Answer · 2012-02-27T02:46:11.080

8

Yes, you can catch all exceptions that were not handled (and not rethrown) by inner try/catch blocks by catching ...:

try {
    // do some stuff
} catch (...) {
    // catch any exceptions that weren't handled and/or rethrown in the try block
}

You can also combine this with other catches, but make sure they are above the catch (...) or they will be masked by the catch-all (and you should get a compiler error).

edited Feb 27 '12 at 02:46

answered Feb 27 '12 at 02:35

Seth Carnegie

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This doesn't necessarily catch *any* exception because ones that are handled in inner try-catch blocks and don't halt program execution aren't bubbled to this. – Russ Clarke Feb 27 '12 at 02:40
1

@RussC that is true, but catching literally every exception isn't possible with C++. – Seth Carnegie Feb 27 '12 at 02:42
Agreed, but your wording is unintentionally misleading; just wanted to make sure that OP was aware of exception scope. – Russ Clarke Feb 27 '12 at 02:44
@RussC Ok, I clarified it a bit. – Seth Carnegie Feb 27 '12 at 02:46

score 5 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 27 '12 at 02:39

You can catch all exceptions like this

try{
    // ...
} catch (...) {
    // ...
}

However a more useful thing to do is to catch specific exceptions and then finally fall to the (...)

try{
    // ...
} catch (const std::exception& ex) {
    // ...
} catch (const std::string& ex) {
    // ...
} catch (...) {
    // ...
}

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 27 '12 at 02:54

1

No, you cannot catch ALL exceptions, because you cannot catch exceptions that have already been caught by another handler nested within your try/catch block.

answered Feb 27 '12 at 02:54

nerozehl

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Is there a way to catch all exceptions in C++?

3 Answers3