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WPF Application Filling Windows Event Log With System.ObjectDisposedExceptions

I have an in-production WPF application that is filling the Windows Application event log with AppCrash errors due to a System.ObjectDisposedException. The AppCrash specifically points to my application, SampleApplication.exe. In addition, the application is running on a system that cannot be connected to a network (so no remote debugging possibilities) and I am having a difficult time finding the issue.
I have two event handlers attached to catch and log all unhandled exceptions. These are working for all other exceptions. I'm not sure how these System.ObjectDisposedExceptions are not being caught before they get to the event log and, also, why the application does not actually crash. It keeps running just fine.
Here are the application's exception event handlers and the App constructor that hooks them up:
public App() : base()
{
System.Windows.Application.Current.DispatcherUnhandledException += new System.Windows.Threading.DispatcherUnhandledExceptionEventHandler(Current_DispatcherUnhandledException);
AppDomain.CurrentDomain.UnhandledException += CurrentDomainOnUnhandledException;
}
void Current_DispatcherUnhandledException(object sender, DispatcherUnhandledExceptionEventArgs e)
{
Console.WriteLine(e.Exception.Message);
Console.WriteLine(e.Exception.StackTrace);
LogException(e.Exception);
e.Handled = true;
}
void CurrentDomainOnUnhandledException(object sender, UnhandledExceptionEventArgs unhandledExceptionEventArgs)
{
if (unhandledExceptionEventArgs.ExceptionObject is Exception)
{
var e = (Exception)unhandledExceptionEventArgs.ExceptionObject;
Console.WriteLine(e.Message);
Console.WriteLine(e.StackTrace);
LogException((Exception)unhandledExceptionEventArgs.ExceptionObject);
}
}
void LogException(Exception e)
{
Exception tmp = e;
while (tmp.InnerException != null)
tmp = tmp.InnerException;
string errorMessage = string.Format("An unhandled exception occurred: {0}", tmp.Message);
System.Windows.MessageBox.Show(errorMessage, "Error", MessageBoxButton.OK, MessageBoxImage.Error);
EventLogService.AddLog(EventLogSourceTypes.Error, errorMessage, DateTime.UtcNow, e.StackTrace);
}
I'm not sure that those are even relevant to my question, which is:
How can I catch these exceptions and document the details instead of them filling up the Windows Application event log? And, the application continues to run just fine, so despite them being AppCrash entries, the app is not actually crashing.

Handling Unhandled Exception in WPF [duplicate]

This question already has answers here:
Globally catch exceptions in a WPF application?
(7 answers)
Closed 6 years ago.
Sometimes, under not reproducible circumstances, my WPF application crashes without any message. The application simply close instantly.
Where is the best place to implement the global Try/Catch block. At least I have to implement a messagebox with: "Sorry for the inconvenience ..."

You can trap unhandled exceptions at different levels:
AppDomain.CurrentDomain.UnhandledException From all threads in the AppDomain.
Dispatcher.UnhandledException From a single specific UI dispatcher thread.
Application.Current.DispatcherUnhandledException From the main UI dispatcher thread in your WPF application.
TaskScheduler.UnobservedTaskException from within each AppDomain that uses a task scheduler for asynchronous operations.
You should consider what level you need to trap unhandled exceptions at.
Deciding between #2 and #3 depends upon whether you're using more than one WPF thread. This is quite an exotic situation and if you're unsure whether you are or not, then it's most likely that you're not.

You can handle the AppDomain.UnhandledException event
EDIT: actually, this event is probably more adequate: Application.DispatcherUnhandledException

A quick example of code for Application.Dispatcher.UnhandledException:
public App() {
this.Dispatcher.UnhandledException += OnDispatcherUnhandledException;
}
void OnDispatcherUnhandledException(object sender, System.Windows.Threading.DispatcherUnhandledExceptionEventArgs e) {
string errorMessage = string.Format("An unhandled exception occurred: {0}", e.Exception.Message);
MessageBox.Show(errorMessage, "Error", MessageBoxButton.OK, MessageBoxImage.Error);
// OR whatever you want like logging etc. MessageBox it's just example
// for quick debugging etc.
e.Handled = true;
}
I added this code in App.xaml.cs

I use the following code in my WPF apps to show a "Sorry for the inconvenience" dialog box whenever an unhandled exception occurs. It shows the exception message, and asks user whether they want to close the app or ignore the exception and continue (the latter case is convenient when a non-fatal exceptions occur and user can still normally continue to use the app).
In App.xaml add the Startup event handler:
<Application .... Startup="Application_Startup">
In App.xaml.cs code add Startup event handler function that will register the global application event handler:
using System.Windows.Threading;
private void Application_Startup(object sender, StartupEventArgs e)
{
// Global exception handling
Application.Current.DispatcherUnhandledException += new DispatcherUnhandledExceptionEventHandler(AppDispatcherUnhandledException);
}
void AppDispatcherUnhandledException(object sender, DispatcherUnhandledExceptionEventArgs e)
{
\#if DEBUG // In debug mode do not custom-handle the exception, let Visual Studio handle it
e.Handled = false;
\#else
ShowUnhandledException(e);
\#endif
}
void ShowUnhandledException(DispatcherUnhandledExceptionEventArgs e)
{
e.Handled = true;
string errorMessage = string.Format("An application error occurred.\nPlease check whether your data is correct and repeat the action. If this error occurs again there seems to be a more serious malfunction in the application, and you better close it.\n\nError: {0}\n\nDo you want to continue?\n(if you click Yes you will continue with your work, if you click No the application will close)",
e.Exception.Message + (e.Exception.InnerException != null ? "\n" +
e.Exception.InnerException.Message : null));
if (MessageBox.Show(errorMessage, "Application Error", MessageBoxButton.YesNoCancel, MessageBoxImage.Error) == MessageBoxResult.No) {
if (MessageBox.Show("WARNING: The application will close. Any changes will not be saved!\nDo you really want to close it?", "Close the application!", MessageBoxButton.YesNoCancel, MessageBoxImage.Warning) == MessageBoxResult.Yes)
{
Application.Current.Shutdown();
}
}

Best answer is probably https://stackoverflow.com/a/1472562/601990.
Here is some code that shows how to use it:
App.xaml.cs
public sealed partial class App
{
protected override void OnStartup(StartupEventArgs e)
{
// setting up the Dependency Injection container
var resolver = ResolverFactory.Get();
// getting the ILogger or ILog interface
var logger = resolver.Resolve<ILogger>();
RegisterGlobalExceptionHandling(logger);
// Bootstrapping Dependency Injection
// injects ViewModel into MainWindow.xaml
// remember to remove the StartupUri attribute in App.xaml
var mainWindow = resolver.Resolve<Pages.MainWindow>();
mainWindow.Show();
}
private void RegisterGlobalExceptionHandling(ILogger log)
{
// this is the line you really want
AppDomain.CurrentDomain.UnhandledException +=
(sender, args) => CurrentDomainOnUnhandledException(args, log);
// optional: hooking up some more handlers
// remember that you need to hook up additional handlers when
// logging from other dispatchers, shedulers, or applications
Application.Dispatcher.UnhandledException +=
(sender, args) => DispatcherOnUnhandledException(args, log);
Application.Current.DispatcherUnhandledException +=
(sender, args) => CurrentOnDispatcherUnhandledException(args, log);
TaskScheduler.UnobservedTaskException +=
(sender, args) => TaskSchedulerOnUnobservedTaskException(args, log);
}
private static void TaskSchedulerOnUnobservedTaskException(UnobservedTaskExceptionEventArgs args, ILogger log)
{
log.Error(args.Exception, args.Exception.Message);
args.SetObserved();
}
private static void CurrentOnDispatcherUnhandledException(DispatcherUnhandledExceptionEventArgs args, ILogger log)
{
log.Error(args.Exception, args.Exception.Message);
// args.Handled = true;
}
private static void DispatcherOnUnhandledException(DispatcherUnhandledExceptionEventArgs args, ILogger log)
{
log.Error(args.Exception, args.Exception.Message);
// args.Handled = true;
}
private static void CurrentDomainOnUnhandledException(UnhandledExceptionEventArgs args, ILogger log)
{
var exception = args.ExceptionObject as Exception;
var terminatingMessage = args.IsTerminating ? " The application is terminating." : string.Empty;
var exceptionMessage = exception?.Message ?? "An unmanaged exception occured.";
var message = string.Concat(exceptionMessage, terminatingMessage);
log.Error(exception, message);
}
}

In addition to the posts above:
Application.Current.DispatcherUnhandledException
will not catch exceptions that are thrown from a thread other than the main thread. You have to catch those exceptions on the same thread they are thrown. But if you want to Handle them on your global exception handler you can pass it to the main thread:
System.Threading.Thread t = new System.Threading.Thread(() =>
{
try
{
...
//this exception will not be catched by
//Application.DispatcherUnhandledException
throw new Exception("huh..");
...
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
//But we can handle it in the throwing thread
//and pass it to the main thread wehre Application.
//DispatcherUnhandledException can handle it
System.Windows.Application.Current.Dispatcher.Invoke(
System.Windows.Threading.DispatcherPriority.Normal,
new Action<Exception>((exc) =>
{
throw new Exception("Exception from another Thread", exc);
}), ex);
}
});

To supplement Thomas's answer, the Application class also has the DispatcherUnhandledException event that you can handle.

A complete solution is here
it's explained very nice with sample code. However, be careful that it does not close the application.Add the line
Application.Current.Shutdown();
to gracefully close the app.

As mentioned above
Application.Current.DispatcherUnhandledException will not catch
exceptions that are thrown from another thread then the main thread.
That actual depend on how the thread was created
One case that is not handled by Application.Current.DispatcherUnhandledException is System.Windows.Forms.Timer for which Application.ThreadException can be used to handle these
if you run Forms on other threads than the main thread you will need to set Application.ThreadException from each such thread

Why does AggregateException thrown from GUI thread get "unwrapped" in app exception handler?

I have a WinForm async GUI app in which I've set up some "global" exception handling in program.cs. I also have a GUI thread that's doing an "await Task.WhenAll()" and catching its exception and throwing the awaited Task.Exception property, so that the AggregateException gets all the way to the exception handler in program.cs (I want to iterate over the inner exceptions and log them).
I can see that the exception being thrown out of my try/catch of the WhenAll() is indeed throwing an AggreateException, but when I debug the handler in program.cs, it's not an AggregateException anymore - it's just the first Exception of the AggregateException. I can't figure out what code is doing this "unwrapping" for me?
Program.cs:
static void Main() {
Application.ThreadException += new System.Threading.ThreadExceptionEventHandler(Application_ThreadException);
Application.SetUnhandledExceptionMode(UnhandledExceptionMode.CatchException);
...
}
static void Application_ThreadException(object sender, System.Threading.ThreadExceptionEventArgs e) {
if (e.Exception is AggregateException) {
// expect to log the contents of (e.Exception as AggregateException).Flatten().InnerExceptions, but exception coming
// in is not AggregateException but instead is
// ApplicationException("message 1")
}
else {
// handling for non aggregate exceptions
}
In Form1.cs
private async void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e) {
Task overall = Task.WhenAll(
Task.Run(()=> { throw new ApplicationException("message 1"); }),
Task.Run(() => { throw new ApplicationException("message 2"); })
);
try {
await overall;
}
catch {
throw overall.Exception; // this is AggregateException
}
}
}

It's not just AggregateException - WinForms will always only send GetBaseException() to the handler. That is, only the innermost exception of any InnerException chain.
Apparently this is a longstanding WinForms bug, probably permanent at this point.
You'll have to work around it with your own type:
public class ExceptionWrapper : Exception
{
public new Exception InnerException { get; set; }
}
throw new ExceptionWrapper { InnerException = overall.Exception };

The best possible workaround for this issue is capturing the raised exception via the AppDomain.FirstChangeException event and then comparing this exceptions base exception reference against the exception raised by Application.ThreadException.
Something like this:
private Exception lastFirstChanceException;
AppDomain.CurrentDomain.FirstChanceException += (sender, e) =>
{
lastFirstChanceException = e.Exception;
};
Application.ThreadException += (sender, e) =>
{
if (lastFirstChanceException?.GetBaseException() == e.Exception)
{
var realException = lastFirstChanceException; // This is the "real" exception thrown by some code
}
};

Catch child background threads within calling method in foreground thread

I want to call a method once by a specified interval (e.g. 3 seconds), but I have problem catching exception within the calling method (e.g. Start) thrown by the called method (timer_Elapsed)
Update
public void Start()
{
Timer timer = new Timer(PingPeriod); //System.Timers
try
{
timer.Elapsed += new ElapsedEventHandler(timer_Elapsed);
timer.Enabled = true;
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
//I want to catch exception thrown by timer_Elapsed
}
//Logic here that keeps the method running
}
private void timer_Elapsed(object sender, ElapsedEventArgs e)
{
throw new exception("Catch this exception please");
}
Update:
Can anyone please confirm that the start() will NOT catch exception thrown from timer_Elapsed, or when trying to invoke timer_Elapsed if exception occurred.
Is there a better alternative, which can catch exception from a called method or get notified?
Any idea would be very much appreciated!

This just isn't possible, the Elapsed event handler runs later, well after your Start() method has exited. Furthermore, that event has the nasty habit of swallowing all exceptions without any diagnostic.
You'll need to handle exceptions within the event handler. Certainly not easy to do. Do consider using the System.Threading.Timer class instead. At least your program will terminate when the callback throws an exception.

This is not possible because the exception is thrown on a different execution context (thread) from the one that set up the timer.
You should handle any exceptions in your callback method. If you want your logic separated from your exception handling, simply create a separate method.
private void TimerElapsedCallback(object sender, ElapsedEventArgs e)
{
try
{
this.DoSomething();
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
// handle
}
}
private void DoSomething()
{
// logic goes here and can be agnostic of any exceptions it throws, if desired
}

How to avoid error message window

we're having an application on server instance and quite rarely, but we have out of memory exception (program is not leaking, just instance is quite small and it operates with quite big amounts of data).
That would be not a problem, as we monitor processes on that server instance and if some of the processes are not found in process list, alert email is sent.
Now the problem is with this:
That prevents process from disappearing from process list, so we don't get alert email about it's failure. Is it possible to disable this message, that if program fails on something we don't catch, it would close without user interaction?

Assuming Windows Forms, I typically do multiple steps to prevent this message box.
First, I connect several handlers in the Main function:
[STAThread]
private static void Main()
{
Application.ThreadException +=
application_ThreadException;
Application.SetUnhandledExceptionMode(
UnhandledExceptionMode.CatchException);
AppDomain.CurrentDomain.UnhandledException +=
currentDomain_UnhandledException;
Application.Run(new MainForm());
}
Those handlers are being called when an otherwise unhandled exception occurs. I would define them something like:
private static void application_ThreadException(
object sender,
ThreadExceptionEventArgs e)
{
doHandleException(e.Exception);
}
private static void currentDomain_UnhandledException(
object sender,
UnhandledExceptionEventArgs e)
{
doHandleException(e.ExceptionObject as Exception);
}
The actual doHandleException function that is then called does the actual error handling. Usually this is logging the error and notifying the user, giving him the options to continue the application or quit it.
An example from a real-world application looks like:
private static void doHandleException(
Exception e)
{
try
{
Log.Instance.ErrorException(#"Exception.", e);
}
catch (Exception x)
{
Trace.WriteLine(string.Format(
#"Error during exception logging: '{0}'.", x.Message));
}
var form = Form.ActiveForm;
if (form == null)
{
MessageBox.Show(buildMessage(e),
"MyApp", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Error);
}
else
{
MessageBox.Show(form, buildMessage(e),
"MyApp", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Error);
}
}
With the helper function:
public static string buildMessage(Exception exception)
{
var result = new StringBuilder();
while (exception != null)
{
result.AppendLine(exception.Message);
result.AppendLine();
exception = exception.InnerException;
}
return result.ToString().Trim();
}
If you are using not Windows Forms but e.g. a Console application or WPF, some handlers are not present, while others are present instead.
The idea stays the same: Subscribe to event handlers that are being called if you have no try...catch around your code blocks.
Personally, I try to have as few of those try...catch blocks as possible (ideally none).

don't know if you can deactivate this - but I think you should not.
Find the bug/problem in your application and handle the problem with a craceful shutdown or by preventing the problem in first case.
Everything else will be a real crude workaround and I don't think your client will be pleased to have such a behavior (after all won't there be data lost? If not this has allways the buggy / not finished touch)

You could put a global try/catch block in your program and exit the program on any unexpected exception.

If using WPF you can try-catch the following two exceptions in your app.xaml.cs. There may be other/complementary exceptions to handle, but this are the two I am usually looking for:
AppDomain.CurrentDomain.UnhandledException - "This event provides notification of uncaught exceptions. It allows the application to log information about the exception before the system default handler reports the exception to the user and terminates the application. If sufficient information about the state of the application is available, other actions may be undertaken — such as saving program data for later recovery. Caution is advised, because program data can become corrupted when exceptions are not handled."
Dispatcher.UnhandledException - "Occurs when a thread exception is thrown and uncaught during execution of a delegate by way of Invoke or BeginInvoke."
ie:
public partial class App : Application
{
public App()
{
this.Dispatcher.UnhandledException += DispatcherUnhandledException;
AppDomain.CurrentDomain.UnhandledException += CurrentDomainUnhandledException;
}
private void CurrentDomainUnhandledException(object sender, UnhandledExceptionEventArgs e)
{
// log and close gracefully
}
private new void DispatcherUnhandledException(object sender, System.Windows.Threading.DispatcherUnhandledExceptionEventArgs e)
{
e.Handled = true;
// log and close gracefully
}
}