WCF proxy faulted but does not throw an exception - c#

I have a method which accesses a service to perform two calls. Here is the (simplified) client code:
try
{
using (var client = new IntegrationServiceClient())
{
int taskID = client.CreateTask(param, taskType, taskDate);
if (taskID < 0)
{
//There was some error
return -1;
}
if (!client.ExecuteTask(taskID, taskType))
{
//There was some error
}
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
LogManager.Log("Error while creating and executing task", ex);
}
I'm getting a CommunicationObjectFaultedException exception only on the second call. How is this possible? If there was some kind of fault, shouldn't I get a FaultException (or some other exception) after the first call? Is there something other than an exception that can cause the proxy to enter a faulted state?

It seems there was a bad web.config file. The stack trace was telling me there was an error on line with the second call because that was the last meaningful line within the using statement, after which the proxy is disposed. The CommunicationObjectFaultedException is raised only when disposing the proxy.
It was just the way that the code was written that caused the stack trace look like the exception was thrown when calling the second method.

Related

If you throw/generate an exception from an asynchronous callback where does/can/should it be caught?

Say we're using Socket.BeginReceive and passing in a callback method:
var state = new StateObject() { workSocket = socket };
var ret = socket.BeginReceive(state.buffer, 0, StateObject.BufferSize, SocketFlags.None, new AsyncCallback(BeginReceiveCallback), state);
...
private void BeginReceiveCallback(IAsyncResult ar)
{
StateObject state = (StateObject) ar.AsyncState;
int bytes = state.workSocket.EndReceive(ar); //workSocket is the Socket receiving
...
}
If an exception is encountered in the callback and not handled there - where will it go? How/can I catch it?
Doing a bit of reading, I believe this is the answer
The Exceptions get thrown when you call EndReceive. The Begin.../End... pair of methods work like this:
Begin gets called, and returns immediately
The callback gets started in a separate Thread by the runtime
Inside the callback, the actual work gets done blocking the Thread. This work is done by invoking the End... method
So, the End... method is actually doing the work. So, if an exception gets thrown, you can catch it there.
Here is some code demonstrating this with comments. If you want to just try it out here is a Dotnetfiddle with this code edited to work on Dotnetfiddle:
using System;
using System.Threading;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
namespace BeginEndInvokeTest
{
public class Program
{
public static async Task Main(string[] args)
{
// This is just here for setup
var caller = new AsyncDemo.AsyncMethodCaller(AsyncDemo.Test);
// This is your 'socket.BeginReceive' call
var ar = caller.BeginInvoke(3000, AsyncCallback, caller);
// Wait so the program doesn't exit prematurely
await Task.Delay(5000);
}
static void AsyncCallback(IAsyncResult ar)
{
var caller = (AsyncDemo.AsyncMethodCaller) ar.AsyncState;
try
{
// If our exception wouldn't be thrown here (which is impossible),
// the program would print "No exception was thrown"
caller.EndInvoke(ar);
Console.WriteLine("No exception was thrown");
}
catch (Exception)
{
Console.WriteLine("Exception encountered");
}
}
}
public class AsyncDemo
{
public static string Test(int callDuration)
{
// Simply write something to the console, simulate work
// and throw an exception
Console.WriteLine("Test method begins");
Thread.Sleep(callDuration);
throw new Exception("Testing");
}
public delegate string AsyncMethodCaller(int callDuration);
}
}
So in short, you can only catch the Exceptions at the End... call, nowhere else.
Edit to address where does the exception go when it isn't caught.
Honestly, I have no idea where it goes. Further testing and trial n' error gave me nothing. It seems like the whole runtime just crashes. When I didn't catch the exception I get a console out with a stack trace that shows where the exception was thrown (inside the Test method, as expected), alongside something I've never seen before: Unhandled Exception: System.Exception: Testing.
There is also a second stack trace saying :
Exception rethrown at [0]:
at System.Runtime.Remoting.Proxies.RealProxy.EndInvokeHelper(Message reqMsg, Boolean bProxyCase)
at System.Runtime.Remoting.Proxies.RemotingProxy.Invoke(Object NotUsed, MessageData& msgData)
...
So, yeah, it seems like the runtime crashes when you don't catch it.
Source: I cobbled this answer together using this Microsoft API documentation. Some further info can be found here as Calling synchronous methods asynchronously.

How to differ from writing exception to a reading one?

I have a socket and I'd like to send messages and read from it.
When I read/write with the socket while the other side is offline, I get the same Exception: System.IO.IOException: Unable to read data from the transport connection: Operation on non-blocking socket would block.
How can I identify in which of the two it happened besides having two separate try-catch blocks? Can't I just get a Timeout Exception when the reading timeout is over?
example:
try
{
SendData("!GetLocation!");
string data = GetData();
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
if (ex is System.IO.IOException)
{
//How can I identify if the exception was raised at the read method or the write method?
}
}
Yeah, exception handling is heavy resource wise, but sometimes is not so bad.
If you stick to only one try-catch you can check the error message.
Note: I have also added a second try-catch for generic (non IO) errors
try
{
SendData("!GetLocation!");
string data = GetData();
}
catch (System.IO.IOException ex)
{
if (ex.Message.IndexOf("Unable to read") != -1)
{
// GetData error
}
else if (ex.Message.IndexOf("Unable to write") != -1)
{
// SendData error
}
else
{
//Other IO errors
}
}
catch(Exception exc)
{
// Unspected errors
}
you could also set a boolean variable and check its value to know where it
broke your code.
bool sendCalled = false;
try
{
SendData("!GetLocation!");
sendCalled = true;
string data = GetData();
}
catch (System.IO.IOException ex)
{
if (sendCalled)
{
// GetData error
}
else
{
// SendData error
}
}
Not that I endorse either of these solutions, but an answer is an answer: you can either
analyze the stack trace of the exception to find out which call failed (e.g. name of the method at the top of the stack frame
set a flag after the write, and do logic based on that flag
Neither of these is as straight forward as wrapping each method call. In fact, wrapping each call conveys your intent. In the catch of your first call, you can return/break/skip the read call, which explicitly tells the reader you're bailing out fast.

Difference between try{..}catch{...} with finally and without it

What is the difference between code like this:
string path = #"c:\users\public\test.txt";
System.IO.StreamReader file = new System.IO.StreamReader(path);
char[] buffer = new char[10];
try
{
file.ReadBlock(buffer, index, buffer.Length);
}
catch (System.IO.IOException e)
{
Console.WriteLine("Error reading from {0}. Message = {1}", path, e.Message);
}
finally
{
if (file != null)
{
file.Close();
}
}
and this:
string path = #"c:\users\public\test.txt";
System.IO.StreamReader file = new System.IO.StreamReader(path);
char[] buffer = new char[10];
try
{
file.ReadBlock(buffer, index, buffer.Length);
}
catch (System.IO.IOException e)
{
Console.WriteLine("Error reading from {0}. Message = {1}", path, e.Message);
}
if (file != null)
{
file.Close();
}
Is really finally block necessary in this construction. Why Microsoft provided such construction? It seems to be redundant. Isn't it?
Imagine if some other exception occurred that you haven't handled, e.g. an ArgumentOutOfRangeException, or if you want to rethrow the exception or throw a wrapped exception from your catch block:
The first block would ensure that the file is closed regardless of whether or not an exception occurred.
The second block would only close the file if either no exception occurred or an IOException occurred. It does not handle any other cases.
The first block will close the file even if there is an uncaught exception.
The second block will close the file only if there are no exceptions, or any thrown exceptions are caught.
The first will also ensure that the file is closed if the try has a break, goto, return, continue, or any other jump construct that would cause the execution to move outside of the try block. The second doesn't, and as such it could result in the resource not being closed.
In your example, if your code throws an exception other than System.IO.IOException, your cleanup code is not guaranteed to run. With the finally block, the code within it will run no matter what type of exception is thrown.
In that case it's redundant.
It's usefull if you for example will rethrow an exception and still want some code to run after the block:
try {
// do something dangerous
} catch(...) {
// log the error or something
throw; // let the exception bubble up to the caller
} finally {
// this always runs
}
// this only runs if there was no exception
Another example is if the catch may throw an exception for a different reason:
try {
// do something dangerous
} catch(...) {
// handle the error
// log the error, which may cause a different exception
} finally {
// this runs even if the catch crashed
}
// this only runs if there was no exception, or the code in the catch worked
Simply, as code might crash for plenty of reasons you might not even know about, it's useful to put the cleanup in a finally block just to be sure that it runs whatever happens.
Imagine there was an exception inside catch{}, code inside finally would still run but if (file != null){} block will not.

C# Throw exception in server call back method

I have a method in my program which is a server call back look like this:
private void DeserializerCallback(IAsyncResult aysncResult)
{
HttpWebRequest request = (HttpWebRequest)aysncResult.AsyncState;
HttpWebResponse response;
try
{
response = (HttpWebResponse)request.EndGetResponse(aysncResult);
}
catch(WebException e)
{
VenueMapException venueMapException = new MyException(MyException.ExceptionType.BadResponseException, e);
throw venueMapException;
}
Stream responseStream = response.GetResponseStream();
this.DeserializeStream(responseStream);
}
This method is called after I do this line:
this.MyHttpRequest.BeginGetResponse(new AsyncCallback(this.DeserializerCallback), this.MyHttpRequest);
In the call back method, I throw a exception that defined by myself. Now I want to catch this exception as far from this code as possible, but I am not sure where will the exception go if I do not catch it in this method. Can someone give some suggestion? Thank you
Errors can be caught at Page Level or Application level
Errors can be caught at Application level in the Application_Error
event in Global.asax
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/24395wz3.aspx
Errors can be caught at Page Level by the Page_Error event in aspx pages
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/24395wz3.aspx
And inside these events we can get the last occured exception by the code
Exception exc = Server.GetLastError();

How to handle WCF exceptions (consolidated list with code)

I'm attempting to extend this answer on SO to make a WCF client retry on transient network failures and handle other situations that require a retry such as authentication expiration.
Question:
What are the WCF exceptions that need to be handled, and what is the correct way to handle them?
Here are a few sample techniques that I'm hoping to see instead of or in addition to proxy.abort():
Delay X seconds prior to retry
Close and recreate a New() WCF client. Dispose the old one.
Don't retry and rethrow this error
Retry N times, then throw
Since it's unlikely one person knows all the exceptions or ways to resolve them, do share what you know. I'll aggregate the answers and approaches in the code sample below.
// USAGE SAMPLE
//int newOrderId = 0; // need a value for definite assignment
//Service<IOrderService>.Use(orderService=>
//{
// newOrderId = orderService.PlaceOrder(request);
//}
/// <summary>
/// A safe WCF Proxy suitable when sessionmode=false
/// </summary>
/// <param name="codeBlock"></param>
public static void Use(UseServiceDelegateVoid<T> codeBlock)
{
IClientChannel proxy = (IClientChannel)_channelFactory.CreateChannel();
bool success = false;
try
{
codeBlock((T)proxy);
proxy.Close();
success = true;
}
catch (CommunicationObjectAbortedException e)
{
// Object should be discarded if this is reached.
// Debugging discovered the following exception here:
// "Connection can not be established because it has been aborted"
throw e;
}
catch (CommunicationObjectFaultedException e)
{
throw e;
}
catch (MessageSecurityException e)
{
throw e;
}
catch (ChannelTerminatedException)
{
proxy.Abort(); // Possibly retry?
}
catch (ServerTooBusyException)
{
proxy.Abort(); // Possibly retry?
}
catch (EndpointNotFoundException)
{
proxy.Abort(); // Possibly retry?
}
catch (FaultException)
{
proxy.Abort();
}
catch (CommunicationException)
{
proxy.Abort();
}
catch (TimeoutException)
{
// Sample error found during debug:
// The message could not be transferred within the allotted timeout of
// 00:01:00. There was no space available in the reliable channel's
// transfer window. The time allotted to this operation may have been a
// portion of a longer timeout.
proxy.Abort();
}
catch (ObjectDisposedException )
{
//todo: handle this duplex callback exception. Occurs when client disappears.
// Source: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1427926/detecting-client-death-in-wcf-duplex-contracts/1428238#1428238
}
finally
{
if (!success)
{
proxy.Abort();
}
}
}
EDIT: There seems to be some inefficiencies with closing and reopening the client multiple times. I'm exploring solutions here and will update & expand this code if one is found. (or if David Khaykin posts an answer I'll mark it as accepted)
After tinkering around with this for a few years, the code below is my preferred strategy (after seeing this blog posting from the wayback machine) for dealing with WCF retries and handling exceptions.
I investigated every exception, what I would want to do with that exception, and noticed a common trait; every exception that needed a "retry" inherited from a common base class. I also noticed that every permFail exception that put the client into an invalid state also came from a shared base class.
The following example traps every WCF exception a client could through, and is extensible for your own custom channel errors.
Sample WCF Client Usage
Once you generate your client side proxy, this is all you need to implement it.
Service<IOrderService>.Use(orderService=>
{
orderService.PlaceOrder(request);
}
ServiceDelegate.cs
Add this file to your solution. No changes are needed to this file, unless you want to alter the number of retries or what exceptions you want to handle.
public delegate void UseServiceDelegate<T>(T proxy);
public static class Service<T>
{
public static ChannelFactory<T> _channelFactory = new ChannelFactory<T>("");
public static void Use(UseServiceDelegate<T> codeBlock)
{
IClientChannel proxy = null;
bool success = false;
Exception mostRecentEx = null;
int millsecondsToSleep = 1000;
for(int i=0; i<5; i++) // Attempt a maximum of 5 times
{
// Proxy cann't be reused
proxy = (IClientChannel)_channelFactory.CreateChannel();
try
{
codeBlock((T)proxy);
proxy.Close();
success = true;
break;
}
catch (FaultException customFaultEx)
{
mostRecentEx = customFaultEx;
proxy.Abort();
// Custom resolution for this app-level exception
Thread.Sleep(millsecondsToSleep * (i + 1));
}
// The following is typically thrown on the client when a channel is terminated due to the server closing the connection.
catch (ChannelTerminatedException cte)
{
mostRecentEx = cte;
proxy.Abort();
// delay (backoff) and retry
Thread.Sleep(millsecondsToSleep * (i + 1));
}
// The following is thrown when a remote endpoint could not be found or reached. The endpoint may not be found or
// reachable because the remote endpoint is down, the remote endpoint is unreachable, or because the remote network is unreachable.
catch (EndpointNotFoundException enfe)
{
mostRecentEx = enfe;
proxy.Abort();
// delay (backoff) and retry
Thread.Sleep(millsecondsToSleep * (i + 1));
}
// The following exception that is thrown when a server is too busy to accept a message.
catch (ServerTooBusyException stbe)
{
mostRecentEx = stbe;
proxy.Abort();
// delay (backoff) and retry
Thread.Sleep(millsecondsToSleep * (i + 1));
}
catch (TimeoutException timeoutEx)
{
mostRecentEx = timeoutEx;
proxy.Abort();
// delay (backoff) and retry
Thread.Sleep(millsecondsToSleep * (i + 1));
}
catch (CommunicationException comException)
{
mostRecentEx = comException;
proxy.Abort();
// delay (backoff) and retry
Thread.Sleep(millsecondsToSleep * (i + 1));
}
catch(Exception e)
{
// rethrow any other exception not defined here
// You may want to define a custom Exception class to pass information such as failure count, and failure type
proxy.Abort();
throw e;
}
}
if (success == false && mostRecentEx != null)
{
proxy.Abort();
throw new Exception("WCF call failed after 5 retries.", mostRecentEx );
}
}
}
I started a project on Codeplex that has the following features
Allows efficient reuse of the client proxy
Cleans up all resources, including EventHandlers
Operates on Duplex channels
Operates on Per-call services
Supports config constructor, or by factory
http://smartwcfclient.codeplex.com/
It is a work in progress, and is very heavily commented. I'll appreciate any feedback regarding improving it.
Sample usage when in instance mode:
var reusableSW = new LC.Utils.WCF.ServiceWrapper<IProcessDataDuplex>(channelFactory);
reusableSW.Reuse(client =>
{
client.CheckIn(count.ToString());
});
reusableSW.Dispose();
we have a WCF client that deal with almost any type of failure at the server. The Catch list is very long but does not have to be. If you look closely, you will see that many exceptions are child definitions of the Exception Class (and a few other classes).
Thus you can simplify things a lot if you want to. That said, here are some typical errors that we catch:
Server timeout
Server too busy
Server unavailable.
Below links may help to handle WCF Exceptions:
http://www.codeproject.com/KB/WCF/WCFErrorHandling.aspx
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc949036.aspx

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