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Application.ThreadException Event

Occurs when an untrapped thread exception is thrown.

Namespace: System.Windows.Forms
Assembly: System.Windows.Forms (in system.windows.forms.dll)

'Declaration
Public Shared Event ThreadException As ThreadExceptionEventHandler
'Usage
Dim handler As ThreadExceptionEventHandler

AddHandler Application.ThreadException, handler

/** @event */
public static void add_ThreadException (ThreadExceptionEventHandler value)

/** @event */
public static void remove_ThreadException (ThreadExceptionEventHandler value)

In JScript, you can handle the events defined by a class, but you cannot define your own.
Not applicable.

This event allows your Windows Forms application to handle otherwise unhandled exceptions that occur in Windows Forms threads. Attach your event handlers to the ThreadException event to deal with these exceptions, which will leave your application in an unknown state. Where possible, exceptions should be handled by a structured exception handling block.

You can change whether this callback is used for unhandled Windows Forms thread exceptions by setting SetUnhandledExceptionMode.To catch exceptions that occur in threads not created and owned by Windows Forms, use the UnhandledException event handler.

NoteNote:

To use this event, you must attach a handler before you call System.Windows.Application.Run.

If an exception occurs in the main application thread and no catch block in the call stack handles it, the default exception handler catches it and terminates the application. If an exception occurs in a thread other than the main application thread, the thread exits, but the application continues to run.

Caution noteCaution:

Because this is a static event, you must detach your event handlers when your application is disposed, or memory leaks will result.

The following code example sets event handlers for exceptions that occur on Windows Forms threads and exceptions that occur on other threads. It sets SetUnhandledExceptionMode so that all exceptions are handled by the application, regardless of the settings in the application's user configuration file. It uses the ThreadException event to handle UI thread exceptions, and the UnhandledException event to handle non-UI thread exceptions. Since UnhandledException cannot prevent an application from terminating, the example simply logs the error in the application event log before termination.

This example assumes that you have defined two Button controls, button1 and button2, on your Form class.

' Starts the application. 
<SecurityPermission(SecurityAction.Demand, Flags:=SecurityPermissionFlag.ControlAppDomain)> _
Public Shared Sub Main()
    ' Add the event handler for handling UI thread exceptions to the event.
    AddHandler Application.ThreadException, AddressOf ErrorHandlerForm.Form1_UIThreadException

    ' Set the unhandled exception mode to force all Windows Forms errors to go through
    ' our handler.
    Application.SetUnhandledExceptionMode(UnhandledExceptionMode.CatchException)

    ' Add the event handler for handling non-UI thread exceptions to the event. 
    AddHandler AppDomain.CurrentDomain.UnhandledException, AddressOf CurrentDomain_UnhandledException

    ' Runs the application.
    Application.Run(New ErrorHandlerForm())
End Sub


' Programs the button to throw an exception when clicked.
Private Sub button1_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles button1.Click
    Throw New ArgumentException("The parameter was invalid")
End Sub

' Start a new thread, separate from Windows Forms, that will throw an exception.
Private Sub button2_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles button2.Click
    Dim newThreadStart As New ThreadStart(AddressOf newThread_Execute)
    newThread = New Thread(newThreadStart)
    newThread.Start()
End Sub


' The thread we start up to demonstrate non-UI exception handling. 
Sub newThread_Execute()
    Throw New Exception("The method or operation is not implemented.")
End Sub


' Handle the UI exceptions by showing a dialog box, and asking the user whether
' or not they wish to abort execution.
Private Shared Sub Form1_UIThreadException(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal t As ThreadExceptionEventArgs)
    Dim result As System.Windows.Forms.DialogResult = _
        System.Windows.Forms.DialogResult.Cancel
    Try
        result = ShowThreadExceptionDialog("Windows Forms Error", t.Exception)
    Catch
        Try
            MessageBox.Show("Fatal Windows Forms Error", _
                "Fatal Windows Forms Error", MessageBoxButtons.AbortRetryIgnore, MessageBoxIcon.Stop)
        Finally
            Application.Exit()
        End Try
    End Try

    ' Exits the program when the user clicks Abort.
    If result = DialogResult.Abort Then
        Application.Exit()
    End If
End Sub

' Handle the UI exceptions by showing a dialog box, and asking the user whether
' or not they wish to abort execution.
' NOTE: This exception cannot be kept from terminating the application - it can only 
' log the event, and inform the user about it. 
Private Shared Sub CurrentDomain_UnhandledException(ByVal sender As Object, _
ByVal e As UnhandledExceptionEventArgs)
    Try
        Dim ex As Exception = CType(e.ExceptionObject, Exception)
        Dim errorMsg As String = "An application error occurred. Please contact the adminstrator " & _
            "with the following information:" & ControlChars.Lf & ControlChars.Lf

        ' Since we can't prevent the app from terminating, log this to the event log.
        If (Not EventLog.SourceExists("ThreadException")) Then
            EventLog.CreateEventSource("ThreadException", "Application")
        End If

        ' Create an EventLog instance and assign its source.
        Dim myLog As New EventLog()
        myLog.Source = "ThreadException"
        myLog.WriteEntry((errorMsg + ex.Message & ControlChars.Lf & ControlChars.Lf & _
            "Stack Trace:" & ControlChars.Lf & ex.StackTrace))
    Catch exc As Exception
        Try
            MessageBox.Show("Fatal Non-UI Error", "Fatal Non-UI Error. Could not write the error to the event log. " & _
                "Reason: " & exc.Message, MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Stop)
        Finally
            Application.Exit()
        End Try
    End Try
End Sub


' Creates the error message and displays it.
Private Shared Function ShowThreadExceptionDialog(ByVal title As String, ByVal e As Exception) As DialogResult
    Dim errorMsg As String = "An application error occurred. Please contact the adminstrator " & _
 "with the following information:" & ControlChars.Lf & ControlChars.Lf
    errorMsg = errorMsg & e.Message & ControlChars.Lf & _
 ControlChars.Lf & "Stack Trace:" & ControlChars.Lf & e.StackTrace

    Return MessageBox.Show(errorMsg, title, MessageBoxButtons.AbortRetryIgnore, MessageBoxIcon.Stop)
End Function

// Creates a class to throw the error.
public static class ErrorHandler extends System.Windows.Forms.Form
{
    // Inserts the code to create a form with a button.
    // Programs the button to throw an exception when clicked.
    private void button1_Click(Object sender, System.EventArgs e)
    {
        throw new ArgumentException("The parameter was invalid");
    } //button1_Click

    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        // Creates an instance of the methods that will handle 
        // the exception.
        CustomExceptionHandler eh = new CustomExceptionHandler();

        // Adds the event handler to to the event.
        Application.add_ThreadException(
            new ThreadExceptionEventHandler(eh.OnThreadException));

        // Runs the application.
        Application.Run(new ErrorHandler());
    } //main
} //ErrorHandler

// Creates a class to handle the exception event.
static class CustomExceptionHandler
{
    // Handles the exception event.
    public void OnThreadException(Object sender, ThreadExceptionEventArgs t)
    {
        DialogResult result = DialogResult.Cancel;
        try {
            result = this.ShowThreadExceptionDialog(t.get_Exception());
        }
        catch (System.Exception exp) {
            try {
                MessageBox.Show("Fatal Error", "Fatal Error", 
                    MessageBoxButtons.AbortRetryIgnore, 
                    MessageBoxIcon.Stop);
            }
            finally {
                Application.Exit();
            }
        }

        // Exits the program when the user clicks Abort.
        if (result.Equals(DialogResult.Abort)) {
            Application.Exit();
        }
    } //OnThreadException

    // Creates the error message and displays it.
    private DialogResult ShowThreadExceptionDialog(System.Exception e)
    {
        String errorMsg = "An error occurred please contact the"
            + " administrator with the following information:\n\n";
        errorMsg = errorMsg + e.get_Message() + "\n\nStack Trace:\n"
            + e.get_StackTrace();
        return MessageBox.Show(errorMsg, "Application Error",
            MessageBoxButtons.AbortRetryIgnore, MessageBoxIcon.Stop);
    } //ShowThreadExceptionDialog
} //CustomExceptionHandler

public static void main(String[] args)
{
    ErrorHandler.main(args);
}//main

Windows 98, Windows Server 2000 SP4, Windows CE, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows Mobile for Pocket PC, Windows Mobile for Smartphone, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Starter Edition

The Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 is supported on Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows XP SP2, and Windows Server 2003 SP1.

.NET Framework

Supported in: 3.0, 2.0, 1.1, 1.0

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