CodeGarden 09 Open Space Minutes -Space 2: Exception Handling in Umbraco

Those of you lucky enough to go to CodeGarden '09 you'll know the format of the Open Space already but for those of you who didn't, Open Space is the time that the attendees are invited to talk about something they're interested in so I proposed two:

1. Space 1: Selling Umbraco
2. Space 2: Exception handing and error reporting in Umbraco (and other .net websites/applications)

I'll write up the Selling Umbraco talk shortly but I wanted to put a few resources together for it first so decided to write this one up first.

First of all we had a brief chat about how everyone handles errors in their applications and the various error handling options available. We discussed three options:

1. Error Handler v2.0
2. ELMAH
3. Exceptioneer

I've only had a brief look at ELMAH and found at the time it was a little too much in the way of RSS feeds etc and I just want an email alert, that said, Lee Kelleher has written a good article about integrating ELMAH with Umbraco here and I've written another article about integrating Error Handler v2.0 into Umbraco here so I'll overview how to integrate Exceptioneer into Umbraco here instead.

Wiring up Exceptioneer with your site couldn't be easier, the best bit is that they do all the hard work for you with their "Integrate" section of the site but to give you a quick snapshot of how easy it is, first of all, download the dll and pop it into your bin folder. Then edit your web.config:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<configuration> 
    <configSections> 
        <section name="Exceptioneer" type="Exceptioneer.WebClient.ClientModuleConfiguration, Exceptioneer.WebClient" requirePermission="true" /> 
    </configSections>
    
    <!-- This is where you get to specify your API Key and Application Name --> 
    <Exceptioneer ApiKey="XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX" ApplicationName="YOUR APPLICATION NAME" /> 
    
    <!-- If you're using IIS 6.0 or Visual Studio's built in web server you'll need to add this bit --> 
    <system.web> 
        <httpModules> 
            <add name="Exceptioneer" type="Exceptioneer.WebClient.ClientModule, Exceptioneer.WebClient" /> 
        </httpModules> 
        <!-- If you want to use the JavaScript handling then add the Http Handler as so --> 
        <httpHandlers> 
            <add path="ExceptioneerJavaScript.axd" verb="GET,POST" type="Exceptioneer.WebClient.JavaScriptHandler, Exceptioneer.WebClient" /> 
        </httpHandlers> 
    </system.web> 
    
    <!-- If you're using IIS 7.0 you'll need to add this bit too --> 
    <system.webServer> 
        <validation validateIntegratedModeConfiguration="false"/> 
        <modules> 
            <add name="Exceptioneer" preCondition="managedHandler" type="Exceptioneer.WebClient.ClientModule, Exceptioneer.WebClient" /> 
        </modules> 
        <handlers> 
            <add name="ExceptioneerJavaScript" path="ExceptioneerJavaScript.axd" verb="GET,POST" type="Exceptioneer.WebClient.JavaScriptHandler, Exceptioneer.WebClient" /> 
        </handlers> 
    </system.webServer>
</configuration>

Now, one of the coolest things about Exceptioneer is that you can now also debug JavaScript errors! To debug the javascript errors, just include this script in your templates:

<script src="/ExceptioneerJavaScript.axd?Reporter=true" type="text/javascript"></script>

That's it, you're done. Easy eh? If you want to know more about what it can do, Phil's put together this "lovely" video overview. Exceptioneer have done a great comparison of the main features of comparison Exceptioneer and ELMAH here, the downside though is Exceptioneer is still in beta.

Remember, regardless of how good you think your code is, you should always integrate some form of error handling in your website even if it is just an email to alert you to the fact.