In my code I'm deserialising some XML using the SWXMLHash library. Its .value() method has the throws keyword in its declaration, as do any custom deserialise functions.
I have the following line of code:
let myValue : UInt8 = try? xml["Root"]["ValueNode"].value()
Since the library doesn't include a deserialiser for UInt8, I've defined my own:
extension UInt8: XMLElementDeserializable {
public static func deserialize(_ element: XMLElement) throws -> UInt8 {
return UInt8(element.text)!
}
}
This works when the node has a value. However, when the node doesn't exist or is nil, an error occurs on the following line:
return UInt8(element.text)! // Fatal error: Unexpectedly found nil while unwrapping an Optional value
This is supposed to happen, obviously. What I don't understand is why this error is not being caught by my try? statement and returning nil instead of throwing that error.
Can anyone help?
Not all errors can be caught in Swift. If you mark a function using the throws keyword it indicates that the function might throw a recoverable error. However, your custom implementation doesn't actually throw any errors. Only errors thrown from functions marked with the throws keyword and thrown using the code throw Error can be caught by a do-catch block.
try? is a way to convert a throwable function's return value to an optional. If the function would throw an error, the value after the try? will be nil, otherwise it will be an optional value.
When you use the !, you specifically tell the compiler that you know what you are doing and if the operation on which you used the ! fails, your app shouldn't fail gracefully.
You'll need to change your deserialize method to handle the optional unwrapping gracefully or throw and error.
extension UInt8: XMLElementDeserializable {
public static func deserialize(_ element: XMLElement) throws -> UInt8 {
if let val = UInt8(element.text) {
return val
} else {
throw NSError(domain: "Couldn't deserialize value to UInt8", code: 1)
}
}
}
return UInt8(element.text)!
There's no try in this line. Therefore, no errors are going to be thrown here. If UInt8 can't convert the string it's given, it just returns nil. And then, of course, your ! turns that nil into a crash.
Instead of that, do something like this instead:
guard let retVal = UInt8(element.text) else { throw SomeError }
return retVal
In general: When there's a way to do something using !, and another way to do the same thing without using !, go for the second one unless you've got a really good reason.
Related
I looked for this article, but it does not cover my case.
If i understand correct, we can use try either in do..catch.. statement or in a function that can throw.
But sometimes i see something like:
let jsonData = try jsonEncoder.encode(employee1)
Where jsonData is not optional. What is meaning of this? What if try sttement fail? Why value is not optional? Can someone explain? Thanks.
In addition to the cases you mentioned, you can call try at
top-level code. Here is a simple self-contained example:
// main.swift:
enum MyError : Error {
case failed
}
func foo() throws -> Int {
throw MyError.failed
}
defer { print("Good bye.") }
let x = try foo()
print(x)
You can compile and run this as a Xcode "Command Line Project"
or directly from the command line:
$ swiftc main.swift
$ ./main
Good bye.
Fatal error: Error raised at top level: main.MyError.failed: file /BuildRoot/Library/Caches/com.apple.xbs/Sources/swiftlang/swiftlang-900.0.74.1/src/swift/stdlib/public/core/ErrorType.swift, line 187
Illegal instruction: 4
The failed try in the top-level code causes the program to
terminate with an error message. Deferred statement (if present) will be executed however.
This is slightly different from using a forced try! statement,
which causes the program to abort as well, but immediately, without executing deferred statements. (This can be relevant if deferred
statements are used to clean-up resources, e.g. remove temporary files).
The error message originates from ErrorType.swift, line 187:
/// Invoked by the compiler when code at top level throws an uncaught error.
#_inlineable // FIXME(sil-serialize-all)
#_silgen_name("swift_errorInMain")
public func _errorInMain(_ error: Error) {
fatalError("Error raised at top level: \(String(reflecting: error))")
}
(also observed in Non Exhaustive List When Handling Errors Inside a Class Function in Swift).
Apparently the top-level code behaves as if embedded in a
do-catch block:
do {
func foo() throws -> Int {
throw NSError(domain: "foo", code: 0, userInfo: nil)
}
defer { print("Good bye.") }
let x = try foo()
} catch {
fatalError("Error raised at top level: \(String(reflecting: error))")
}
A function call marked with try like the one you posted, as you stated, must be located inside a function marked with the keyword throws or a do/catch statement or it will cause a compile error.
On a side note if you want to call a throwing function outside a do/catch or another throwing function you can use try? before your function call to get an optional result that will be nil if something is thrown. There is also the try! variant that assumes nothing will be thrown returning a non-optional result, but if something is thrown the app will crash.
Is there a difference between something like
if let error = error {
print(error.localizedDescription)
}
and just checking if it is = nil
if error != nil {
print(error.localizedDescription)
}
if I want to check if error has a value? Think of firebase's creating user function.
Yes.
The if let statement allows you to bind the value of error to a variable if it is non-nil and use it in the block. If maybeError is of type Error?, when you do:
if let error = maybeError {
/* block contents */
}
the type of error will be Error within the block - ie: It won't be an optional anymore. If you just do a nil-check using if, error will still be of type Error? within the block. So the code that would actually be equivalent to your first snippet would be:
if error != nil {
print(error!.localizedDescription)
}
(Your second snippet, as it is, won't compile, as you're trying to get the localizedDescription variable of an Error? object, which has no such property)
By the way, in case you haven't seen it before, the !. thing is the unwrap operator. It runs the method on the object if the object is non-nil, but it crashes in case the object is nil. In this case, you generally know it won't crash. (But this might not actually be safe depending on where and how you use it - check #rmaddy's comment)
In the first, error is now a non-optional type, so you can use .. This is also idiomatic -- it more clearly shows what you are trying to do.
In the second, you would need to use ?. to look at error's properties (your code won't compile because you haven't done that).
I'm writing a utility function which takes a parameter and always returns a valid non-nil result (notice the returned value is not optional because the possible parameters are all actually hardcoded and valid, so I know the function cannot fail):
func myFunction(param: String) -> NonTrivialObject {...}
Now, during development I want to experiment with possible parameters and, should I make a mistake, I want the function to throw an exception and just crash. I don't want or need to throw Swift errors or catch them, I want to hard-crash and fix the parameter immediately. In Objective C I would just use NSParameterAssert() or do something along these lines:
guard let validatedParam = param where param != nil else {
NSException(...).raise()
return nil
}
// do the actual work and return a non-optional result
However, I cannot return nil because the result is not an optional. Is there a way to somehow tell the compiler that it doesn't need to bother returning anything from the function after an exception is thrown? Or am I doomed to litter my code with unwrapping optionals or try! statements or to return a dummy object just to make the compiler pleased?
You can use Swift assert(_:_file:line:) function as follows
assert(some condition, "Message to display if condition is false (optional)" )
If the condition is verified the app will continue running, otherwise it will terminate
An optional may contain nil, but Swift syntax forces you to safely deal with it using the ? syntax to indicate to the compiler you understand the behavior and will handle it safely.
You can define the function to be a throwing function:
func foo(param: String) throws -> NonTrivialObject {
guard param != nil else {
throw SomeErrorEnum.NilFound
}
doStuff(...)
}
The error enum needs to conform to the ErrorType protocol. The function call is now able to catch errors like this:
do {
try foo(param)
} catch SomeErrorEnum.NilFound {
print("Found nil")
}
In this way the function returns a non-optional but can also throw errors. For more information see: https://developer.apple.com/library/prerelease/ios/documentation/Swift/Conceptual/Swift_Programming_Language/ErrorHandling.html
In Swift 2.0, Apple introduced a new way to handle errors (do-try-catch).
And few days ago in Beta 6 an even newer keyword was introduced (try?).
Also, knew that I can use try!.
What's the difference between the 3 keywords, and when to use each?
Updated for Swift 5.1
Assume the following throwing function:
enum ThrowableError: Error {
case badError(howBad: Int)
}
func doSomething(everythingIsFine: Bool = false) throws -> String {
if everythingIsFine {
return "Everything is ok"
} else {
throw ThrowableError.badError(howBad: 4)
}
}
try
You have 2 options when you try calling a function that may throw.
You can take responsibility of handling errors by surrounding your call within a do-catch block:
do {
let result = try doSomething()
}
catch ThrowableError.badError(let howBad) {
// Here you know about the error
// Feel free to handle or to re-throw
// 1. Handle
print("Bad Error (How Bad Level: \(howBad)")
// 2. Re-throw
throw ThrowableError.badError(howBad: howBad)
}
Or just try calling the function, and pass the error along to the next caller in the call chain:
func doSomeOtherThing() throws -> Void {
// Not within a do-catch block.
// Any errors will be re-thrown to callers.
let result = try doSomething()
}
try!
What happens when you try to access an implicitly unwrapped optional with a nil inside it? Yes, true, the app will CRASH!
Same goes with try! it basically ignores the error chain, and declares a “do or die” situation. If the called function didn’t throw any errors, everything goes fine. But if it failed and threw an error, your application will simply crash.
let result = try! doSomething() // if an error was thrown, CRASH!
try?
A new keyword that was introduced in Xcode 7 beta 6. It returns an optional that unwraps successful values, and catches error by returning nil.
if let result = try? doSomething() {
// doSomething succeeded, and result is unwrapped.
} else {
// Ouch, doSomething() threw an error.
}
Or we can use guard:
guard let result = try? doSomething() else {
// Ouch, doSomething() threw an error.
}
// doSomething succeeded, and result is unwrapped.
One final note here, by using try? note that you’re discarding the error that took place, as it’s translated to a nil.
Use try? when you’re focusing more on successes and failure, not on why things failed.
Using Coalescing Operator ??
You can use the coalescing operator ?? with try? to provide a default value incase of failure:
let result = (try? doSomething()) ?? "Default Value"
print(result) // Default Value
I do not know how do I handle runtime error in swift. I need to check for a parsing error and do something about it. Can anyone help me please?
I have code something like this:
var:SomeObject = parse("some string")
I need to handle any generic error that occurs in runtime.
Thanks!
If the function is yours, then in case of a failure, you can make that function return a nil value.
That way your line of code
var anObj:SomeObject = parse("some string")
would become something like this
var:SomeObject? = parse("some string")
Notice the ? sign. It means that the value in it is Optional. In simple words, it could be some actual value, or it could be nil.
After this function, you should perform a check like
If anObj != nil
{
//do something
}
else
{
//the parse didn't go right, handle the erorr here.
}
Swift 2 adds additional safety to your error checking. You use the throws keyword to specify which functions and methods could throw an error. Then you have the do, try, and catch keywords for when you call something that could throw:
// 1
enum ParseError: ErrorType {
case InvalidValue
}
// 2
func parseWithError(value:String) throws {
if value.count > 0 {
// yeaaa!
} else {
// 3
throw ParseError.InvalidValue
}
}
func parse(value:String) {
// 4
do {
try parseWithError(value)
} catch {
print("Could not parse! :[")
return
}
}
There are a few things to highlight here:
To create an error to throw, simply create an enum that derives from ErrorType.
You need to use the throws keyword to mark any function that can throw an error.
This throws an error, which will be caught in section 4.
Instead of try blocks, which might be familiar from other languages, you wrap any code that can throw an error in a do block. Then, you add the try keyword to each function call that could throw an error.
For more read here or this is the official documentation of Error Handling