how to catch exception of MVC view?

Question

In controller, try...catch can catch exception. How to catch exception in view? for example, a view may have code like:

<%= Html.Encode(Model.MyID)%>

If Model is null, you will get exception when access the view. where to catch the exception and redirect user to a error page with user-friendly error message?

Answer 1

You can use try/catch in a script block in the view:

@try
{    
  <div>typical Razor view stuff here...</div>
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
  @<script type="text/javascript">
    alert('@ex.Message.Replace("'","\\'").Replace("\r\n","<br/>")');
  </script>
}

Answer 2

Although I support David Liddle's answer ("This logic should be handled inside your Controller and not the View") I can also tell you that you should code defensively in general.

For example instead of

try
{
    Html.Encode(Model.MyID)
}
catch
{
    Response.Redirect("~/Error/500");
}

you should

if (Model == null)
{
    // ...
}
else
{
    //.....
}

(ofcourse, again, don't put view selection logic in a view)