How to continue running code after an exception is thrown?

Question

I would like to know if there is a way to let the program continue after an exception is thrown. For example:

Try
  line 1
  line 2
  line 3
  line 4 ' (here the exception is thrown and jumps to the catch)
  line 5 ' <-- I would like the program to continue its execution, logging the error
  line 6  

Catch ex as Exception
   log(ex.tostring)
End Try

Answer 1

If you're doing something that you know how to recover from or that isn't vital, you're supposed to wrap just that line in the try/catch with a specific catch. e.g.

Try 
  line 1
  line 2
  line 3
  Try
     line 4 ' (here the exception is throw and jumps to the catch)
  Catch iox as IOException ' or whatever type is being thrown
     'log it
  End Try
  line 5  ' <-- I would like the program to continue its execution after logging the error
  line 6  

Catch ex as Exception
   log(ex.tostring)
End Try

Answer 2

Use 'Continue For'

Not good practice everywhere, but useful in some circumstances, e.g. find a file while handling denied access to certain directories:

    Dim dir As New DirectoryInfo("C:\")
    Dim strSearch As String = ("boot.ini")

    For Each SubDir As DirectoryInfo In dir.GetDirectories
        Try
            For Each File As FileInfo In SubDir.GetFiles
                Console.WriteLine("Sub Directory: {0}", SubDir.Name)
                If File.Name = strSearch Then
                    Console.Write(File.FullName)
                End If
            Next
        Catch ex As Exception
            Console.WriteLine(ex.Message)
            Continue For
        End Try
    Next

Answer 3

Although On Error Resume Next is still available in VB.NET, it is mutually exclusive to the preferred method of structured exception handling.

Instead, I would recommend the use of the Finally clause of a Try..Catch..Finally block to ensure Line 5 and Line 6 get executed even if Line 4 (or any preceding Line) throws.

Try
  line 1
  line 2
  line 3
  line 4
Catch ex as Exception
   log(ex.tostring)
Finally
  line 5
  line 6  
End Try

Answer 4

try 
  line 1
catch ex as exception
   log(ex.tostring)
end try
try
  line 2
catch ex as exception
   log(ex.tostring)
end try
try
  line 3
catch ex as exception
   log(ex.tostring)
end try
try
  line 4 ' (here the exception is throw and jumps to the catch)
catch ex as exception
   log(ex.tostring)
end try
try
  line 5 ' <-- I would like the program to continue its execution after logging the error
catch ex as exception
   log(ex.tostring)
end try
try
  line 6  
catch ex as exception
end try