Ignore Exception in C#

Question

Is there a better way to ignore an exception in C# than putting it up in a try catch block and doing nothing in catch? I find this syntax to be cumbersome. For a codeblock, can't I simply "tag" it in such a way so as runtime knows which exceptions to neglect?

Answer 1

I don't think there is a trick to avoid exception but you can use the following code snippet:

public void IgnoreExceptions(Action act) {    try    {       act.Invoke();    }    catch { } } 

Using the method looks like:

IgnoreExceptions(() => foo()); 

Another solution is to use AOP (Aspect Oriented Programming) - there's a tool called PostSharp which enables you to create an attribute that would catch all exceptions in specific assembly/class/method, which is closer to what you're looking for.

Answer 2

You can do it with AOP. Postsharp for example will allow you to easily implement such an attribute which will skip particular exceptions in methods to which you applied such an attribute. Without AOP I do not see any good way to do that (if we assume that there is a good way to do such things ;) ).

With Postsharp you will be able to decorate your methods in this way:

[IgnoreExceptions(typeof(NullReferenceException), typeof(StackOverflowException))] void MyMethod() { ... }