gcc/libstdc++-v3/docs/html/19_diagnostics/howto.html

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   <meta name="AUTHOR" content="pme@gcc.gnu.org (Phil Edwards)" />
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   <meta name="DESCRIPTION" content="HOWTO for the libstdc++ chapter 19." />
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   <title>libstdc++-v3 HOWTO:  Chapter 19</title>
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<h1 class="centered"><a name="top">Chapter 19:  Diagnostics</a></h1>

<p>Chapter 19 deals with program diagnostics, such as exceptions
   and assertions.  You know, all the things we wish weren't even
   necessary at all.
</p>


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<h1>Contents</h1>
<ul>
   <li><a href="#1">Adding data to exceptions</a></li>
   <li><a href="#2">Exception class hierarchy diagram</a></li>
   <li><a href="#3">Concept checkers -- <strong>new and improved!</strong></a></li>
   <li><a href="#4">Verbose <code>terminate</code></a></li>
</ul>

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<h2><a name="1">Adding data to exceptions</a></h2>
   <p>The standard exception classes carry with them a single string as
      data (usually describing what went wrong or where the 'throw' took
      place).  It's good to remember that you can add your own data to
      these exceptions when extending the hierarchy:
   </p>
   <pre>
   struct My_Exception : public std::runtime_error
   {
     public:
       My_Exception (const string&amp; whatarg)
           : std::runtime_error(whatarg), e(errno), id(GetDataBaseID()) { }
       int  errno_at_time_of_throw() const { return e; }
       DBID id_of_thing_that_threw() const { return id; }
     protected:
       int    e;
       DBID   id;     // some user-defined type
   };
   </pre>
   <p>Return <a href="#top">to top of page</a> or
      <a href="../faq/index.html">to the FAQ</a>.
   </p>

<hr />
<h2><a name="2">Exception class hierarchy diagram</a></h2>
   <p>At one point we were going to make up a PDF of the exceptions
      hierarchy, akin to the one done for the I/O class hierarchy.
      Time was our enemy.  Since then we've moved to Doxygen, which has
      the useful property of not sucking.  Specifically, when the source
      code is changed, the diagrams are automatically brought up to date.
      For the old way, we had to update the diagrams separately.
   </p>
   <p>There are several links to the Doxygen-generated pages from
      <a href="../documentation.html">here</a>.
   </p>
   <p>Return <a href="#top">to top of page</a> or
      <a href="../faq/index.html">to the FAQ</a>.
   </p>

<hr />
<h2><a name="3">Concept checkers -- <strong>new and improved!</strong></a></h2>
   <p>Better taste!  Less fat!  Literally!</p>
   <p>In 1999, SGI added <em>concept checkers</em> to their implementation
      of the STL:  code which checked the template parameters of
      instantiated pieces of the STL, in order to insure that the parameters
      being used met the requirements of the standard.  For example,
      the Standard requires that types passed as template parameters to
      <code>vector</code> be &quot;Assignable&quot; (which means what you think
      it means).  The checking was done during compilation, and none of
      the code was executed at runtime.
   </p>
   <p>Unfortunately, the size of the compiler files grew significantly
      as a result.  The checking code itself was cumbersome.  And bugs
      were found in it on more than one occasion.
   </p>
   <p>The primary author of the checking code, Jeremy Siek, had already
      started work on a replacement implementation.  The new code has been
      formally reviewed and accepted into
      <a href="http://www.boost.org/libs/concept_check/concept_check.htm">the
      Boost libraries</a>, and we are pleased to incorporate it into the
      GNU C++ library.
   </p>
   <p>The new version imposes a much smaller space overhead on the generated
      object file.  The checks are also cleaner and easier to read and
      understand.
   </p>
   <p>For GCC 3.0 and 3.1 they are off by default.  They can be enabled at
      configure time with
      <a href="../configopts.html"><code>--enable-concept-checks</code></a>.
      For 3.1 you can instead #define _GLIBCPP_CONCEPT_CHECKS to enable them
      on a per-translation-unit basis.
   </p>
   <p>Return <a href="#top">to top of page</a> or
      <a href="../faq/index.html">to the FAQ</a>.
   </p>

<hr />
<h2><a name="4">Verbose <code>terminate</code></a></h2>
   <p>If you are having difficulty with uncaught exceptions and want a
      little bit of help debugging the causes of the core dumps, you can
      make use of a GNU extension in GCC 3.1 and later:
   </p>
   <pre>
   #include &lt;exception&gt;

   int main()
   {
       std::set_terminate (__gnu_cxx::__verbose_terminate_handler);
       ...
       throw <em>anything</em>;
   }</pre>
   <p>The <code> __verbose_terminate_handler </code> function obtains the name
      of the current exception, attempts to demangle it, and prints it to
      stderr.  If the exception is derived from <code> std::exception </code>
      then the output from <code>what()</code> will be included.
   </p>
   <p>Any replacement termination function is required to kill the program
      without returning; this one calls abort.
   </p>
   <p>For example:
   </p>
   <pre>
   #include &lt;exception&gt;
   #include &lt;stdexcept&gt;

   struct BLARGH : std::runtime_error
   {
       BLARGH (const string&amp; whatarg)
           : std::runtime_error(whatarg) { }
   };

   int main (int argc)
   {
       std::set_terminate (__gnu_cxx::__verbose_terminate_handler);
       if (argc &gt; 5)
           throw BLARGH(&quot;argc is greater than 5!&quot;);
       else
           throw argc;
   }</pre>
   <p>In GCC 3.1 and later, this gives
   </p>
   <pre>
   % ./a.out
   terminate called after throwing a `int'
   Aborted
   % ./a.out f f f f f f f f f f f
   terminate called after throwing a `BLARGH'
   what(): argc is greater than 5!
   Aborted
   %</pre>
   <p>The 'Aborted' line comes from the call to abort(), of course.
   </p>
   <p>Return <a href="#top">to top of page</a> or
      <a href="../faq/index.html">to the FAQ</a>.
   </p>


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