pretty printing exceptions in C#

Question

Is there any API that allows to prints all the exception-related info (stack trace, inner etc...)? Just like when the exception is thrown - all the data is printed to the standard output - is there any dedicated method that does it all?

thanks

You want to physically print it out, like on paper? Or do you want to log it somewhere with the detail level you see in standard output? — curtisk, Dec 15 '10 at 13:54
@curtisk The day I want to print out an exception's stack trace on paper is the day I quit programming — Archimaredes, May 31 '16 at 16:14
Related: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5928976/what-is-the-proper-way-to-display-the-full-innerexception — nawfal, Aug 27 '18 at 15:41

score 49 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 15 '10 at 13:53

49

Console.WriteLine(exception.ToString());

answered Dec 15 '10 at 13:53

jgauffin

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`Console.WriteLine("Error: {0}", ex.ToString());` not printing the exception – Moeez May 19 '20 at 05:33
How pretty the result will be?! – Mehdi Dehghani Jul 26 '20 at 15:34
It will be very pretty! – jgauffin Jul 27 '20 at 07:20
Console.WriteLine() will auto _ToString()_ on it, and it is ugly still, very hard to see. Sometimes _ex.Message_ is good enough without blowing out too much details – A. Go Dec 17 '20 at 09:10

score 7 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 15 '10 at 13:53

7

the ToString method of Exception does exactly that.

answered Dec 15 '10 at 13:53

Klaus Byskov Pedersen

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Are there any recommendations how to format things when overriding ToString, e.g. on e.g. a DisposersFailedException which may contain multiple exceptions if multiple exceptions were thrown in the course of disposing an object? – supercat Dec 15 '10 at 21:52

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 15 '10 at 13:53

3

Exception.ToString() ?

answered Dec 15 '10 at 13:53

Joe

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score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Jan 07 '19 at 06:53

For printing exceptions in C#, you can use Debug.WriteLine():

    try
    {
        reader = cmd.ExecuteReader();
    }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {
        Debug.WriteLine("<<< catch : "+ ex.ToString());
    }

Also, you can use this for other exceptions, for example with MySqlException:

   try
    {
        reader = cmd.ExecuteReader();
    }
    catch (MySqlException ex)
    {
        Debug.WriteLine("<<< catch : "+ ex.ToString());            
    }

But, if you need printing a Exception's Message, you have to use Message:

    try
    {
        reader = cmd.ExecuteReader();
    }
    catch (MySqlException ex)
    {
        Debug.WriteLine("<<< catch : "+ ex.Message);            
    }

pretty printing exceptions in C#

4 Answers4