As per the request from one of my followers, I am writing this article which will explain how we can handle errors in an MVC application.

In this article, I am also going to explain how we can log our exception message in our Database.

Below is my Database Table where all the errors will be logged,

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Script of this table is given below.

  1. CREATE TABLE [dbo].[ErrorLogger](
  2. [Error_ID] [int] IDENTITY(1,1) NOT NULL,
  3. [Error_Message] [text] NULL,
  4. [Error_Message_Detail] [text] NULL,
  5. [Controller_Name] [varchar](50) NULL,
  6. [Error_Logged_Date] [datetime] NULL,
  7. CONSTRAINT [PK_ErrorLogger] PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED
  8. (
  9. [Error_ID] ASC
  10. )WITH (PAD_INDEX = OFF,
  11. STATISTICS_NORECOMPUTE = OFF, IGNORE_DUP_KEY = OFF,
  12. ALLOW_ROW_LOCKS = ON, ALLOW_PAGE_LOCKS = ON) ON [PRIMARY]
  13. ) ON [PRIMARY] TEXTIMAGE_ON [PRIMARY]
  15. GO
  17. SET ANSI_PADDING OFF
  18. GO
  20. ALTER TABLE [dbo].[ErrorLogger] ADD CONSTRAINT [DF_ErrorLogger_Error_Logged_Date]
  21. DEFAULT (getdate()) FOR [Error_Logged_Date]
  22. GO

Now, open Visual Studio and go to File -> New Project.

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Now eight click on Models => Add New Item=> ADO.NET Entity Data Model. Follow the process given in the pictures.

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Now, in your Solution, add a new folder named CustomFilter. Here, in this CustomFilter folder, add a new class => ExceptionHandlerAttribute.cs.

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Here, in this class, add the below code.

  1. using System;
  2. using System.Collections.Generic;
  3. using System.Linq;
  4. using System.Web;
  5. using System.Web.Mvc;
  6. using LoggedExceptionInDB.Models;
  8. namespace LoggedExceptionInDB.CustomFilter
  9. {
  10. public class ExceptionHandlerAttribute: FilterAttribute, IExceptionFilter
  11. {
  12. public void OnException(ExceptionContext filterContext)
  13. {
  14. if (!filterContext.ExceptionHandled)
  15. {
  16. ErrorLogger logger = new ErrorLogger()
  17. {
  18. Error_Message = filterContext.Exception.Message,
  19. Error_Message_Detail = filterContext.Exception.StackTrace,
  20. Controller_Name = filterContext.RouteData.Values["controller"].ToString(),
  21. Error_Logged_Date = DateTime.Now
  22. };
  24. RCompanyEntities ctx = new RCompanyEntities();
  25. ctx.ErrorLogger.Add(logger);
  26. ctx.SaveChanges();
  27. filterContext.ExceptionHandled = true;
  28. }
  29. }
  30. }
  31. }

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Now, in App_Start, add a new class as FilterConfig. Add the below code.

  1. using System;
  2. using System.Collections.Generic;
  3. using System.Linq;
  4. using System.Web;
  5. using LoggedExceptionInDB.CustomFilter;
  6. using System.Web.Mvc;
  8. namespace LoggedExceptionInDB.App_Start
  9. {
  10. public class FilterConfig
  11. {
  12. public static void RegisterGlobalFilters(GlobalFilterCollection filters)
  13. {
  14. filters.Add(new ExceptionHandlerAttribute());
  15. }
  16. }
  17. }

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In Global.asax, write the below line of code.

  1. protected void Application_Start()
  2. {
  3. AreaRegistration.RegisterAllAreas();
  4. FilterConfig.RegisterGlobalFilters(GlobalFilters.Filters);
  5. RouteConfig.RegisterRoutes(RouteTable.Routes);
  6. }

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Now, add a new Controller.

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Here, on Company Controller, I am going to add a Method to insert a new record like below.

Here, in the above created method I am using [ExceptionHandler] which will be responsible to log the error in the database.

  1. using System;
  2. using System.Collections.Generic;
  3. using System.Linq;
  4. using System.Web;
  5. using System.Web.Mvc;
  6. using LoggedExceptionInDB.Models;
  7. using LoggedExceptionInDB.CustomFilter;
  9. namespace LoggedExceptionInDB.Controllers
  10. {
  11. public class CompanyController : Controller
  12. {
  13. RCompanyEntities ctx = new RCompanyEntities();
  15. // GET: Company
  16. public ActionResult Index()
  17. {
  18. return View();
  19. }
  21. public ActionResult Create()
  22. {
  23. return View();
  24. }
  26. [ExceptionHandler]
  27. [HttpPost]
  28. public ActionResult Create(Company cmp)
  29. {
  30. int value;
  31. if (cmp.Country != "India")
  32. {
  33. throw new Exception("Add only Indian Company");
  34. }
  35. else if (!int.TryParse(cmp.ZipCode, out value))
  36. {
  37. throw new Exception("Zip Code only in Number");
  38. }
  39. else
  40. {
  41. //Logic To Add your Record.
  43. }
  44. return View(cmp);
  45. }
  46. }
  47. }

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  1. @model LoggedExceptionInDB.Models.Company
  3. @{
  4. ViewBag.Title = "Create";
  5. }
  7. <h2>Create</h2>
  9. @using (Html.BeginForm())
  10. {
  11. @Html.AntiForgeryToken()
  13. <div class="form-horizontal">
  14. <h4>Company</h4>
  15. <hr />
  16. @Html.ValidationSummary(true, "", new { @class = "text-danger" })
  17. <div class="form-group">
  18. @Html.LabelFor(model => model.Name, htmlAttributes: new { @class = "control-label col-md-2" })
  19. <div class="col-md-10">
  20. @Html.EditorFor(model => model.Name, new { htmlAttributes = new { @class = "form-control" } })
  21. @Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Name, "", new { @class = "text-danger" })
  22. </div>
  23. </div>
  25. <div class="form-group">
  26. @Html.LabelFor(model => model.City, htmlAttributes: new { @class = "control-label col-md-2" })
  27. <div class="col-md-10">
  28. @Html.EditorFor(model => model.City, new { htmlAttributes = new { @class = "form-control" } })
  29. @Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.City, "", new { @class = "text-danger" })
  30. </div>
  31. </div>
  33. <div class="form-group">
  34. @Html.LabelFor(model => model.Country, htmlAttributes: new { @class = "control-label col-md-2" })
  35. <div class="col-md-10">
  36. @Html.EditorFor(model => model.Country, new { htmlAttributes = new { @class = "form-control" } })
  37. @Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Country, "", new { @class = "text-danger" })
  38. </div>
  39. </div>
  41. <div class="form-group">
  42. @Html.LabelFor(model => model.ZipCode, htmlAttributes: new { @class = "control-label col-md-2" })
  43. <div class="col-md-10">
  44. @Html.EditorFor(model => model.ZipCode, new { htmlAttributes = new { @class = "form-control" } })
  45. @Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.ZipCode, "", new { @class = "text-danger" })
  46. </div>
  47. </div>
  49. <div class="form-group">
  50. <div class="col-md-offset-2 col-md-10">
  51. <input type="submit" value="Add New Company" class="btn btn-default" />
  52. </div>
  53. </div>
  54. </div>
  55. }
  57. <div>
  58. @Html.ActionLink("Back to List", "Index")
  59. </div>

Inside Models folder, I have added a class named Company.

  1. using System;
  2. using System.Collections.Generic;
  3. using System.Linq;
  4. using System.Web;
  6. namespace LoggedExceptionInDB.Models
  7. {
  8. public class Company
  9. {
  10. public string Name { get; set; }
  11. public string City { get; set; }
  12. public string Country { get; set; }
  13. public string ZipCode { get; set; }
  14. }
  15. }

Now, run your application.

If I enter any string value inside ZipCode, then an exception is thrown.

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Now, check your database table.

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