[boost] problematic exceptions

From: Yitzhak Sapir (yitzhaks_at_[hidden])
Date: 2002-08-14 07:06:28

Hi.  If any of you could please provide information about the problems associated with catch(...), I'd be thankful.  I tried to google for it but there are so many discussions about catch(...) on the newsgroups that it's hard to see what the issue is all about.  Based on what I could find, I suppose you all mean that if an hardware exception is received it throws a C++ like ... exception.  This could be caught by catch(...) and the program could continue on even if the exception was of a type that shouldn't allow the program to continue normally (an access violation maybe?).  Anyway I'd be very interested in more information on the subject.  Particularly:

> -----Original Message-----
> Original Topic:  Attempting resolutionofThreads&ExceptionsIssue
> From: David Abrahams [mailto:dave_at_[hidden]]
> From: "Hillel Y. Sims" <hsims_at_[hidden]>
> >  (google
> > links provided upon request for anyone who did not catch the prior
> > discussions in comp.lang.c++.moderated)

could you provide them please in private mail?

> > **However, we have seen a number of real-world examples of 
> how catch(...)
> is
> > already completely unsafe on a variety of platforms anyhow (the most
> > important one being Windows, by virtue of its wide-ranging scope).**
> 
> This is the only real problem I have with your argument: you 
> persistently
> overstate your case. catch(...) is far from "completely 
> unsafe" on Windows,
> especially if you use my _set_se_translator workaround. 
> Whether it's unsafe
> on other platforms depends on the platform, your needs, and what
> workarounds are available.

How do I use the _set_se_translator workaround?  I tried searching for it, but couldn't find anything.

Thanks