attribute does not seem to act at all

Question

I am having problems using the [HandleError] attribute on my Controller Actions - it doesn't seem to work at all (i.e. it doesn't matter if the filter is there or not - I get the same results...). When an Exception is thrown, I get the standard red-toned Server Error in '/' Application error page instead of my custom view.

I have found a couple of other threads on the subject here on SO, and in most cases it seems that setting the customErrors option to On in web.config solved the problem. It has not for me, so I need to find a different solution.

My controller action:

[HandleError]
public ActionResult Index()
{
    throw new Exception("oops...");
    return View();
}

In my web.config file

<customErrors mode="On"></customErrors>

I have made sure that the Error.aspx file is in the Shared directory, too. What am I missing?

I am running ASP.NET MVC RC Refresh.

Answer 1

Two useful things to know:

By default, HandleError does nothing when running under the development server. The intention is to show developers more useful information:

public virtual void OnException(ExceptionContext filterContext) {
    if (filterContext == null) {
        throw new ArgumentNullException("filterContext");
    }

    // If custom errors are disabled, we need to let the normal ASP.NET
    // exception handler execute so that the user can see useful
    // debugging information.
    if (filterContext.ExceptionHandled
        || ! filterContext.HttpContext.IsCustomErrorEnabled) {
        return;
    }

Note that this case is precisely what customError is supposed to control. If setting customError="On" does not change this behavior:

1. Check your syntax.
2. Make sure you're editing the Web.config in the project root, not the one in Views.
3. Make sure no code sets HttpContext.IsCustomErrorEnabled.
4. If all else fails, try turning debug off in Web.config

Second, there certain types of errors which HandleError will never handle, notably ASP.NET compilation errors. You don't say which error you're encountering.

Answer 2

You need to specify what page to redirect to as well.

<customErrors mode="On" defaultRedirect="Error.aspx" />

EDIT: Sorry the /Shared/ part should not bet there but you need to tell MVC which page to send the user to with Error.aspx. Then the default route looks for something called Error.aspx in shared.

It was very late! :) I guess that's why someone gave me a minus for the answer! :) At least it works here mate!

Answer 3

I tried the above suggestions but nothing worked for me. What did the trick was removing this line from my actions within my error controller.

Response.StatusCode = (int)HttpStatusCode.NotFound;

I was pulling my hair out since IIS error messages kept intercepting my error handling. And while its not ideal since I want to provide that status code in my response, I found that removing it prevented IIS 7+ from interfering with my error handling.

DaTribe

Answer 4

To get around the 404 problem when the Error.aspx was supposed to be shown, I had to exclude the Error.aspx from the httpHandler section which prevented any views from being accessed directly (around the mvc 2 framework). I did this by putting Error.aspx in an 'Error' subfolder and putting a web.config in this subfolder with a <remove path="*" verb="*" /> in the httpHandlers section. My version of this problem (and its solution) may be specific to MVC 2.

Remember to update the defaultRedirect reference, when you move Error.aspx :)

Answer 5

I got the same issue and it took me two full days to figure it out finally. It turned out to be that I got an error in Site.Master page, and the Error.aspx used this same master page as all other pages. Obviously the Error.aspx couldn't deal with such situation.

My solution is to create a specific Error.master page that is lightweight and does not include any model data. Additionaly I created a static Error.htm in case an error occurs from Error.aspx. The Web.config setting is as follows:

<customErrors mode="On">
    <error statusCode="500" redirect="Error.htm" />
</customErrors>

Hope it helps.

Answer 6

Another reason for this problem may be ,

In Template MVC Application (generated by VS2008 / VS2008 Express) , Error.aspx (generated by VS) uses Master Page.

If Master Page access any ViewData it will throw null reference Exception , then the error.aspx won't be shown.

Use this Simple code as your Error.aspx , it will solve the problem, (along with CustomErrors=On )

<%@ Page Language="C#"  Inherits="System.Web.Mvc.ViewPage<System.Web.Mvc.HandleErrorInfo>" %>
<%= Model.Exception.Message %>