+{-# LANGUAGE CPP, NoImplicitPrelude, ExistentialQuantification #-}
+
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- |
-- Module : Control.Exception
-- Copyright : (c) The University of Glasgow 2001
-- License : BSD-style (see the file libraries/base/LICENSE)
---
+--
-- Maintainer : libraries@haskell.org
-- Stability : experimental
--- Portability : non-portable
+-- Portability : non-portable (extended exceptions)
--
-- This module provides support for raising and catching both built-in
-- and user-defined exceptions.
--
+-- In addition to exceptions thrown by 'IO' operations, exceptions may
+-- be thrown by pure code (imprecise exceptions) or by external events
+-- (asynchronous exceptions), but may only be caught in the 'IO' monad.
+-- For more details, see:
+--
+-- * /A semantics for imprecise exceptions/, by Simon Peyton Jones,
+-- Alastair Reid, Tony Hoare, Simon Marlow, Fergus Henderson,
+-- in /PLDI'99/.
+--
+-- * /Asynchronous exceptions in Haskell/, by Simon Marlow, Simon Peyton
+-- Jones, Andy Moran and John Reppy, in /PLDI'01/.
+--
+-- * /An Extensible Dynamically-Typed Hierarchy of Exceptions/,
+-- by Simon Marlow, in /Haskell '06/.
+--
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
module Control.Exception (
- -- * The Exception type
- Exception(..), -- instance Eq, Ord, Show, Typeable
- IOException, -- instance Eq, Ord, Show, Typeable
- ArithException(..), -- instance Eq, Ord, Show, Typeable
- ArrayException(..), -- instance Eq, Ord, Show, Typeable
- AsyncException(..), -- instance Eq, Ord, Show, Typeable
+ -- * The Exception type
+#ifdef __HUGS__
+ SomeException,
+#else
+ SomeException(..),
+#endif
+ Exception(..), -- class
+ IOException, -- instance Eq, Ord, Show, Typeable, Exception
+ ArithException(..), -- instance Eq, Ord, Show, Typeable, Exception
+ ArrayException(..), -- instance Eq, Ord, Show, Typeable, Exception
+ AssertionFailed(..),
+ AsyncException(..), -- instance Eq, Ord, Show, Typeable, Exception
+
+#if __GLASGOW_HASKELL__ || __HUGS__
+ NonTermination(..),
+ NestedAtomically(..),
+#endif
+#ifdef __NHC__
+ System.ExitCode(), -- instance Exception
+#endif
- -- * Throwing exceptions
- throw, -- :: Exception -> a
- ioError, -- :: Exception -> IO a
- throwTo, -- :: ThreadId -> Exception -> a
+ BlockedIndefinitelyOnMVar(..),
+ BlockedIndefinitelyOnSTM(..),
+ Deadlock(..),
+ NoMethodError(..),
+ PatternMatchFail(..),
+ RecConError(..),
+ RecSelError(..),
+ RecUpdError(..),
+ ErrorCall(..),
+
+ -- * Throwing exceptions
+ throw,
+ throwIO,
+ ioError,
+#ifdef __GLASGOW_HASKELL__
+ throwTo,
+#endif
- -- * Catching Exceptions
+ -- * Catching Exceptions
- -- |There are several functions for catching and examining
- -- exceptions; all of them may only be used from within the
- -- 'IO' monad.
+ -- $catching
- -- ** The @catch@ functions
- catch, -- :: IO a -> (Exception -> IO a) -> IO a
- catchJust, -- :: (Exception -> Maybe b) -> IO a -> (b -> IO a) -> IO a
+ -- ** Catching all exceptions
- -- ** The @handle@ functions
- handle, -- :: (Exception -> IO a) -> IO a -> IO a
- handleJust,-- :: (Exception -> Maybe b) -> (b -> IO a) -> IO a -> IO a
+ -- $catchall
- -- ** The @try@ functions
- try, -- :: IO a -> IO (Either Exception a)
- tryJust, -- :: (Exception -> Maybe b) -> a -> IO (Either b a)
+ -- ** The @catch@ functions
+ catch,
+ catches, Handler(..),
+ catchJust,
- -- ** The @evaluate@ function
- evaluate, -- :: a -> IO a
+ -- ** The @handle@ functions
+ handle,
+ handleJust,
- -- ** Exception predicates
-
- -- $preds
+ -- ** The @try@ functions
+ try,
+ tryJust,
- ioErrors, -- :: Exception -> Maybe IOError
- arithExceptions, -- :: Exception -> Maybe ArithException
- errorCalls, -- :: Exception -> Maybe String
- dynExceptions, -- :: Exception -> Maybe Dynamic
- assertions, -- :: Exception -> Maybe String
- asyncExceptions, -- :: Exception -> Maybe AsyncException
- userErrors, -- :: Exception -> Maybe String
+ -- ** The @evaluate@ function
+ evaluate,
- -- * Dynamic exceptions
+ -- ** The @mapException@ function
+ mapException,
- -- $dynamic
- throwDyn, -- :: Typeable ex => ex -> b
- throwDynTo, -- :: Typeable ex => ThreadId -> ex -> b
- catchDyn, -- :: Typeable ex => IO a -> (ex -> IO a) -> IO a
-
- -- * Asynchronous Exceptions
+ -- * Asynchronous Exceptions
- -- $async
+ -- $async
- -- ** Asynchronous exception control
+ -- ** Asynchronous exception control
+
+ -- |The following functions allow a thread to control delivery of
+ -- asynchronous exceptions during a critical region.
+
+ mask,
+#ifndef __NHC__
+ mask_,
+ uninterruptibleMask,
+ uninterruptibleMask_,
+ MaskingState(..),
+ getMaskingState,
+ allowInterrupt,
+#endif
- -- |The following two functions allow a thread to control delivery of
- -- asynchronous exceptions during a critical region.
+ -- ** (deprecated) Asynchronous exception control
- block, -- :: IO a -> IO a
- unblock, -- :: IO a -> IO a
+ block,
+ unblock,
+ blocked,
- -- *** Applying @block@ to an exception handler
+ -- *** Applying @mask@ to an exception handler
- -- $block_handler
+ -- $block_handler
- -- *** Interruptible operations
+ -- *** Interruptible operations
- -- $interruptible
+ -- $interruptible
- -- * Assertions
+ -- * Assertions
- assert, -- :: Bool -> a -> a
+ assert,
- -- * Utilities
+ -- * Utilities
- bracket, -- :: IO a -> (a -> IO b) -> (a -> IO c) -> IO ()
- bracket_, -- :: IO a -> IO b -> IO c -> IO ()
+ bracket,
+ bracket_,
+ bracketOnError,
- finally, -- :: IO a -> IO b -> IO b
+ finally,
+ onException,
) where
+import Control.Exception.Base
+
#ifdef __GLASGOW_HASKELL__
-import Prelude hiding (catch)
-import System.IO.Error
-import GHC.Base ( assert )
-import GHC.Exception hiding (try, catch, bracket, bracket_)
-import GHC.Conc ( throwTo, ThreadId )
-import GHC.IOBase ( IO(..) )
+import GHC.Base
+import GHC.IO (unsafeUnmask)
+import Data.Maybe
+#else
+import Prelude hiding (catch)
#endif
-#ifdef __HUGS__
-import Prelude hiding ( catch )
-import PrelPrim ( catchException
- , Exception(..)
- , throw
- , ArithException(..)
- , AsyncException(..)
- , assert
- )
+#ifdef __NHC__
+import System (ExitCode())
#endif
-import Data.Dynamic
+-- | You need this when using 'catches'.
+data Handler a = forall e . Exception e => Handler (e -> IO a)
-#include "Dynamic.h"
-INSTANCE_TYPEABLE0(Exception,exceptionTc,"Exception")
-INSTANCE_TYPEABLE0(IOException,ioExceptionTc,"IOException")
-INSTANCE_TYPEABLE0(ArithException,arithExceptionTc,"ArithException")
-INSTANCE_TYPEABLE0(ArrayException,arrayExceptionTc,"ArrayException")
-INSTANCE_TYPEABLE0(AsyncException,asyncExceptionTc,"AsyncException")
+{- |
+Sometimes you want to catch two different sorts of exception. You could
+do something like
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--- Catching exceptions
+> f = expr `catch` \ (ex :: ArithException) -> handleArith ex
+> `catch` \ (ex :: IOException) -> handleIO ex
--- |This is the simplest of the exception-catching functions. It
--- takes a single argument, runs it, and if an exception is raised
--- the \"handler\" is executed, with the value of the exception passed as an
--- argument. Otherwise, the result is returned as normal. For example:
---
--- > catch (openFile f ReadMode)
--- > (\e -> hPutStr stderr (\"Couldn\'t open \"++f++\": \" ++ show e))
---
--- For catching exceptions in pure (non-'IO') expressions, see the
--- function 'evaluate'.
---
--- Note that due to Haskell\'s unspecified evaluation order, an
--- expression may return one of several possible exceptions: consider
--- the expression @error \"urk\" + 1 \`div\` 0@. Does
--- 'catch' execute the handler passing
--- @ErrorCall \"urk\"@, or @ArithError DivideByZero@?
---
--- The answer is \"either\": 'catch' makes a
--- non-deterministic choice about which exception to catch. If you
--- call it again, you might get a different exception back. This is
--- ok, because 'catch' is an 'IO' computation.
---
--- Note that 'catch' catches all types of exceptions, and is generally
--- used for \"cleaning up\" before passing on the exception using
--- 'ioError'. It is not good practice to discard the exception and
--- continue, without first checking the type of the exception (it
--- might be a 'ThreadKilled', for example). In this case it is usually better
--- to use 'catchJust' and select the kinds of exceptions to catch.
---
--- Also note that The "Prelude" also exports a
--- function called 'catch' which has the same type as
--- 'Exception.catch', the difference being that the
--- "Prelude" version only catches the IO and user
--- families of exceptions (as required by Haskell 98). We recommend
--- either hiding the "Prelude" version of
--- 'catch' when importing
--- "Control.Exception", or importing
--- "Control.Exception" qualified, to avoid name-clashes.
-
-catch :: IO a -- ^ The computation to run
- -> (Exception -> IO a) -- ^ Handler to invoke if an exception is raised
- -> IO a
-catch = GHC.Exception.catchException
-
--- | The function 'catchJust' is like 'catch', but it takes an extra
--- argument which is an /exception predicate/, a function which
--- selects which type of exceptions we\'re interested in. There are
--- some predefined exception predicates for useful subsets of
--- exceptions: 'ioErrors', 'arithExceptions', and so on. For example,
--- to catch just calls to the 'error' function, we could use
---
--- > result \<- catchJust errorCalls thing_to_try handler
---
--- Any other exceptions which are not matched by the predicate
--- are re-raised, and may be caught by an enclosing
--- 'catch' or 'catchJust'.
-catchJust
- :: (Exception -> Maybe b) -- ^ Predicate to select exceptions
- -> IO a -- ^ Computation to run
- -> (b -> IO a) -- ^ Handler
- -> IO a
-catchJust p a handler = catch a handler'
- where handler' e = case p e of
- Nothing -> throw e
- Just b -> handler b
-
--- | A version of 'catch' with the arguments swapped around; useful in
--- situations where the code for the handler is shorter. For example:
---
--- > do handle (\e -> exitWith (ExitFailure 1)) $
--- > ...
-handle :: (Exception -> IO a) -> IO a -> IO a
-handle = flip catch
-
--- | A version of 'catchJust' with the arguments swapped around (see
--- 'handle').
-handleJust :: (Exception -> Maybe b) -> (b -> IO a) -> IO a -> IO a
-handleJust p = flip (catchJust p)
+However, there are a couple of problems with this approach. The first is
+that having two exception handlers is inefficient. However, the more
+serious issue is that the second exception handler will catch exceptions
+in the first, e.g. in the example above, if @handleArith@ throws an
+@IOException@ then the second exception handler will catch it.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--- evaluate
+Instead, we provide a function 'catches', which would be used thus:
--- | Forces its argument to be evaluated, and returns the result in
--- the 'IO' monad. It can be used to order evaluation with respect to
--- other 'IO' operations; its semantics are given by
---
--- > evaluate undefined `seq` return () ==> return ()
--- > catch (evaluate undefined) (\e -> return ()) ==> return ()
---
--- NOTE: @(evaluate a)@ is /not/ the same as @(a \`seq\` return a)@.
-evaluate :: a -> IO a
-evaluate a = IO $ \s -> a `seq` (# s, a #)
-
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--- 'try' and variations.
-
--- | Similar to 'catch', but returns an 'Either' result which is
--- @(Right a)@ if no exception was raised, or @(Left e)@ if an
--- exception was raised and its value is @e@.
---
--- > try a = catch (Right \`liftM\` a) (return . Left)
---
--- Note: as with 'catch', it is only polite to use this variant if you intend
--- to re-throw the exception after performing whatever cleanup is needed.
--- Otherwise, 'tryJust' is generally considered to be better.
---
-try :: IO a -> IO (Either Exception a)
-try a = catch (a >>= \ v -> return (Right v)) (\e -> return (Left e))
-
--- | A variant of 'try' that takes an exception predicate to select
--- which exceptions are caught (c.f. 'catchJust'). If the exception
--- does not match the predicate, it is re-thrown.
-tryJust :: (Exception -> Maybe b) -> IO a -> IO (Either b a)
-tryJust p a = do
- r <- try a
- case r of
- Right v -> return (Right v)
- Left e -> case p e of
- Nothing -> throw e
- Just b -> return (Left b)
+> f = expr `catches` [Handler (\ (ex :: ArithException) -> handleArith ex),
+> Handler (\ (ex :: IOException) -> handleIO ex)]
+-}
+catches :: IO a -> [Handler a] -> IO a
+catches io handlers = io `catch` catchesHandler handlers
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--- Dynamic exceptions
-
--- $dynamic
--- Because the 'Exception' datatype is not extensible, there is an
--- interface for throwing and catching exceptions of type 'Dynamic'
--- (see "Data.Dynamic") which allows exception values of any type in
--- the 'Typeable' class to be thrown and caught.
-
--- | Raise any value as an exception, provided it is in the
--- 'Typeable' class.
-throwDyn :: Typeable exception => exception -> b
-throwDyn exception = throw (DynException (toDyn exception))
-
--- | A variant of 'throwDyn' that throws the dynamic exception to an
--- arbitrary thread (c.f. 'throwTo').
-throwDynTo :: Typeable exception => ThreadId -> exception -> IO ()
-throwDynTo t exception = throwTo t (DynException (toDyn exception))
-
--- | Catch dynamic exceptions of the required type. All other
--- exceptions are re-thrown, including dynamic exceptions of the wrong
--- type.
---
--- When using dynamic exceptions it is advisable to define a new
--- datatype to use for your exception type, to avoid possible clashes
--- with dynamic exceptions used in other libraries.
---
-catchDyn :: Typeable exception => IO a -> (exception -> IO a) -> IO a
-catchDyn m k = catchException m handle
- where handle ex = case ex of
- (DynException dyn) ->
- case fromDynamic dyn of
- Just exception -> k exception
- Nothing -> throw ex
- _ -> throw ex
+catchesHandler :: [Handler a] -> SomeException -> IO a
+catchesHandler handlers e = foldr tryHandler (throw e) handlers
+ where tryHandler (Handler handler) res
+ = case fromException e of
+ Just e' -> handler e'
+ Nothing -> res
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--- Exception Predicates
+-- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+-- Catching exceptions
--- $preds
--- These pre-defined predicates may be used as the first argument to
--- 'catchJust', 'tryJust', or 'handleJust' to select certain common
--- classes of exceptions.
+{- $catching
-ioErrors :: Exception -> Maybe IOError
-arithExceptions :: Exception -> Maybe ArithException
-errorCalls :: Exception -> Maybe String
-dynExceptions :: Exception -> Maybe Dynamic
-assertions :: Exception -> Maybe String
-asyncExceptions :: Exception -> Maybe AsyncException
-userErrors :: Exception -> Maybe String
+There are several functions for catching and examining
+exceptions; all of them may only be used from within the
+'IO' monad.
-ioErrors e@(IOException _) = Just e
-ioErrors _ = Nothing
+Here's a rule of thumb for deciding which catch-style function to
+use:
-arithExceptions (ArithException e) = Just e
-arithExceptions _ = Nothing
+ * If you want to do some cleanup in the event that an exception
+ is raised, use 'finally', 'bracket' or 'onException'.
-errorCalls (ErrorCall e) = Just e
-errorCalls _ = Nothing
+ * To recover after an exception and do something else, the best
+ choice is to use one of the 'try' family.
-assertions (AssertionFailed e) = Just e
-assertions _ = Nothing
+ * ... unless you are recovering from an asynchronous exception, in which
+ case use 'catch' or 'catchJust'.
-dynExceptions (DynException e) = Just e
-dynExceptions _ = Nothing
+The difference between using 'try' and 'catch' for recovery is that in
+'catch' the handler is inside an implicit 'block' (see \"Asynchronous
+Exceptions\") which is important when catching asynchronous
+exceptions, but when catching other kinds of exception it is
+unnecessary. Furthermore it is possible to accidentally stay inside
+the implicit 'block' by tail-calling rather than returning from the
+handler, which is why we recommend using 'try' rather than 'catch' for
+ordinary exception recovery.
-asyncExceptions (AsyncException e) = Just e
-asyncExceptions _ = Nothing
+A typical use of 'tryJust' for recovery looks like this:
-userErrors e | isUserError e = Just (ioeGetErrorString e)
-userErrors _ = Nothing
+> do r <- tryJust (guard . isDoesNotExistError) $ getEnv "HOME"
+> case r of
+> Left e -> ...
+> Right home -> ...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--- Some Useful Functions
-
--- | When you want to acquire a resource, do some work with it, and
--- then release the resource, it is a good idea to use 'bracket',
--- because 'bracket' will install the necessary exception handler to
--- release the resource in the event that an exception is raised
--- during the computation. If an exception is raised, then 'bracket' will
--- re-raise the exception (after performing the release).
---
--- A common example is opening a file:
---
--- > bracket
--- > (openFile "filename" ReadMode)
--- > (hClose)
--- > (\handle -> do { ... })
---
--- The arguments to 'bracket' are in this order so that we can partially apply
--- it, e.g.:
---
--- > withFile name = bracket (openFile name) hClose
---
-bracket
- :: IO a -- ^ computation to run first (\"acquire resource\")
- -> (a -> IO b) -- ^ computation to run last (\"release resource\")
- -> (a -> IO c) -- ^ computation to run in-between
- -> IO c -- returns the value from the in-between computation
-bracket before after thing =
- block (do
- a <- before
- r <- catch
- (unblock (thing a))
- (\e -> do { after a; throw e })
- after a
- return r
- )
-
-
--- | A specialised variant of 'bracket' with just a computation to run
--- afterward.
---
-finally :: IO a -- ^ computation to run first
- -> IO b -- ^ computation to run afterward (even if an exception
- -- was raised)
- -> IO a -- returns the value from the first computation
-a `finally` sequel =
- block (do
- r <- catch
- (unblock a)
- (\e -> do { sequel; throw e })
- sequel
- return r
- )
-
--- | A variant of 'bracket' where the return value from the first computation
--- is not required.
-bracket_ :: IO a -> IO b -> IO c -> IO c
-bracket_ before after thing = bracket before (const after) (const thing)
+-}
-- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- Asynchronous exceptions
+-- | When invoked inside 'mask', this function allows a blocked
+-- asynchronous exception to be raised, if one exists. It is
+-- equivalent to performing an interruptible operation (see
+-- #interruptible#), but does not involve any actual blocking.
+--
+-- When called outside 'mask', or inside 'uninterruptibleMask', this
+-- function has no effect.
+allowInterrupt :: IO ()
+allowInterrupt = unsafeUnmask $ return ()
+
{- $async
-Asynchronous exceptions are so-called because they arise due to
+ #AsynchronousExceptions# Asynchronous exceptions are so-called because they arise due to
external influences, and can be raised at any point during execution.
'StackOverflow' and 'HeapOverflow' are two examples of
system-generated asynchronous exceptions.
> throwTo :: ThreadId -> Exception -> IO ()
-'throwTo' (also 'throwDynTo' and 'Concurrent.killThread') allows one
+'throwTo' (also 'Control.Concurrent.killThread') allows one
running thread to raise an arbitrary exception in another thread. The
exception is therefore asynchronous with respect to the target thread,
which could be doing anything at the time it receives the exception.
-}
{- $block_handler
-There\'s an implied 'block' around every exception handler in a call
+There\'s an implied 'mask' around every exception handler in a call
to one of the 'catch' family of functions. This is because that is
what you want most of the time - it eliminates a common race condition
in starting an exception handler, because there may be no exception
handler on the stack to handle another exception if one arrives
-immediately. If asynchronous exceptions are blocked on entering the
+immediately. If asynchronous exceptions are masked on entering the
handler, though, we have time to install a new exception handler
before being interrupted. If this weren\'t the default, one would have
to write something like
-> block (
-> catch (unblock (...))
-> (\e -> handler)
-> )
+> mask $ \restore ->
+> catch (restore (...))
+> (\e -> handler)
If you need to unblock asynchronous exceptions again in the exception
-handler, just use 'unblock' as normal.
+handler, 'restore' can be used there too.
Note that 'try' and friends /do not/ have a similar default, because
-there is no exception handler in this case. If you want to use 'try'
-in an asynchronous-exception-safe way, you will need to use
-'block'.
+there is no exception handler in this case. Don't use 'try' for
+recovering from an asynchronous exception.
-}
{- $interruptible
+ #interruptible#
Some operations are /interruptible/, which means that they can receive
-asynchronous exceptions even in the scope of a 'block'. Any function
+asynchronous exceptions even in the scope of a 'mask'. Any function
which may itself block is defined as interruptible; this includes
-'takeMVar' (but not 'tryTakeMVar'), and most operations which perform
-some I\/O with the outside world.. The reason for having
+'Control.Concurrent.MVar.takeMVar'
+(but not 'Control.Concurrent.MVar.tryTakeMVar'),
+and most operations which perform
+some I\/O with the outside world. The reason for having
interruptible operations is so that we can write things like
-> block (
+> mask $ \restore -> do
> a <- takeMVar m
-> catch (unblock (...))
+> catch (restore (...))
> (\e -> ...)
-> )
-if the 'takeMVar' was not interruptible, then this particular
+if the 'Control.Concurrent.MVar.takeMVar' was not interruptible,
+then this particular
combination could lead to deadlock, because the thread itself would be
blocked in a state where it can\'t receive any asynchronous exceptions.
-With 'takeMVar' interruptible, however, we can be
+With 'Control.Concurrent.MVar.takeMVar' interruptible, however, we can be
safe in the knowledge that the thread can receive exceptions right up
-until the point when the 'takeMVar' succeeds.
+until the point when the 'Control.Concurrent.MVar.takeMVar' succeeds.
Similar arguments apply for other interruptible operations like
-'IO.openFile'.
+'System.IO.openFile'.
+
+It is useful to think of 'mask' not as a way to completely prevent
+asynchronous exceptions, but as a way to switch from asynchronous mode
+to polling mode. The main difficulty with asynchronous
+exceptions is that they normally can occur anywhere, but within a
+'mask' an asynchronous exception is only raised by operations that are
+interruptible (or call other interruptible operations). In many cases
+these operations may themselves raise exceptions, such as I\/O errors,
+so the caller will usually be prepared to handle exceptions arising from the
+operation anyway. To perfom an explicit poll for asynchronous exceptions
+inside 'mask', use 'allowInterrupt'.
+
+Sometimes it is too onerous to handle exceptions in the middle of a
+critical piece of stateful code. There are three ways to handle this
+kind of situation:
+
+ * Use STM. Since a transaction is always either completely executed
+ or not at all, transactions are a good way to maintain invariants
+ over state in the presence of asynchronous (and indeed synchronous)
+ exceptions.
+
+ * Use 'mask', and avoid interruptible operations. In order to do
+ this, we have to know which operations are interruptible. It is
+ impossible to know for any given library function whether it might
+ invoke an interruptible operation internally; so instead we give a
+ list of guaranteed-not-to-be-interruptible operations below.
+
+ * Use 'uninterruptibleMask'. This is generally not recommended,
+ unless you can guarantee that any interruptible operations invoked
+ during the scope of 'uninterruptibleMask' can only ever block for
+ a short time. Otherwise, 'uninterruptibleMask' is a good way to
+ make your program deadlock and be unresponsive to user interrupts.
+
+The following operations are guaranteed not to be interruptible:
+
+ * operations on 'IORef' from "Data.IORef"
+ * STM transactions that do not use 'retry'
+ * everything from the @Foreign@ modules
+ * everything from @Control.Exception@
+ * @tryTakeMVar@, @tryPutMVar@, @isEmptyMVar@
+ * @takeMVar@ if the @MVar@ is definitely full, and conversely @putMVar@ if the @MVar@ is definitely empty
+ * @newEmptyMVar@, @newMVar@
+ * @forkIO@, @forkIOUnmasked@, @myThreadId@
+
-}
--- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--- Assert
+{- $catchall
+
+It is possible to catch all exceptions, by using the type 'SomeException':
+
+> catch f (\e -> ... (e :: SomeException) ...)
+
+HOWEVER, this is normally not what you want to do!
+
+For example, suppose you want to read a file, but if it doesn't exist
+then continue as if it contained \"\". You might be tempted to just
+catch all exceptions and return \"\" in the handler. However, this has
+all sorts of undesirable consequences. For example, if the user
+presses control-C at just the right moment then the 'UserInterrupt'
+exception will be caught, and the program will continue running under
+the belief that the file contains \"\". Similarly, if another thread
+tries to kill the thread reading the file then the 'ThreadKilled'
+exception will be ignored.
+
+Instead, you should only catch exactly the exceptions that you really
+want. In this case, this would likely be more specific than even
+\"any IO exception\"; a permissions error would likely also want to be
+handled differently. Instead, you would probably want something like:
+
+> e <- tryJust (guard . isDoesNotExistError) (readFile f)
+> let str = either (const "") id e
+
+There are occassions when you really do need to catch any sort of
+exception. However, in most cases this is just so you can do some
+cleaning up; you aren't actually interested in the exception itself.
+For example, if you open a file then you want to close it again,
+whether processing the file executes normally or throws an exception.
+However, in these cases you can use functions like 'bracket', 'finally'
+and 'onException', which never actually pass you the exception, but
+just call the cleanup functions at the appropriate points.
+
+But sometimes you really do need to catch any exception, and actually
+see what the exception is. One example is at the very top-level of a
+program, you may wish to catch any exception, print it to a logfile or
+the screen, and then exit gracefully. For these cases, you can use
+'catch' (or one of the other exception-catching functions) with the
+'SomeException' type.
+-}
-#ifdef __HADDOCK__
--- | If the first argument evaluates to 'True', then the result is the
--- second argument. Otherwise an 'Assertion' exception is raised,
--- containing a 'String' with the source file and line number of the
--- call to assert.
---
--- Assertions can normally be turned on or off with a compiler flag
--- (for GHC, assertions are normally on unless the @-fignore-asserts@
--- option is give). When assertions are turned off, the first
--- argument to 'assert' is ignored, and the second argument is
--- returned as the result.
-assert :: Bool -> a -> a
-#endif
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