Task with built in exception handling?

Question

When using Tasks you have to take special care in handling exceptions, here is an example :

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        Task<int> task = new Task<int>(Test);
        task.ContinueWith(ExceptionHandler, TaskContinuationOptions.OnlyOnFaulted);
        task.Start();
        Console.ReadLine();
    }

    static int Test()
    {
        throw new Exception();
    }

    static void ExceptionHandler(Task<int> task)
    {
        var exception = task.Exception;
        Console.WriteLine(exception);
    }
}

From here

My question is if there is any way to make a custom Task that will handle(log to service) all exceptions without manually stating it by the developer? Some kind of help heritage.

Answer 1

You could create MyLoggingTask as a subclass of Task, implementing the constructors that are relevant to you, or all of them to be on the safe side (I see 8 of them in .NET Framework 4.5), and override the Start() method.

Then either replace every Task usage with MyLoggingTask + a reference to the namespace of your subclass, or minimize the 'manual' aspect with using Task = Your.NameSpace.MyLoggingTask , creating a Task alias that is in fact your own class.

As an alternative, you could create an Extension Method public static StartWithLogging<T>(this Task<T> task) which takes care of the ContinueWith . Then replace every Start() call with StartWithLogging() + reference the namespace of your extension class.

I'm afraid there are no easier options, and some degree of 'manually stating' will always be needed.