My contact form stopped working..again.

Will · March 21st, 2009, 09:44 AM

You're clever.

It does work when a real email address is entered. So what if a user enters an invalid email address but the regular expression validator doesn't pick it up because it has the correct syntax?

Is there a way to catch the error and get the user to put in a real email address?

Imar · March 21st, 2009, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Is there a way to catch the error and get the user to put in a real email address?

Yes, there is. But rather than provide you with the full answer, I'll show you how you find the answer yourself. That way, when other types of exceptions are thrown you know how to find those as well. As there are many, many different Exception types in .NET, understanding when the occur is very useful for other situations, not related to e-mail. Try this:

1. Create a brand new ASPX page

2. In the Code Behind, add this:

Code:

 
Protected Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) _
            Handles Me.Load
  Dim myMessage As New MailMessage()
  myMessage.Subject = "Test"
  myMessage.From = New MailAddress("[email protected]") 
  myMessage.To.Add(New MailAddress("[email protected]"))
  Dim myClient As New SmtpClient()
  Try
    myClient.Send(myMessage)
  Catch ex As Exception
  End Try
End Sub

3. Put a break point on the line that starts with Catch and hit F5.

4. The code will crash (as the e-mail address is not valid) and the Catch line will be highlighted

5. Put a Watch on the ex variable and expand it in the Watch window. On the first line you'll see from what Exception type it derives.

6. Modify the code as follows:

Code:

 
Dim myMessage As New MailMessage()
myMessage.Subject = "Test"
myMessage.From = New MailAddress("[email protected]")
myMessage.To.Add(New MailAddress("[email protected]"))
Dim myClient As New SmtpClient()
Try
  myClient.Send(myMessage)
Catch someException As TheTypeOfExceptionYouFoundInStep5
  myMessage.From = New MailAddress("[email protected]")
  myClient.Send(myMessage)
Catch ex As Exception
  ' Unknow exception
End Try

Don't forget to change the type of exception in the first Catch block and change [email protected] to a valid e-mail address.

Now, when you send the message and the exception occurs, the first Catch block with your exception type is hit. Inside that block you can change the To address and try to send the message again. Other exceptions that may occur in the Try block are caught by the general Catch block.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Imar

Will · March 21st, 2009, 10:20 AM

Thanks I will try that now.

Will · March 21st, 2009, 10:38 AM

Not wanting to sound stupid but in your code example you have:

Catch someexception as theexceptionyoufoundinstep5

But where do I find the name of this exception? is it the node directly nested in the ex exception in the watch window?

in this case "system.net.mail.exception" ?

Also this method would presumably correct the error input a valid email address and then send the message as it is supposed to?

IS there a way that I cold then notify the user that the email address they used is invalid and if they expect a response they would need to use a valid email address?

Because if the message sends and I have invalid contact details then I wouldn't be able to reply if yo usee what I mean.

Thanks for that useful bit of information.

Imar · March 21st, 2009, 11:08 AM

The Exceotion type you're after is the SmtpException:

Code:

 
Try
  myClient.Send(myMessage)
Catch someException As SmtpException
  myMessage.From = New MailAddress("[email protected]")
  myClient.Send(myMessage)
Catch ex As Exception
 ' Unknown exception
End Try

And rather than changing the To address you could display a Label with an error message inside this Catch block.

Cheers,

Imar

Will · March 21st, 2009, 11:27 AM

Thanks again thats a good idea. However now my form works I have another problem that it displays a label that says the email address is invalid but it also displays the success message aswell.

Currently I have:

Code:

 Try
                mySmtpClient.Send(myMessage)
            Catch SmtpEx As SmtpException
                lblEmailAdd.Visible = True
                lblSuccess.Visible = False
                contact1.Visible = True
            Catch ex As Exception
                ' Unknow exception
            End Try

            lblSuccess.Visible = True
            contact1.Visible = False

I thought that by putting:

Code:

Catch SmtpEx As SmtpException
                lblEmailAdd.Visible = True
                lblSuccess.Visible = False
                contact1.Visible = True

Would overwrite:

Code:

End Try

            lblSuccess.Visible = True
            contact1.Visible = False

if there was an error and just ignore the try catch statement if there wasn't.

But putting it in the try catch statement doesn't change it.. so any ideas?

Thanks alot for the help so far it's been really..helpful I guess lol.

Imar · March 21st, 2009, 11:43 AM

You should update the success label in the Try part.

Try is the "happy path" that executes completely if nothing goes wrong. When an error in the Try block occurs, only one of the Catch parts is executed (the one with the Exception that best matches the caught error).

Any code *after* the Try / End Try is executed normally if all errors are handled in a Catch block.

Imar

Will · March 21st, 2009, 01:21 PM

Thanks works perfectly for me now.

Imar · March 21st, 2009, 01:47 PM

You're welcome....

Imar