Laravel 5.5 custom exception

Introduction

This is a Laravel exception handler build specifically for APIs.

Get idea from Heimdal

Why is it needed?

When building APIs there are specific formatting do's and dont's on how to send errors back to the user. Frameworks like Laravel are not build specifically for API builders. This small library just bridges that gap. For instance, specifications like JSON API have guidelines for how errors should be formatted.

Installation

composer require phuoc/laravel-exception

Add the service provider to config/app.php if you've disabled package auto-discovery feature

// other providers...
Phuocnt\LaravelException\Providers\LaravelServiceProvider::class,

Publish the configuration.

php artisan vendor:publish --provider="Phuocnt\LaravelException\Providers\LaravelServiceProvider"

Change App\Exceptions\Handler's extends class

namespace App\Exceptions;

use Exception;
use Phuocnt\LaravelException\ExceptionHandler;

class Handler extends ExceptionHandler {
    ...
}

Clear cache if it need to

php artisan cache:clear

Autoload

composer dump-autoload

Configuration

Exceptions

This package already comes with sensible custom exceptions out of the box. In config/exception.php is a section where the exception priority is defined.

    // Has to be in prioritized order, e.g. highest priority first.
    'map' => [
        AuthenticationException::class => CustomException\AuthenticationException::class,
        AuthorizationException::class => CustomException\AuthorizationException::class,
        ValidationException::class => CustomException\ValidationException::class,
        Exception::class => CustomException\Exception::class,
    ],

The higher the entry, the higher the priority. In this example, a AuthenticationException will be formatted used the CustomException\AuthenticationException because it is the first entry. However, an NotFoundHttpException will not match AuthenticationException but will match Exception (since it is a child class hereof) and will therefore be formatted using the Exception.

Write your custom exception easily

Write your custom exception class extend Phuocnt\LaravelException\Exceptions\CustomException class

You may want to define default $statusCode or render method which helps to define your custom response

<?php

namespace App\Exceptions\YourExceptions;

use Phuocnt\LaravelException\Exceptions\CustomException as BaseCustomException;
use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Response;

class UnprocessableEntityHttpException extends BaseCustomException
{
    protected $statusCode = Response::HTTP_UNPROCESSABLE_ENTITY;

    public function __construct(\Exception $e)
    {
        parent::__construct($e);
    }

    pubic function render($request, $data = null) {
        $data = [
            'firstLine' => 'firstLine',    
            'secondLine' => 'secondLine',    
        ];
        return response()->json()->setStatusCode($this->statusCode)->setData($data);
    }
}

Now we simply add it to config/exception.php

    // Has to be in prioritized order, e.g. highest priority first.
    'map' => [
        \Symfony\Component\HttpKernel\Exception\UnprocessableEntityHttpException::class 
            => App\Exceptions\YourExceptions\UnprocessableEntityHttpException::class,
        AuthenticationException::class => CustomException\AuthenticationException::class,
        AuthorizationException::class => CustomException\AuthorizationException::class,
        ValidationException::class => CustomException\ValidationException::class,
        Exception::class => CustomException\Exception::class,
    ],

Now all UnprocessableEntityHttpExceptions will be formatted using our custom exception.

Usage

Write your exception as usual

Override $statusCode if needed else it will be get in order: this exception class > your custom exception format > default laravel status code for this exception > 500

You can also override render method here, too

<?php

namespace App\Exceptions;

class SomeException extends \Exception
{
    public $statusCode = 400;

    public function __construct($message = "Oops, exception's thrown", $code = 99999)
    {
        parent::__construct(
            $message,
            $code
        );
    }
}

Default exception's format

Production

In production, you may want to turn APP_DEBUG=false in .env.

Almost common errors will have response below with appropriate status code

    {
        "message": "An error occurred."
    }

Dev

Validation error

Status code: 422

{
    "errors": {
        "id": [
            "The id field is required."
        ],
        "name": [
            "The name field is required."
        ]
    }
}

Common errors

{
    "message": "This action is unauthorized.",
    "line": 165,
    "file": "/var/www/lar55/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Foundation/Http/FormRequest.php",
    "code": 0,
    "exception": "Illuminate\\Auth\\Access\\AuthorizationException: This action is unauthorized. in /var..."
}

License

The MIT License (MIT). Please see License File for more information.