Question

I’m working on a logging program, and I’d like to avoid processing the same Exception object repeatedly when it is being logged repeatedly because it is percolating up through a nested call structure. So I’d like to be able to format the Exception object once, and give the formatted version a unique “exception number” and then tag the Exception object somehow so I can recognize it if it turns up again in a later log call.

The idea I’ve come up with is to misuse the HelpLink field of the Exception object. I’ll set it to contain a string version of my “exception number”. Then I can recognize the Exception object if it shows up again momentarily in another log call.

But is this maybe a bad idea? Are there any gotchas involved that I haven’t thought of? If so, does anyone have a better idea?

EDIT:
To explain the situation a bit more, this logger will only be used on my own programs.

Answer 1

Instead of ‘abusing’ HelpLink property, you could use Data property to add extra information to the Exception. It contains key/value pairs that provide additional user-defined information about the exception.