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Creating a Custom Grails Error Page for Production

Posted on November 29, 2012 by Joe Rinehart — 3 Comments ↓

The other day I had to go to support.microsoft.com, and I got a raw error page:

That made me think that it’d be a good idea to blog how to create a custom error handler in Grails. By “handler,” I mean more than just a .gsp that shows an “Oops” message, instead of a stack trace, when GrailsUtil.environment is “production.” I mean one that:

  1. Shows an “Oops” message, instead of a stack trace, when GrailsUtil.environment is “production.” ( :) )
  2. Invokes a controller method, allowing me to “do stuff” (log, e-mail administrators, etc.) when there’s an error
  3. Gracefully handle a subsequent nested error within the controller

So here’s what I do:

Creating a environment-specific views

First, I whip up a quick ErrorController that renders a ‘development’ view in development, and a ‘production’ view in production:

Then, I create development and production specific views in views/error:

<!doctype html>
<html>
<head>
	<title>Application Error - Development View</title>
        <meta name="layout" content="bootstrap">
        <meta name="bootstrap" content="main">
	<link rel="stylesheet" href="${resource(dir: 'css', file: 'errors.css')}" type="text/css">
</head>
<body>
        <p><em>This is a development view of an error, and would not be shown in production.</em></p>
	<g:renderException exception="${exception}" />
</body>
</html>

Last, I tell UrlMappings.groovy to use my ErrorController instead of the stock errors.gsp view:

Using my controller method to ‘do stuff’ with the exception

Within my controller method, the exception is available in request.exception, letting me log it, e-mail myself, or do whatever I want. In a full-bore application, it might be a good idea to wrap this logic up in a service.

Please, read the next section, or you may end up in a world of hurt.

“Doing stuff” without destroying your server

If you’re anything like me, it’s inevitable that your error handling “stuff” will one day throw an error. That’s bad, because it’d re-invoke the error handler…which’d re-invoke the stuff…which’d throw another error…which’d…you get the idea. Lost thread, server crash, bad day altogether.

I’m a simpleton, so I opt for an easy way out of this that tries/catches both “doing stuff” and rendering the appropriate view, showing a third very basic, “geez-this-should-never-fail” view:

About

Joe Rinehart's been developing software for Web, mobile, and desktop since 1998. While he mainly now works in Java, Grails, and HTML5, he has a long history of community involvement in the Flash, Flex, and ColdFusion space. As a published author and award-winning speaker, he's bringing his skills to CompileDammit to help users new to Grails and Java. When he's not coding, he's either spending time with his family or feeding an appetite for endurance mountain bike racing. (8/9/2012 update: He's now either spending time with his family or getting over a huge knee injury caused by endurance mountain bike racing.)

Posted in Grails for CFML Developers, Groovy/Grails
3 comments on “Creating a Custom Grails Error Page for Production”
  1. Burt Beckwith says:
    November 29, 2012 at 11:36 am

    As of 2.2 something like this is being done in error.gsp: https://github.com/grails/grails-core/blob/2.2.x/grails-resources/src/grails/grails-app/views/error.gsp . I prefer using a controller since you have a lot more control. But at least out of the box production apps will have a much cleaner error display.

    Note that using “GrailsApplication.ENV_PRODUCTION == GrailsUtil.environment” is an older way of doing that check; use “Environment.PRODUCTION == Environment.current”.

    Reply
  2. Joe Rinehart says:
    November 30, 2012 at 6:58 am

    Noted – thanks Burt!

    Reply
  3. valamata says:
    May 30, 2013 at 4:49 pm

    yeah nc post bro… every thing was clearly elaborated …big thanks

    Reply

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