Exception Handling

Exceptions can be initiated by hardware or software, and can occur in kernel-mode as well as user-mode code. Structured exception handling provides a single mechanism for the handling of kernel-mode and user-mode exceptions.

The execution of certain instruction sequences can result in exceptions that are initiated by hardware. For example, an access violation is generated by the hardware when a process attempts to read from or write to a virtual address to which it does not have the appropriate access.

Events that require exception handling may also occur during execution of a software routine (for example, when an invalid parameter value is specified). When this happens, a thread can initiate an exception explicitly by calling the RaiseException function. This function enables the calling thread to specify information that describes the exception.

An exception can be continuable or noncontinuable. A noncontinuable exception arises when the event is not continuable in the hardware, or if continuation makes no sense. A noncontinuable exception does not terminate the application. Therefore, an application may be able to catch the exception and run. However, a noncontinuable exception typically arises as a result of a corrupted stack or other serious problem, making it difficult to recover from the exception.