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Symfony RESTful API: Errors (Course 2)

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Global RESTful Exception Handling

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When we throw an ApiProblemException, we need our app to automatically turn that into a nicely-formatted API Problem JSON response and return it. That code will look like what we have down here for validation, but it needs to live in a global spot.

Whenever an exception is thrown in Symfony, it dispatches an event called kernel.exception. If we attach a listener function to that event, we can take full control of how exceptions are handled. If creating a listener is new to you, we have a chapter on that in our Journey series called Interrupt Symfony with an Event Subscriber.

In AppBundle, create an EventListener directory. Add a new class in here called ApiExceptionSubscriber and make sure it's in the AppBundle\EventListener namespace:

8 lines src/AppBundle/EventListener/ApiExceptionSubscriber.php
... lines 1 - 2
namespace AppBundle\EventListener;
class ApiExceptionSubscriber
{
}

There are two ways to hook into an event: via a listener or a subscriber. They're really the same thing, but I think subscribers are cooler. To hook one up, make this class implement EventSubscriberInterface - the one from Symfony. Now, hit cmd+n - or go to the the Code->Generate menu - select "Implement Methods" and select getSubscribedEvents. That's a fast way to generate the one method from EventSubscriberInterface that we need to fill in:

14 lines src/AppBundle/EventListener/ApiExceptionSubscriber.php
... lines 1 - 4
use Symfony\Component\EventDispatcher\EventSubscriberInterface;
class ApiExceptionSubscriber implements EventSubscriberInterface
{
public static function getSubscribedEvents()
{
// TODO: Implement getSubscribedEvents() method.
}
}

Return an array with one just entry. The key is the event's name - use KernelEvents::EXCEPTION - that's really just the string kernel.exception. Assign that to the string: onKernelException. That'll be the name of our method in this class that should be called whenever an exception is thrown. Create that method: public function onKernelException():

22 lines src/AppBundle/EventListener/ApiExceptionSubscriber.php
... lines 1 - 5
use Symfony\Component\HttpKernel\KernelEvents;
... line 7
class ApiExceptionSubscriber implements EventSubscriberInterface
{
public function onKernelException()
{
}
public static function getSubscribedEvents()
{
return array(
KernelEvents::EXCEPTION => 'onKernelException'
);
}
}

So once we tell Symfony about this class, whenever an exception is thrown, Symfony will call this method. And when it does, it'll pass us an $event argument object. But what type of object is that? Hold cmd - or control for Windows and Linux - and click the EXCEPTION constant. The documentation above it tells us that we'll be passed a GetResponseForExceptionEvent object. Close that class and type-hint the event argument. Don't forget your use statement:

23 lines src/AppBundle/EventListener/ApiExceptionSubscriber.php
... lines 1 - 5
use Symfony\Component\HttpKernel\Event\GetResponseForExceptionEvent;
... lines 7 - 8
class ApiExceptionSubscriber implements EventSubscriberInterface
{
public function onKernelException(GetResponseForExceptionEvent $event)
{
}
... lines 15 - 21
}

The Subscriber Logic

Listeners to kernel.exception have one big job: to try to understand what went wrong and return a Response for the error. The big exception page we see in dev mode is caused by a core Symfony listener to this same event. We throw an exception and it gives us the pretty exception page.

So our missing is clear: detect if an ApiProblemException was thrown and create a nice Api Problem JSON response if it was.

First, to get access to the exception that was just thrown, call getException() on the $event. So far, we only want our listener to act if this is an ApiProblemException object. Add an if statment: if !$e instanceof ApiProblemException, then just return immediately:

27 lines src/AppBundle/EventListener/ApiExceptionSubscriber.php
... lines 1 - 11
public function onKernelException(GetResponseForExceptionEvent $event)
{
$e = $event->getException();
if (!$e instanceof ApiProblemException) {
return;
}
}
... lines 19 - 27

For now, that'll mean that normal exceptions will still be handled via Symfony's core listener.

Now that we know this is an ApiProblemException, let's turn it into a Response. Go steal the last few lines of the validation response code from ProgrammerController. Put this inside onKernelException(). You'll need to add the use statement for JsonResponse manually:

38 lines src/AppBundle/EventListener/ApiExceptionSubscriber.php
... lines 1 - 12
public function onKernelException(GetResponseForExceptionEvent $event)
{
$e = $event->getException();
if (!$e instanceof ApiProblemException) {
return;
}
... lines 19 - 21
$response = new JsonResponse(
$apiProblem->toArray(),
$apiProblem->getStatusCode()
);
$response->headers->set('Content-Type', 'application/problem+json');
... lines 27 - 28
}
... lines 30 - 38

But we don't have an $apiProblem variable yet. There is an ApiProblem object inside the ApiProblemException as a property, but we don't have a way to access it yet. Go back to the Generate menu - select Getters - and choose the apiProblem property:

25 lines src/AppBundle/Api/ApiProblemException.php
... lines 1 - 6
class ApiProblemException extends HttpException
{
... lines 9 - 19
public function getApiProblem()
{
return $this->apiProblem;
}
}

In the subscriber, we can say $apiProblem = $e->getApiProblem():

38 lines src/AppBundle/EventListener/ApiExceptionSubscriber.php
... lines 1 - 10
class ApiExceptionSubscriber implements EventSubscriberInterface
{
public function onKernelException(GetResponseForExceptionEvent $event)
{
... lines 15 - 19
$apiProblem = $e->getApiProblem();
$response = new JsonResponse(
$apiProblem->toArray(),
$apiProblem->getStatusCode()
);
$response->headers->set('Content-Type', 'application/problem+json');
... lines 27 - 28
}
... lines 30 - 36
}

This is now exactly the Response we want to send back to the client. To tell Symfony to use this, call $event->setResponse() and pass it the $response:

38 lines src/AppBundle/EventListener/ApiExceptionSubscriber.php
... lines 1 - 12
public function onKernelException(GetResponseForExceptionEvent $event)
{
... lines 15 - 27
$event->setResponse($response);
}
... lines 30 - 38

Registering the Event Subscriber

There's just one more step left: telling Symfony about the subscriber. Go to app/config/services.yml. Give the service a name - how about api_problem_subscriber. Then fill in the class with ApiExceptionSubscriber and give it an empty arguments key. The secret to telling Symfony that this service is an event subscriber is with a tag named kernel.event_subscriber:

24 lines app/config/services.yml
... lines 1 - 5
services:
... lines 7 - 19
api_exception_subscriber:
class: AppBundle\EventListener\ApiExceptionSubscriber
arguments: []
tags:
- { name: kernel.event_subscriber }

That tag is enough to tell Symfony about our subscriber - it'll take care of the rest.

Head back to our test where we send invalid JSON and expect the 400 status code. This already worked before, but the response was HTML, so the next assert - for a JSON response with a type property - has been failing hard. Actually, I totally messed up that assert earlier - make sure you're asserting a type key, not test:

167 lines src/AppBundle/Tests/Controller/Api/ProgrammerControllerTest.php
... lines 1 - 5
class ProgrammerControllerTest extends ApiTestCase
{
... lines 8 - 147
public function testInvalidJson()
{
... lines 150 - 162
$this->asserter()->assertResponsePropertyEquals($response, 'type', 'invalid_body_format');
}
}

So, type should be set to invalid_body_format because the ApiProblem has that type set via the constant:

190 lines src/AppBundle/Controller/Api/ProgrammerController.php
... lines 1 - 18
class ProgrammerController extends BaseController
{
... lines 21 - 142
private function processForm(Request $request, FormInterface $form)
{
$data = json_decode($request->getContent(), true);
if ($data === null) {
$apiProblem = new ApiProblem(400, ApiProblem::TYPE_INVALID_REQUEST_BODY_FORMAT);
throw new ApiProblemException($apiProblem);
}
... lines 151 - 153
}
... lines 155 - 187
}
}

But with the exception subscriber in place, we should now get the JSON response we want. Ok, moment of truth:

./bin/phpunit -c app --filter testInvalidJson

It passes! This is huge! We now have a central way for triggering and handling errors. Take out the debugResponse() call.

Celebrate by throwing an ApiProblemException for validations errors too. Replace all the Response-creation logic in createValidationErrorResponse() with a simple throw new ApiProblemException() and pass it the $apiProblem:

187 lines src/AppBundle/Controller/Api/ProgrammerController.php
... lines 1 - 18
class ProgrammerController extends BaseController
{
... lines 21 - 173
private function createValidationErrorResponse(FormInterface $form)
{
... lines 176 - 183
throw new ApiProblemException($apiProblem);
}
}

That's all the code we need now, no matter where we are. And now, the method name - createValidationErrorResponse() isn't really accurate. Change it to throwApiProblemValidationException():

187 lines src/AppBundle/Controller/Api/ProgrammerController.php
... lines 1 - 18
class ProgrammerController extends BaseController
{
... lines 21 - 173
private function throwApiProblemValidationException(FormInterface $form)
{
... lines 176 - 183
throw new ApiProblemException($apiProblem);
}
}

Search for the 2 spots that use that and update the name. And we don't need to have a return statement anymore: just call the function and it'll throw the exception for us:

187 lines src/AppBundle/Controller/Api/ProgrammerController.php
... lines 1 - 24
public function newAction(Request $request)
{
... lines 27 - 30
if (!$form->isValid()) {
$this->throwApiProblemValidationException($form);
}
... lines 34 - 48
}
... lines 50 - 91
public function updateAction($nickname, Request $request)
{
... lines 94 - 107
if (!$form->isValid()) {
$this->throwApiProblemValidationException($form);
}
... lines 111 - 118
}
... lines 120 - 185
}

Re-test everything:

./bin/phpunit -c app

Now we're green and we can send back exciting error responses from anywhere in our code. But what about other exceptions, like 404 exceptions?

Leave a comment!

This tutorial uses an older version of Symfony. The concepts of REST and errors are still valid, but I recommend using API Platform in new Symfony apps.
Symfony 3

What PHP libraries does this tutorial use?

// composer.json
{
    "require": {
        "php": ">=5.3.3",
        "symfony/symfony": "2.6.*", // v2.6.11
        "doctrine/orm": "~2.2,>=2.2.3,<2.5", // v2.4.7
        "doctrine/dbal": "<2.5", // v2.4.4
        "doctrine/doctrine-bundle": "~1.2", // v1.4.0
        "twig/extensions": "~1.0", // v1.2.0
        "symfony/assetic-bundle": "~2.3", // v2.6.1
        "symfony/swiftmailer-bundle": "~2.3", // v2.3.8
        "symfony/monolog-bundle": "~2.4", // v2.7.1
        "sensio/distribution-bundle": "~3.0,>=3.0.12", // v3.0.21
        "sensio/framework-extra-bundle": "~3.0,>=3.0.2", // v3.0.7
        "incenteev/composer-parameter-handler": "~2.0", // v2.1.0
        "hautelook/alice-bundle": "0.2.*", // 0.2
        "jms/serializer-bundle": "0.13.*" // 0.13.0
    },
    "require-dev": {
        "sensio/generator-bundle": "~2.3", // v2.5.3
        "behat/behat": "~3.0", // v3.0.15
        "behat/mink-extension": "~2.0.1", // v2.0.1
        "behat/mink-goutte-driver": "~1.1.0", // v1.1.0
        "behat/mink-selenium2-driver": "~1.2.0", // v1.2.0
        "phpunit/phpunit": "~4.6.0" // 4.6.4
    }
}
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