Error messages and the standard error format

If your application does not handle an error, ColdFusion displays a diagnostic message in the user's browser, such as the one shown in the following figure:

A ColdFusion diagnostic error message

Error information is also written to a log file for later review. (For information on error logging, see "Logging errors with the cflog tag".)

The standard error format consists of the information listed in the following table. ColdFusion does not always display all sections.

Section

Description

Error description

A brief, typically on-line, description of the error.

Error message

A detailed description of the error. The error message diagnostic information displayed depends on the type of error. For example, if you specify an invalid attribute for a tag, this section includes a list of all valid tag attributes.

Error location

The page and line number where ColdFusion encountered the error, followed by a short section of your CFML that includes the line. This section does not display for all errors.

In some cases, the cause of an error can be several lines above the place where ColdFusion determines that there is a problem, so the line that initially causes the error might not be in the display.

Resources

Links to documentation, the Knowledge Base, and other resources that can help you resolve the problem.

Error environment information

Information about the request that caused the error. All error messages include the following:

User browser

User IP address

Date and time of error

Stack trace

The Java stack at the time of the exception, including the specific Java class of the exception. This section can be helpful if you must contact Macromedia Technical Support.

The stack trace is collapsed by default. Click the heading to display the trace.

Section	Description
Error description	A brief, typically on-line, description of the error.
Error message	A detailed description of the error. The error message diagnostic information displayed depends on the type of error. For example, if you specify an invalid attribute for a tag, this section includes a list of all valid tag attributes.
Error location	The page and line number where ColdFusion encountered the error, followed by a short section of your CFML that includes the line. This section does not display for all errors. In some cases, the cause of an error can be several lines above the place where ColdFusion determines that there is a problem, so the line that initially causes the error might not be in the display.
Resources	Links to documentation, the Knowledge Base, and other resources that can help you resolve the problem.
Error environment information	Information about the request that caused the error. All error messages include the following: User browser User IP address Date and time of error
Stack trace	The Java stack at the time of the exception, including the specific Java class of the exception. This section can be helpful if you must contact Macromedia Technical Support. The stack trace is collapsed by default. Click the heading to display the trace.

Tip: If you get a message that does not explicitly identify the cause of the error, check the key system parameters, such as available memory and disk space.

Developing ColdFusion MX Applications with CFML
Handling Errors

Error messages and the standard error format

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