Rule Definition
An empty catch block defeats the purpose of exceptions. When an exception occurs, nothing happens and the program fails for an unknown reason. The application can be in an unknown state that will affect subsequent processing. Since the reason for the issue (the exception type and potential embedded message) are ignored, it will require more time to fix the issue. When the artifacts have a high fan-in the risk is highly increased.

Remediation
The exception must be handled correctly according to its type.

Violation Code Sample

C#

try { ... }
catch ( MyException e)
{
   // DO NOTHING <= VIOLATION
}

ABAP

TRY.
      RESULT = 1 / NUMBER.
      write: / 'Result of division:', RESULT.
      RESULT = SQRT( NUMBER ).
      write: / 'Result of square root:', RESULT.
CATCH CX_SY_ZERODIVIDE into OREF.
* This CATCH block does not contain statements
* and can be considered as not existing...
* TEXT = OREF->GET_TEXT( ).
ENDTRY.

Fixed Code Sample

C#

try { ,,, }
catch ( MyException e)
{
   DoSomething();
}

ABAP
TRY.
      RESULT = 1 / NUMBER.
      write: / 'Result of division:', RESULT.
      RESULT = SQRT( NUMBER ).
      write: / 'Result of square root:', RESULT.
CATCH CX_SY_ZERODIVIDE into OREF.
      TEXT = OREF->GET_TEXT( ).
      cleanup.
      clear RESULT.
ENDTRY.

An insider's guide to writing robust, understandable, maintainable, state-of-the-art ABAP programs - Part 3 Andreas Blumenthal - Horst Keller http://www.javapractices.com/Topic16.cjp http://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/391.html