Error Handling ============== Nadzoring follows a consistent error-handling pattern across all Python APIs: functions **never raise exceptions for expected failures** (DNS errors, network timeouts, missing PTR records, SSL connection errors). All such failures are returned as structured data, making the library safe to use in automation scripts without wrapping every call in try/except. Only truly unexpected errors (programming mistakes, missing system commands, unsupported operating systems) are allowed to propagate as exceptions. ---- DNS Result Pattern ------------------ Functions that perform DNS lookups (``resolve_with_timer``, ``reverse_dns``) return a dictionary with an ``"error"`` key. Always check it before using other fields: .. code-block:: python from nadzoring.dns_lookup.utils import resolve_with_timer result = resolve_with_timer("example.com", "A") if result["error"]: # Handle the error print("DNS error:", result["error"]) else: # Safe to use records and response_time print(result["records"]) print(f"RTT: {result['response_time']} ms") Possible error values for ``resolve_with_timer``: - ``"Domain does not exist"`` — NXDOMAIN response - ``"No A records"`` (or any record type) — domain exists but has no records of the requested type - ``"Query timeout"`` — nameserver did not respond within the timeout - Any other string — unexpected resolver error (e.g. malformed response) **Reverse DNS:** .. code-block:: python from nadzoring.dns_lookup.reverse import reverse_dns result = reverse_dns("8.8.8.8") if result["error"]: print("Reverse lookup failed:", result["error"]) # "No PTR record", "No reverse DNS", "Query timeout", # "Invalid IP address: …" else: print(result["hostname"]) ---- Timeout Errors -------------- The `OperationTimeoutError` exception is raised when a lifetime timeout is exceeded. This is an **expected failure** — it should be caught and handled by converting to an error field in the result dict, not allowed to propagate to the user. .. code-block:: python from nadzoring.utils.timeout import TimeoutConfig, timeout_context, OperationTimeoutError config = TimeoutConfig(lifetime=5.0) try: with timeout_context(config): result = long_running_operation() except OperationTimeoutError: result = {"error": "Operation exceeded lifetime timeout"} **When to use:** Lifetime timeouts are useful for operations that may hang indefinitely (e.g., DNS queries to unresponsive servers, socket connections to firewalled hosts). Phase-specific timeouts (connect/read) are handled by socket timeouts and do not raise `OperationTimeoutError`. **Platform differences:** On Unix systems, `timeout_context` uses SIGALRM which can interrupt blocking system calls. On Windows, the timeout is checked only after the operation completes (best-effort). ---- Empty-Result Pattern -------------------- Some functions return an empty dict (or empty list) when the result cannot be partially valid. This is common for geolocation, WHOIS, or system information commands. .. code-block:: python from nadzoring.network_base.geolocation_ip import geo_ip result = geo_ip("8.8.8.8") if not result: print("Geolocation unavailable (private IP, rate-limit, or network error)") else: print(result["city"], result["country"]) from nadzoring.network_base.whois_lookup import whois_lookup result = whois_lookup("example.com") if result.get("error"): print("WHOIS lookup failed:", result["error"]) # "WHOIS lookup failed. Ensure 'whois' is installed." ---- Exception Pattern ------------------ Exceptions are reserved for system-level failures that the caller cannot reasonably handle inline. All custom exceptions inherit from ``nadzoring.utils.errors.NadzoringError``. .. code-block:: python from nadzoring.arp.cache import ARPCache, ARPCacheRetrievalError from nadzoring.utils.errors import ARPError, DNSError, NetworkError try: cache = ARPCache() entries = cache.get_cache() except ARPCacheRetrievalError as exc: # System command missing, permission denied, etc. print("Cannot read ARP cache:", exc) # Catch any Nadzoring error at any granularity try: # some operation pass except NadzoringError as exc: print("A Nadzoring operation failed:", exc) except DNSError as exc: # Handle only DNS-related errors print("DNS operation failed:", exc) Common exception types: - ``DNSError`` — base for all DNS errors - ``DNSResolutionError`` — resolution failed - ``DNSTimeoutError`` — query timed out - ``DNSDomainNotFoundError`` — NXDOMAIN - ``DNSNoRecordsError`` — record type not present - ``NetworkError`` — base for network errors - ``HostResolutionError`` — hostname resolution failed - ``ConnectionTimeoutError`` — connection timed out - ``UnsupportedPlatformError`` — OS not supported - ``ARPError`` — base for ARP errors - ``ARPCacheRetrievalError`` — failed to read ARP cache - ``ValidationError`` — input validation failed - ``InvalidIPAddressError`` — not a valid IP - ``InvalidDomainError`` — not a valid domain name - ``InvalidPortError`` — port out of range ---- Command-Line Error Handling --------------------------- When using the CLI, errors are displayed in red and the command exits with a non-zero status code. Use ``--quiet`` to suppress all output except the error message. .. code-block:: bash $ nadzoring dns resolve non-existent-domain.example DNS error: Domain does not exist $ echo $? 1 $ nadzoring dns resolve -o json non-existent-domain.example {"error": "Domain does not exist", ...} $ echo $? 1 Timeout errors in CLI: When a lifetime timeout is exceeded, the command exits with an error message and a non-zero status code. Phase-specific timeouts (connect/read) are handled within the operation and returned as error fields where applicable. .. code-block:: bash $ nadzoring dns resolve --timeout 1 slow-domain.example DNS error: Operation exceeded lifetime timeout $ echo $? 1 ---- Best Practices for Scripts -------------------------- 1. **Always check the error field** for DNS/network operations. 2. **Use truthiness checks** for functions that return empty dicts/lists. 3. **Catch specific exceptions** only for system-level failures. 4. **Use timeout contexts** for operations that may hang. 5. **Use the structured error values** for logging and alerting. Example robust monitoring script with timeout support: .. code-block:: python from nadzoring.dns_lookup.utils import resolve_with_timer from nadzoring.dns_lookup.health import health_check_dns from nadzoring.utils.errors import NadzoringError from nadzoring.utils.timeout import TimeoutConfig def check_domain(domain: str, timeout_sec: float = 30.0) -> dict: """Safe domain checker — never raises.""" timeout_config = TimeoutConfig(lifetime=timeout_sec) result = { "domain": domain, "a_record": None, "health_score": None, "error": None, } # DNS resolution with timeout a_result = resolve_with_timer( domain, "A", timeout_config=timeout_config, ) if a_result["error"]: result["error"] = f"A record failed: {a_result['error']}" return result result["a_record"] = a_result["records"][0] # Health check try: health = health_check_dns(domain, timeout_config=timeout_config) result["health_score"] = health["score"] except NadzoringError as exc: # System-level failure (unlikely, but possible) result["error"] = f"Health check system error: {exc}" return result # Use it data = check_domain("example.com", timeout_sec=10.0) if data["error"]: print(f"Check failed: {data['error']}") else: print(f"OK: {data['a_record']} score={data['health_score']}")