Improving Custom Errors for IIS7 Server

Windows Vista RTM: Making it happen for ASP.NET

Jeff Wilcox's Blog on Microsoft UIFx — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 04:42:22 GMT

With the release of Windows Vista, the next generation Microsoft Platform for web developers looking

re: Improving Custom Errors for IIS7 Server

pablo — Sat, 04 Nov 2006 18:15:02 GMT

don't make the headers (Error Summary, Detailed Error Information, etc.) look like buttons.

re: Improving Custom Errors for IIS7 Server

bills — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 00:43:39 GMT

Chris - unfortunately there won't be a way to append more data to the errors, that information is baked into the detailed errors module at compile time. but the 'more information' link is customizable, so you can point users at it for any additional info.

Hatim - the new errors don't use any graphics and are pretty simple HTML/CSS, but I can see how some may not like them. As always, it is hard to choose one style that everyone likes. But the good news is the 'custom errors', as always, are fully customizable so your customers will only see the errors as you want them to be seen. :)

re: Improving Custom Errors for IIS7 Server

Hatim — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 00:05:29 GMT

ASP.Net error pages are way better than the old asp error ones and these ones you are proposing is definitely a step up. What I would suggest is a less graphicy interface. maybe something simpler. (but that's just my taste). Maybe the ability to expand and collapse the blocks. I also like the idea of being able to customize the blocks like with more information and/or add more blocks.

re: Improving Custom Errors for IIS7 Server

ChrisMorrow — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 18:39:38 GMT

Understood. When you say customize the link would that link be statically defined or is there a way to append which exception/error happened and potentially another attribute like which environment (i.e. product code)?

It's still good to know that it's customizable and we can route the user to our system for more help.

Thanks Bill.

re: Improving Custom Errors for IIS7 Server

bills — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 15:05:29 GMT

Thanks Chris! Glad you like them. While you can't extend the 'things to try', you can customize the 'view more information' link to have it point to your own database. maybe that gets you close enough?

re: Improving Custom Errors for IIS7 Server

ChrisMorrow — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 12:51:12 GMT

The new look is a huge improvement, and I also like Tom's idea from above. I'm curious if the 'Things to try' could also be extended for the errors so in scenarios on a hosted environment we could plug in our own 'things to try' that related to the hosted package they've purchased. Somewhat along the same concept used in the MOM 2005 tool where you can plug in your own troubleshooting information. Great stuff !!!

re: Improving Custom Errors for IIS7 Server

bills — Mon, 23 Oct 2006 15:21:12 GMT

Tom - that is a great idea. I'll be sure to pass it along to the guys who are designing the error database to make sure to think about doing that. at a minimum we will provide the ability to send feedback on the errors. thanks!

re: Improving Custom Errors for IIS7 Server

Tom Pester — Mon, 23 Oct 2006 12:13:19 GMT

Looks very useful. Can we also add information to the error database ourselves? Some moderation would be in order but do you think this would be a good idea in essence?

re: Improving Custom Errors for IIS7 Server

Matt Milner — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 14:58:31 GMT

I like the proposed formatting MUCH better. It is a lot cleaner, provides a nice segmentation of the details and therefore makes it easier for me to find what I am looking for. Very helpful to have the offending module and the links to the error database. Very cool stuff.

re: Improving Custom Errors for IIS7 Server

Nevada — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 10:59:30 GMT

This sounds really nice and should make my life troubleshooting much easier. On a related not I'd be interested in seeing what improvements have been made in IIS7 for logging. Both of the screen shots look really nice. The second one looks a little long but then again it has lots of good information. Would it be possible to have each of those sections be collapsible? I'm thinking of the way IE7 has the "More Information" section that you can expand on a 404 error or the "Show more tab shortcuts" section when you hit Ctrl+T to open a new tab. Maybe have the "Most likely causes", "What you can try", and "Links & More Information" sections collapsed by default and the "Error Summary" and "Detailed Error Information" sections expanded by default.