terminate (CRT)

Calls abort or a function you specify using set_terminate.

Syntax

void terminate( void );

Remarks

The terminate function is used with C++ exception handling and is called in the following cases:

  • A matching catch handler can't be found for a thrown C++ exception.

  • An exception is thrown by a destructor function during stack unwind.

  • The stack is corrupted after throwing an exception.

terminate calls abort by default. You can change this default by writing your own termination function and calling set_terminate with the name of your function as its argument. terminate calls the last function given as an argument to set_terminate. For more information, see Unhandled C++ Exceptions.

By default, this function's global state is scoped to the application. To change this behavior, see Global state in the CRT.

Requirements

Routine Required header
terminate <eh.h>

For more compatibility information, see Compatibility.

Example

// crt_terminate.cpp
// compile with: /EHsc
#include <eh.h>
#include <process.h>
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

void term_func();

int main()
{
    int i = 10, j = 0, result;
    set_terminate( term_func );
    try
    {
        if( j == 0 )
            throw "Divide by zero!";
        else
            result = i/j;
    }
    catch( int )
    {
        cout << "Caught some integer exception.\n";
    }
    cout << "This should never print.\n";
}

void term_func()
{
    cout << "term_func() was called by terminate().\n";

    // ... cleanup tasks performed here

    // If this function does not exit, abort is called.

    exit(-1);
}
term_func() was called by terminate().

See also

Exception handling routines
abort
_set_se_translator
set_terminate
set_unexpected
unexpected