Error Pages — ODAC.JS Docs
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🚨 Error Pages

Odac framework provides built-in error handling with customizable error pages for different HTTP status codes. You can define custom error pages to provide a better user experience when things go wrong.

error(statusCode, controller)

Maps HTTP error status codes to custom controller handlers. This allows you to create branded error pages instead of showing generic browser error messages.

  • statusCode: The HTTP status code to handle (e.g., 404, 500).
  • controller: The name of the controller file to handle this error.
// Custom 404 Not Found page
Odac.Route.error(404, 'errors/not-found');

// Custom 500 Internal Server Error page
Odac.Route.error(500, 'errors/server-error');

// Custom 403 Forbidden page
Odac.Route.error(403, 'errors/forbidden');

Common Error Status Codes

  • 404 Not Found: Page or resource doesn't exist
  • 403 Forbidden: Access denied to the resource
  • 500 Internal Server Error: Server-side error occurred
  • 401 Unauthorized: Authentication required
  • 400 Bad Request: Invalid request format

Error Controller Example

Create error controllers in your controller/errors/ directory:

// controller/errors/not-found.js
module.exports = function() {
    Odac.response.status(404);
    return Odac.view('errors/404', {
        title: 'Page Not Found',
        message: 'The page you are looking for could not be found.'
    });
};

// controller/errors/server-error.js
module.exports = function() {
    Odac.response.status(500);
    return Odac.view('errors/500', {
        title: 'Server Error',
        message: 'Something went wrong on our end. Please try again later.'
    });
};

Error Views

Create corresponding view templates in your view/errors/ directory:

<!-- view/errors/404.html -->
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>{{title}}</title>
</head>
<body>
    <h1>404 - Page Not Found</h1>
    <p>{{message}}</p>
    <a href="/">Go back to homepage</a>
</body>
</html>

Default Error Handling

If no custom error page is defined, Odac will fall back to its built-in error responses. It's recommended to at least define custom 404 and 500 error pages for a professional user experience.

Error Context

Error controllers receive the same Odac context as regular controllers, allowing you to:

  • Access request information (Odac.request)
  • Use database connections (Odac.db)
  • Render views with data (Odac.view)
  • Redirect users (Odac.redirect)
  • Log error details for debugging
// controller/errors/server-error.js
module.exports = function() {
    // Log the error for debugging
    console.error('Server error occurred:', Odac.request.url);
    
    Odac.response.status(500);
    return Odac.view('errors/500', {
        title: 'Oops! Something went wrong',
        supportEmail: 'support@yoursite.com'
    });
};