How to let Apache send 500 in case of PHP error?

Question

Hi!

I'm developing a PHP application that uses HTTP response codes for communication as well as response bodies.

So this is a typical scenario in the PHP code:

   try {
       doSomething();
   } catch(Exception $e) {
       header('HTTP/1.1 500 Internal Server Error');
   }

... and the typical code in clients looks like:

switch(responseCode) {

     case 200 :
         // all fine

         // ....

     case 500 :
         // trouble!

 } 

This is cool, as long as every error is well catched in PHP code.

The problem: If, for any reason in the php code occures an uncatched error, apache will send 200 OK. But I wan't apache to say 500. Maybe per .htaccess or so.

Any suggestions?

Answer 1

You can, of course, write your own error handler. However, not all PHP errors are catchable. For instance, a syntax error won't even allow your code to run, including your error handler.

To handle catchable errors, you can use the auto_append_file and auto_prepend_file directives to place your error handling code code.

Non-catchable errors are a different issue. If PHP runs as Fast CGI, it will automatically generate a 500 status code for you. However, you're probably running PHP through some other SAPI (such as Apache module). No idea about that, sorry. (I'll report back if I find something.)