An example of catching exceptions and printing stack traces in C on Windows, Linux and OS X

stack_traces.c

/* compile with:
on linux:   gcc -g stack_traces.c
on OS X:    gcc -g -fno-pie stack_traces.c
on windows: gcc -g stack_traces.c -limagehlp
*/

#include <signal.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <assert.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdbool.h>
#include <stdint.h>
#include <stdbool.h>
#include <errno.h>

#ifdef _WIN32
  #include <windows.h>
  #include <imagehlp.h>
#else
  #include <err.h>
  #include <execinfo.h>
#endif

// void almost_c99_signal_handler(int sig)
// {
//   switch(sig)
//   {
//     case SIGABRT:
//       fputs("Caught SIGABRT: usually caused by an abort() or assert()\n", stderr);
//       break;
//     case SIGFPE:
//       fputs("Caught SIGFPE: arithmetic exception, such as divide by zero\n", stderr);
//       break;
//     case SIGILL:
//       fputs("Caught SIGILL: illegal instruction\n", stderr);
//       break;
//     case SIGINT:
//       fputs("Caught SIGINT: interactive attention signal, probably a ctrl+c\n", stderr);
//       break;
//     case SIGSEGV:
//       fputs("Caught SIGSEGV: segfault\n", stderr);
//       break;
//     case SIGTERM:
//     default:
//       fputs("Caught SIGTERM: a termination request was sent to the program\n", stderr);
//       break;
//   }
//   _Exit(1);
// }

// void set_signal_handler()
// {
//   signal(SIGABRT, almost_c99_signal_handler);
//   signal(SIGFPE,  almost_c99_signal_handler);
//   signal(SIGILL,  almost_c99_signal_handler);
//   signal(SIGINT,  almost_c99_signal_handler);
//   signal(SIGSEGV, almost_c99_signal_handler);
//   signal(SIGTERM, almost_c99_signal_handler);
// }


static char const * icky_global_program_name;

/* Resolve symbol name and source location given the path to the executable 
   and an address */
int addr2line(char const * const program_name, void const * const addr)
{
  char addr2line_cmd[512] = {0};

  /* have addr2line map the address to the relent line in the code */
  #ifdef __APPLE__
    /* apple does things differently... */
    sprintf(addr2line_cmd,"atos -o %.256s %p", program_name, addr); 
  #else
    sprintf(addr2line_cmd,"addr2line -f -p -e %.256s %p", program_name, addr); 
  #endif

  return system(addr2line_cmd);
}


#ifdef _WIN32
  void windows_print_stacktrace(CONTEXT* context)
  {
    SymInitialize(GetCurrentProcess(), 0, true);

    STACKFRAME frame = { 0 };

    /* setup initial stack frame */
    frame.AddrPC.Offset         = context->Eip;
    frame.AddrPC.Mode           = AddrModeFlat;
    frame.AddrStack.Offset      = context->Esp;
    frame.AddrStack.Mode        = AddrModeFlat;
    frame.AddrFrame.Offset      = context->Ebp;
    frame.AddrFrame.Mode        = AddrModeFlat;

    while (StackWalk(IMAGE_FILE_MACHINE_I386 ,
                     GetCurrentProcess(),
                     GetCurrentThread(),
                     &frame,
                     context,
                     0,
                     SymFunctionTableAccess,
                     SymGetModuleBase,
                     0 ) )
    {
      addr2line(icky_global_program_name, (void*)frame.AddrPC.Offset);
    }

    SymCleanup( GetCurrentProcess() );
  }

  LONG WINAPI windows_exception_handler(EXCEPTION_POINTERS * ExceptionInfo)
  {
    switch(ExceptionInfo->ExceptionRecord->ExceptionCode)
    {
      case EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION:
        fputs("Error: EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION\n", stderr);
        break;
      case EXCEPTION_ARRAY_BOUNDS_EXCEEDED:
        fputs("Error: EXCEPTION_ARRAY_BOUNDS_EXCEEDED\n", stderr);
        break;
      case EXCEPTION_BREAKPOINT:
        fputs("Error: EXCEPTION_BREAKPOINT\n", stderr);
        break;
      case EXCEPTION_DATATYPE_MISALIGNMENT:
        fputs("Error: EXCEPTION_DATATYPE_MISALIGNMENT\n", stderr);
        break;
      case EXCEPTION_FLT_DENORMAL_OPERAND:
        fputs("Error: EXCEPTION_FLT_DENORMAL_OPERAND\n", stderr);
        break;
      case EXCEPTION_FLT_DIVIDE_BY_ZERO:
        fputs("Error: EXCEPTION_FLT_DIVIDE_BY_ZERO\n", stderr);
        break;
      case EXCEPTION_FLT_INEXACT_RESULT:
        fputs("Error: EXCEPTION_FLT_INEXACT_RESULT\n", stderr);
        break;
      case EXCEPTION_FLT_INVALID_OPERATION:
        fputs("Error: EXCEPTION_FLT_INVALID_OPERATION\n", stderr);
        break;
      case EXCEPTION_FLT_OVERFLOW:
        fputs("Error: EXCEPTION_FLT_OVERFLOW\n", stderr);
        break;
      case EXCEPTION_FLT_STACK_CHECK:
        fputs("Error: EXCEPTION_FLT_STACK_CHECK\n", stderr);
        break;
      case EXCEPTION_FLT_UNDERFLOW:
        fputs("Error: EXCEPTION_FLT_UNDERFLOW\n", stderr);
        break;
      case EXCEPTION_ILLEGAL_INSTRUCTION:
        fputs("Error: EXCEPTION_ILLEGAL_INSTRUCTION\n", stderr);
        break;
      case EXCEPTION_IN_PAGE_ERROR:
        fputs("Error: EXCEPTION_IN_PAGE_ERROR\n", stderr);
        break;
      case EXCEPTION_INT_DIVIDE_BY_ZERO:
        fputs("Error: EXCEPTION_INT_DIVIDE_BY_ZERO\n", stderr);
        break;
      case EXCEPTION_INT_OVERFLOW:
        fputs("Error: EXCEPTION_INT_OVERFLOW\n", stderr);
        break;
      case EXCEPTION_INVALID_DISPOSITION:
        fputs("Error: EXCEPTION_INVALID_DISPOSITION\n", stderr);
        break;
      case EXCEPTION_NONCONTINUABLE_EXCEPTION:
        fputs("Error: EXCEPTION_NONCONTINUABLE_EXCEPTION\n", stderr);
        break;
      case EXCEPTION_PRIV_INSTRUCTION:
        fputs("Error: EXCEPTION_PRIV_INSTRUCTION\n", stderr);
        break;
      case EXCEPTION_SINGLE_STEP:
        fputs("Error: EXCEPTION_SINGLE_STEP\n", stderr);
        break;
      case EXCEPTION_STACK_OVERFLOW:
        fputs("Error: EXCEPTION_STACK_OVERFLOW\n", stderr);
        break;
      default:
        fputs("Error: Unrecognized Exception\n", stderr);
        break;
    }
    fflush(stderr);
    /* If this is a stack overflow then we can't walk the stack, so just show
      where the error happened */
    if (EXCEPTION_STACK_OVERFLOW != ExceptionInfo->ExceptionRecord->ExceptionCode)
    {
        windows_print_stacktrace(ExceptionInfo->ContextRecord);
    }
    else
    {
        addr2line(icky_global_program_name, (void*)ExceptionInfo->ContextRecord->Eip);
    }

    return EXCEPTION_EXECUTE_HANDLER;
  }

  void set_signal_handler()
  {
    SetUnhandledExceptionFilter(windows_exception_handler);
  }
#else

  #define MAX_STACK_FRAMES 64
  static void *stack_traces[MAX_STACK_FRAMES];
  void posix_print_stack_trace()
  {
    int i, trace_size = 0;
    char **messages = (char **)NULL;

    trace_size = backtrace(stack_traces, MAX_STACK_FRAMES);
    messages = backtrace_symbols(stack_traces, trace_size);

    /* skip the first couple stack frames (as they are this function and
     our handler) and also skip the last frame as it's (always?) junk. */
    // for (i = 3; i < (trace_size - 1); ++i)
    for (i = 0; i &lt; trace_size; ++i) // we'll use this for now so you can see what's going on
    {
      if (addr2line(icky_global_program_name, stack_traces[i]) != 0)
      {
        printf("  error determining line # for: %s\n", messages[i]);
      }

    }
    if (messages) { free(messages); } 
  }

  void posix_signal_handler(int sig, siginfo_t *siginfo, void *context)
  {
    (void)context;
    switch(sig)
    {
      case SIGSEGV:
        fputs("Caught SIGSEGV: Segmentation Fault\n", stderr);
        break;
      case SIGINT:
        fputs("Caught SIGINT: Interactive attention signal, (usually ctrl+c)\n", stderr);
        break;
      case SIGFPE:
        switch(siginfo->si_code)
        {
          case FPE_INTDIV:
            fputs("Caught SIGFPE: (integer divide by zero)\n", stderr);
            break;
          case FPE_INTOVF:
            fputs("Caught SIGFPE: (integer overflow)\n", stderr);
            break;
          case FPE_FLTDIV:
            fputs("Caught SIGFPE: (floating-point divide by zero)\n", stderr);
            break;
          case FPE_FLTOVF:
            fputs("Caught SIGFPE: (floating-point overflow)\n", stderr);
            break;
          case FPE_FLTUND:
            fputs("Caught SIGFPE: (floating-point underflow)\n", stderr);
            break;
          case FPE_FLTRES:
            fputs("Caught SIGFPE: (floating-point inexact result)\n", stderr);
            break;
          case FPE_FLTINV:
            fputs("Caught SIGFPE: (floating-point invalid operation)\n", stderr);
            break;
          case FPE_FLTSUB:
            fputs("Caught SIGFPE: (subscript out of range)\n", stderr);
            break;
          default:
            fputs("Caught SIGFPE: Arithmetic Exception\n", stderr);
            break;
        }
      case SIGILL:
        switch(siginfo->si_code)
        {
          case ILL_ILLOPC:
            fputs("Caught SIGILL: (illegal opcode)\n", stderr);
            break;
          case ILL_ILLOPN:
            fputs("Caught SIGILL: (illegal operand)\n", stderr);
            break;
          case ILL_ILLADR:
            fputs("Caught SIGILL: (illegal addressing mode)\n", stderr);
            break;
          case ILL_ILLTRP:
            fputs("Caught SIGILL: (illegal trap)\n", stderr);
            break;
          case ILL_PRVOPC:
            fputs("Caught SIGILL: (privileged opcode)\n", stderr);
            break;
          case ILL_PRVREG:
            fputs("Caught SIGILL: (privileged register)\n", stderr);
            break;
          case ILL_COPROC:
            fputs("Caught SIGILL: (coprocessor error)\n", stderr);
            break;
          case ILL_BADSTK:
            fputs("Caught SIGILL: (internal stack error)\n", stderr);
            break;
          default:
            fputs("Caught SIGILL: Illegal Instruction\n", stderr);
            break;
        }
        break;
      case SIGTERM:
        fputs("Caught SIGTERM: a termination request was sent to the program\n", stderr);
        break;
      case SIGABRT:
        fputs("Caught SIGABRT: usually caused by an abort() or assert()\n", stderr);
        break;
      default:
        break;
    }
    posix_print_stack_trace();
    _Exit(1);
  }

  static uint8_t alternate_stack[SIGSTKSZ];
  void set_signal_handler()
  {
    /* setup alternate stack */
    {
      stack_t ss = {};
      /* malloc is usually used here, I'm not 100% sure my static allocation
         is valid but it seems to work just fine. */
      ss.ss_sp = (void*)alternate_stack;
      ss.ss_size = SIGSTKSZ;
      ss.ss_flags = 0;

      if (sigaltstack(&ss, NULL) != 0) { err(1, "sigaltstack"); }
    }

    /* register our signal handlers */
    {
      struct sigaction sig_action = {};
      sig_action.sa_sigaction = posix_signal_handler;
      sigemptyset(&sig_action.sa_mask);

      #ifdef __APPLE__
          /* for some reason we backtrace() doesn't work on osx
             when we use an alternate stack */
          sig_action.sa_flags = SA_SIGINFO;
      #else
          sig_action.sa_flags = SA_SIGINFO | SA_ONSTACK;
      #endif

      if (sigaction(SIGSEGV, &sig_action, NULL) != 0) { err(1, "sigaction"); }
      if (sigaction(SIGFPE,  &sig_action, NULL) != 0) { err(1, "sigaction"); }
      if (sigaction(SIGINT,  &sig_action, NULL) != 0) { err(1, "sigaction"); }
      if (sigaction(SIGILL,  &sig_action, NULL) != 0) { err(1, "sigaction"); }
      if (sigaction(SIGTERM, &sig_action, NULL) != 0) { err(1, "sigaction"); }
      if (sigaction(SIGABRT, &sig_action, NULL) != 0) { err(1, "sigaction"); }
    }
  }
#endif

int  divide_by_zero();
void cause_segfault();
void stack_overflow();
void infinite_loop();
void illegal_instruction();
void cause_calamity();

static char const * icky_global_program_name;

int main(int argc, char * argv[])
{
  (void)argc;

  /* store off program path so we can use it later */
  icky_global_program_name = argv[0];

  set_signal_handler();

  cause_calamity();

  puts("OMG! Nothing bad happend!");

  return 0;
}

void cause_calamity()
{
  /* uncomment one of the following error conditions to cause a calamity of 
   your choosing! */
  
  // (void)divide_by_zero();
  cause_segfault();
  // assert(false);
  // infinite_loop();
  // illegal_instruction();
  // stack_overflow();
}



int divide_by_zero()
{
  int a = 1;
  int b = 0; 
  return a / b;
}

void cause_segfault()
{
  int * p = (int*)0x12345678;
  *p = 0;
}

void stack_overflow();
void stack_overflow()
{
  int foo[1000];
  (void)foo;
  stack_overflow();
}

/* break out with ctrl+c to test SIGINT handling */
void infinite_loop()
{
  while(1) {};
}

void illegal_instruction()
{
  /* I couldn't find an easy way to cause this one, so I'm cheating */
  raise(SIGILL);
}

Since someone asked:

I put this code in the public domain. As such you can use it without restrictions, but I provide no warranty as to its usefulness or fitness for any purpose.

How do you get addr2line work on Windows?
I'm getting
'addr2line' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

@willthink

addr2line is a linux command. Try installing cygwin?

Great example, thanks for sharing. Tho while trying it out on Mac OS 10.14, the stack overflow isn't caught.

Great share, thanks for it !
I cannibalized it to make a simple wrapper.
@munsuri : In the code, the SA_ONSTACK cause some crashes on OSX. I had the same problem on Redhat, and the cause was that the alternate stack was NOT big enough.
Changing the size of static uint8_t alternate_stack[SIGSTKSZ]; to static uint8_t alternate_stack[65536]; gave me better result.
If you see your signal caught, and it's getting a sigseg just after, it's likely that the alt stack size is too low.
Anyway thanks for the share :-)

Where is following function defined ?
messages = backtrace_symbols(stack_traces, trace_size);
Does CYGWIN has CONTEXT structure defined ? If yes what is the header file ?

@MNGanesan No, Cygwin doesn't implement <execinfo.h>, nor does MinGW.

@jvranish I got these errors compiling on Linux:

stack_traces.c: In function ‘posix_print_stack_trace’:
stack_traces.c:216:20: error: ‘lt’ undeclared (first use in this function)
216 | for (i = 0; i < trace_size; ++i) // we'll use this for now so you can see what's going on
| ^~
stack_traces.c:216:20: note: each undeclared identifier is reported only once for each function it appears in
stack_traces.c:216:34: error: expected ‘)’ before ‘;’ token
216 | for (i = 0; i < trace_size; ++i) // we'll use this for now so you can see what's going on