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How to Handle Failed Requests and Capture Error Messages in Python

In this blog post, we will discuss how to handle failed requests and capture error messages in Python. We will focus on a code snippet that demonstrates the process of handling failed API requests and extracting error messages. This knowledge is crucial for students and working professionals who work with APIs and need to handle error responses effectively.

Code

{
  "status": "fail",
  "message": "ERROR MESSAGE",
  "query": "IP ADDRESS USED FOR QUERY"
}

Code Explanation

The provided code snippet showcases a JSON response structure for failed API requests. Let’s break down the elements of the code example:

{
  "status": "fail",
  "message": "ERROR MESSAGE",
  "query": "IP ADDRESS USED FOR QUERY"
}

– “status”: Indicates the status of the request. In this case, it is “fail,” indicating that the request was not successful.

– “message”: Represents the error message returned by the API. It provides detailed information about what went wrong.

– “query”: Specifies the IP address used for the failed query. This can be useful for debugging purposes.

To handle failed requests and capture error messages in Python, you can use the requests library along with error handling techniques. Here’s an example code snippet:

python
import requests

# Make an API request

response = requests.get(“https://example.com/api”)

# Check if the request was successful

if response.status_code == 200:

# Successful response handling

data = response.json()

# Process the data

else:

# Failed response handling

try:

error_message = response.json()[“message”]

# Capture and handle the error message

print(“Error:”, error_message)

except KeyError:

# Handle unexpected error response

print(“Unknown error occurred”)

    # Additional error handling logic can be added here

In this example, we import the requests library, make an API request, and check the status code of the response. If the response is successful (status code 200), we extract the data and proceed with further processing. However, if the response indicates a failure, we extract the error message from the JSON structure and handle it accordingly. If the error message key is not present or any unexpected error occurs, we provide a generic error message.

By incorporating this error handling approach, you can effectively handle failed requests and capture error messages in your Python programs. This knowledge will greatly benefit you in your work with APIs and enhance the overall robustness of your code.

Conclusion

In this blog post, we explored how to handle failed requests and capture error messages in Python. We discussed a code snippet that demonstrated the structure of a failed API response and provided an example of how to handle such responses using the `requests` library. This knowledge will empower students and working professionals to handle errors effectively while working with APIs. Remember to implement proper error handling techniques to ensure the reliability and stability of your code.

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