C++ Exceptions questions on rethrow of original exception

Yes, rethrowing rethrows the original exception object, which you have modified by a reference. You can also catch a base class reference, modify by it and still be able to rethrow the original derived exception type by throw;.

In both cases, since you catch by reference, you are effectively altering the state of the original exception object (which you can think of as residing in a magical memory location which will stay valid during the subsequent unwinding -- 0x98e7058 in the example below). However,

1. In the first case, since you rethrow with throw; (which, unlike throw err;, preserves the original exception object, with your modifications, in said "magical location" at 0x98e7058) will reflect the call to append()
2. In the second case, since you throw something explicitly, a copy of err will be created then thrown anew (at a different "magical location" 0x98e70b0 -- because for all the compiler knows err could be an object on the stack about to be unwinded, like e was at 0xbfbce430, not in the "magical location" at 0x98e7058), so you will lose derived-class-specific data during the copy-construction of a base class instance.

Simple program to illustrate what's happening:

#include <stdio.h>

struct MyErr {
  MyErr() {
    printf("  Base default constructor, this=%p\n", this);
  }
  MyErr(const MyErr& other) {
    printf("  Base copy-constructor, this=%p from that=%p\n", this, &other);
  }
  virtual ~MyErr() {
    printf("  Base destructor, this=%p\n", this);
  }
};

struct MyErrDerived : public MyErr {
  MyErrDerived() {
    printf("  Derived default constructor, this=%p\n", this);
  }
  MyErrDerived(const MyErrDerived& other) {
    printf("  Derived copy-constructor, this=%p from that=%p\n", this, &other);
  }
  virtual ~MyErrDerived() {
    printf("  Derived destructor, this=%p\n", this);
  }
};

int main() {
  try {
    try {
      MyErrDerived e;
      throw e;
    } catch (MyErr& err) {
      printf("A Inner catch, &err=%p\n", &err);
      throw;
    }
  } catch (MyErr& err) {
    printf("A Outer catch, &err=%p\n", &err);
  }
  printf("---\n");
  try {
    try {
      MyErrDerived e;
      throw e;
    } catch (MyErr& err) {
      printf("B Inner catch, &err=%p\n", &err);
      throw err;
    }
  } catch (MyErr& err) {
    printf("B Outer catch, &err=%p\n", &err);
  }
  return 0;
}

Result:

  Base default constructor, this=0xbfbce430
  Derived default constructor, this=0xbfbce430
  Base default constructor, this=0x98e7058
  Derived copy-constructor, this=0x98e7058 from that=0xbfbce430
  Derived destructor, this=0xbfbce430
  Base destructor, this=0xbfbce430
A Inner catch, &err=0x98e7058
A Outer catch, &err=0x98e7058
  Derived destructor, this=0x98e7058
  Base destructor, this=0x98e7058
---
  Base default constructor, this=0xbfbce430
  Derived default constructor, this=0xbfbce430
  Base default constructor, this=0x98e7058
  Derived copy-constructor, this=0x98e7058 from that=0xbfbce430
  Derived destructor, this=0xbfbce430
  Base destructor, this=0xbfbce430
B Inner catch, &err=0x98e7058
  Base copy-constructor, this=0x98e70b0 from that=0x98e7058
  Derived destructor, this=0x98e7058
  Base destructor, this=0x98e7058
B Outer catch, &err=0x98e70b0
  Base destructor, this=0x98e70b0

Also see:

• Scope of exception object in C++
• Throwing ... "by reference"

This question is rather old and has an answer appropriate to the time it was asked. However, I just want to add a note on how to do proper exception handling since C++11 and I believe this corresponds very well to what you were trying to achieve with your append function:

Use std::nested_exception and std::throw_with_nested

It is described on StackOverflow here and here, how you can get a backtrace on your exceptions inside your code without need for a debugger or cumbersome logging, by simply writing a proper exception handler which will rethrow nested exceptions.

Since you can do this with any derived exception class, you can add a lot of information to such a backtrace! You may also take a look at my MWE on GitHub, where a backtrace would look something like this:

Library API: Exception caught in function 'api_function'
Backtrace:
~/Git/mwe-cpp-exception/src/detail/Library.cpp:17 : library_function failed
~/Git/mwe-cpp-exception/src/detail/Library.cpp:13 : could not open file "nonexistent.txt"