vb.net if else logic flow error - asp.net

Question

I am debugging some code in an ASP.net web application project.
I have an If/Else statement nested in a Try/Catch block. Whenever an error occurs within the If block, rather than immediately jumping into the Catch block, it falls into the Else block.
I have stepped through the code repeatedly to witness this happening. When I throw an exception within the if block, I would expect logic to flow into the catch block, and I would never expect to see the if block get hit, and then the else block get hit, that seems to completely defeat the purpose of the if/else logic.
Here is the code in question:
Protected Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
LoadDocument()
End Sub
Private Sub LoadDocument()
Dim taDocuments As New SecureTableAdapters.IndividualDocumentsTableAdapter
Dim dtDocuments As New Secure.IndividualDocumentsDataTable
Dim iDocumentID As Integer = CInt(Request.QueryString("iDocumentID"))
Dim sFileName As String
Dim isMac As Boolean = clsApplication.isMac(Request.Browser.Platform)
Dim bDownloaded As Boolean = False
Try
If taDocuments.FillBy_IndividualDocumentID(dtDocuments, iDocumentID) > 0 Then
Dim oRow As Secure.IndividualDocumentsRow = dtDocuments.Rows(0)
sFileName = "Statement-" & oRow.sFileNumber & ".pdf"
If oRow.sDocumentName.ToUpper.Contains("LEDES") Or oRow.sDocumentName.ToUpper.Contains("TEXT") Then
sFileName = sFileName.Replace("pdf", "txt")
End If
Dim b As Byte() = Nothing
If oRow.IsbExtractedNull = False AndAlso oRow.bExtracted Then
Dim sHost As String = "206.220.201.175"
Dim sPath As String = String.Format("/Legacy/{0}/{1}/{2}.pdf", oRow.iFirmID.ToString, "Individuals", oRow.iIndividualDocumentID.ToString)
b = DownloadDocument(sHost, sPath)
If b Is Nothing Then
'When this line is hit, logic jumps to the else block with the comment below
Throw New Exception("FTP Download Failed")
Else
bDownloaded = True
End If
Else
bDownloaded = False
End If
If bDownloaded = False Then
b = getImage(iDocumentID, "oPDF", "iIndividualDocumentID", "tblIndividualDocuments")
If b Is Nothing Then
Throw New Exception
End If
End If
If isMac Then
Response.ContentType = "application/x-macbinary"
Else
Response.ContentType = "application/octet-stream"
End If
Response.Expires = 0
Response.AddHeader("Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename=""" & sFileName & """")
Response.BinaryWrite(b)
Else
'--->When the exception occurs, logic jumps to this else block
Throw New Exception
End If
Catch ex As Exception
Response.Write("Sorry, that statement could not be located. Please try again, or call us at xxx.xxx.xxxx for further information.")
clsApplication.EmailError("An error occurred downloading a statement: " & vbCrLf & ex.Source & vbCrLf & ex.Message & vbCrLf & ex.StackTrace)
End Try
End Sub
How is this possible?

Answer 1

It sounds like you're using the debugger with Optimizations still turned on. This can cause the Step Traceing to act in seemingly illogical and even impossible ways. This is caused because after the optimizer moves the code and variables around and consolidates different statements, there is no longer a simple or straight-forward relationship between the lines of source-code and the executable instructions.

Answer 2

Sounds like the code you're debugging against might be out of sync with the code that's executing. Try rebuilding the whole solution.

Answer 3

I think you are probably mistaken:
Try the following in simple vb .net winforms program.
Public Class Form1
Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
Try
Dim doIt As Boolean = True
If doIt Then
Throw New Exception("throwing that stuff")
Else
MsgBox("in here - how did that happen?")
End If
Catch ex As Exception
MsgBox(String.Format("That makes sense. Exception is: {0}", ex))
End Try
End Sub
End Class