parse errors when testing for undefined exceptions

This is a simple example of why making a parse error out of undefined Exception types is going to be very problematic. function test($a) { if (!extension_exists('sqlite')) {

       return;

} try {

       SQLite::query($a);
          // parse error!!! - if we dont have sqlite, we dont have SQLite exception!

} catch(SQLite_Exception $e) {

       echo "problem with query";
       return;

} } This has a big knock on effect that we can not lazy load Exception definitions, even if they are only used in Exceptional situations. (its pretty much the same issue as instanceof - forcing the loading of code, that may never be used, except to test it's non-existance.) Regards Alan