How to properly dispose of a WebResponse instance?

Question

Normally, one writes code something like this to download some data using a WebRequest.

using(WebResponse resp = request.GetResponse())  // WebRequest reques         


        

Answer 1

using (var x = GetObject()) {
     statements;
}

is (almost) equivalent to

var x = GetObject();
try {
    statements;
}
finally {
     ((IDisposable)x).Dispose();
}

so your object will always be disposed.

This means that in your case

try {
    using (WebResponse resp = request.GetResponse()) {
        something;
    }
}
catch (WebException ex) {
    DoSomething(ex.Response);
}

ex.Response will be the same object as your local resp object, which is disposed when you get to the catch handler. This means that DoSomething is using a disposed object, and will likely fail with an ObjectDisposedException.