⎕EA Execute Alternate

Note: The use of ⎕EA is now deprecated, unless you need to retain compatibility with IBM's APL2. For most cases, we recommend that you use the structured-control error trapping mechanism (:Try :CatchIf :CatchAll :EndTry) instead.

The dyadic system function ⎕EA will attempt to execute its right argument. If an error (or interrupt) occurs it will then attempt to execute its left argument. Errors in the left argument will be handled as they would be normally.

             5÷0
       DOMAIN ERROR                  (Standard error)
             5÷0
             ^
             '5÷1' ⎕EA '5÷0'         (Alternative expression executed)
       5
             '3÷0' ⎕EA '5÷0'         (The alternative will report an error
       ⍎ DOMAIN ERROR                 in the usual way if it contains an error)
             3÷0
             ^

See the section on Error Handling for more information.