+try{
+ $result = civicrm_api3('contact', 'getvalue', $params);
+}
+catch (CiviCRM_API3_Exception $e) {
+ // handle error here
+ $errorMessage = $e->getMessage();
+ $errorCode = $e->getErrorCode();
+ $errorData = $e->getExtraParams();
+ return array('error' => $errorMessage, 'error_code' => $errorCode, 'error_data' => $errorData);
+}