Error
objects are thrown when runtime errors occur. The Error
object can also be used as a base object for user-defined exceptions. See below for standard built-in error types.
Description
Runtime errors result in new Error
objects being created and thrown.
Error types
Besides the generic Error
constructor, there are seven other core error constructors in JavaScript. For client-side exceptions, see Exception handling statements.
EvalError
- Creates an instance representing an error that occurs regarding the global function
eval()
. InternalError
- Creates an instance representing an error that occurs when an internal error in the JavaScript engine is thrown. E.g. "too much recursion".
RangeError
- Creates an instance representing an error that occurs when a numeric variable or parameter is outside of its valid range.
ReferenceError
- Creates an instance representing an error that occurs when de-referencing an invalid reference.
SyntaxError
- Creates an instance representing a syntax error.
TypeError
- Creates an instance representing an error that occurs when a variable or parameter is not of a valid type.
URIError
- Creates an instance representing an error that occurs when
encodeURI()
ordecodeURI()
are passed invalid parameters.
Constructor
Error()
- Creates a new
Error
object.
Static methods
Error.captureStackTrace()
- A non-standard V8 function that creates the
stack
property on an Error instance.
Instance properties
Error.prototype.message
- Error message.
Error.prototype.name
- Error name.
Error.prototype.description
- A non-standard Microsoft property for the error description. Similar to
message
. Error.prototype.number
- A non-standard Microsoft property for an error number.
Error.prototype.fileName
- A non-standard Mozilla property for the path to the file that raised this error.
Error.prototype.lineNumber
- A non-standard Mozilla property for the line number in the file that raised this error.
Error.prototype.columnNumber
- A non-standard Mozilla property for the column number in the line that raised this error.
Error.prototype.stack
- A non-standard Mozilla property for a stack trace.
Instance methods
Error.prototype.toString()
- Returns a string representing the specified object. Overrides the
Object.prototype.toString()
method.
Examples
Throwing a generic error
Usually you create an Error
object with the intention of raising it using the throw
keyword. You can handle the error using the try...catch
construct:
try { throw new Error('Whoops!') } catch (e) { console.error(e.name + ': ' + e.message) }
Handling a specific error
You can choose to handle only specific error types by testing the error type with the error's constructor
property or, if you're writing for modern JavaScript engines, instanceof
keyword:
try { foo.bar() } catch (e) { if (e instanceof EvalError) { console.error(e.name + ': ' + e.message) } else if (e instanceof RangeError) { console.error(e.name + ': ' + e.message) } // ... etc }
Custom Error Types
You might want to define your own error types deriving from Error
to be able to throw new MyError()
and use instanceof MyError
to check the kind of error in the exception handler. This results in cleaner and more consistent error handling code.
See "What's a good way to extend Error in JavaScript?" on StackOverflow for an in-depth discussion.
ES6 Custom Error Class
Versions of Babel prior to 7 can handle CustomError
class methods, but only when they are declared with Object.defineProperty(). Otherwise, old versions of Babel and other transpilers will not correctly handle the following code without additional configuration.
Some browsers include the CustomError
constructor in the stack trace when using ES2015 classes.
class CustomError extends Error { constructor(foo = 'bar', ...params) { // Pass remaining arguments (including vendor specific ones) to parent constructor super(...params) // Maintains proper stack trace for where our error was thrown (only available on V8) if (Error.captureStackTrace) { Error.captureStackTrace(this, CustomError) } this.name = 'CustomError' // Custom debugging information this.foo = foo this.date = new Date() } } try { throw new CustomError('baz', 'bazMessage') } catch(e) { console.error(e.name) //CustomError console.error(e.foo) //baz console.error(e.message) //bazMessage console.error(e.stack) //stacktrace }
ES5 Custom Error Object
All browsers include the CustomError
constructor in the stack trace when using a prototypal declaration.
function CustomError(foo, message, fileName, lineNumber) { var instance = new Error(message, fileName, lineNumber); instance.name = 'CustomError'; instance.foo = foo; Object.setPrototypeOf(instance, Object.getPrototypeOf(this)); if (Error.captureStackTrace) { Error.captureStackTrace(instance, CustomError); } return instance; } CustomError.prototype = Object.create(Error.prototype, { constructor: { value: Error, enumerable: false, writable: true, configurable: true } }); if (Object.setPrototypeOf){ Object.setPrototypeOf(CustomError, Error); } else { CustomError.__proto__ = Error; } try { throw new CustomError('baz', 'bazMessage'); } catch(e){ console.error(e.name); //CustomError console.error(e.foo); //baz console.error(e.message); //bazMessage }
Specifications
Specification |
---|
ECMAScript (ECMA-262) The definition of 'Error' in that specification. |
Browser compatibility
Desktop | Mobile | Server | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Error | Chrome Full support 1 | Edge Full support 12 | Firefox Full support 1 | IE Full support 6 | Opera Full support 4 | Safari Full support 1 | WebView Android Full support 1 | Chrome Android Full support 18 | Firefox Android Full support 4 | Opera Android Full support 10.1 | Safari iOS Full support 1 | Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0 | nodejs Full support 0.1.100 |
Error() constructor | Chrome Full support 1 | Edge Full support 12 | Firefox Full support 1 | IE Full support 6 | Opera Full support 4 | Safari Full support 1 | WebView Android Full support 1 | Chrome Android Full support 18 | Firefox Android Full support 4 | Opera Android Full support 10.1 | Safari iOS Full support 1 | Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0 | nodejs Full support 0.1.100 |
columnNumber | Chrome No support No | Edge No support No | Firefox Full support 1 | IE No support No | Opera No support No | Safari No support No | WebView Android No support No | Chrome Android No support No | Firefox Android Full support 4 | Opera Android No support No | Safari iOS No support No | Samsung Internet Android No support No | nodejs No support No |
fileName | Chrome No support No | Edge No support No | Firefox Full support 1 | IE No support No | Opera No support No | Safari No support No | WebView Android No support No | Chrome Android No support No | Firefox Android Full support 4 | Opera Android No support No | Safari iOS No support No | Samsung Internet Android No support No | nodejs No support No |
lineNumber | Chrome No support No | Edge No support No | Firefox Full support 1 | IE No support No | Opera No support No | Safari No support No | WebView Android No support No | Chrome Android No support No | Firefox Android Full support 4 | Opera Android No support No | Safari iOS No support No | Samsung Internet Android No support No | nodejs No support No |
message | Chrome Full support 1 | Edge Full support 12 | Firefox Full support 1 | IE Full support 6 | Opera Full support 5 | Safari Full support 1 | WebView Android Full support 1 | Chrome Android Full support 18 | Firefox Android Full support 4 | Opera Android Full support 10.1 | Safari iOS Full support 1 | Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0 | nodejs Full support 0.1.100 |
name | Chrome Full support 1 | Edge Full support 12 | Firefox Full support 1 | IE Full support 6 | Opera Full support 4 | Safari Full support 1 | WebView Android Full support 1 | Chrome Android Full support 18 | Firefox Android Full support 4 | Opera Android Full support 10.1 | Safari iOS Full support 1 | Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0 | nodejs Full support 0.1.100 |
stack | Chrome Full support 3 | Edge Full support 12 | Firefox Full support 1 | IE Full support 10 | Opera Full support 10.5 | Safari Full support 6 | WebView Android Full support ≤37 | Chrome Android Full support 18 | Firefox Android Full support 4 | Opera Android Full support 11 | Safari iOS Full support 6 | Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0 | nodejs Full support 0.1.100 |
toSource | Chrome No support No | Edge No support No | Firefox
No support
1 — 74
| IE No support No | Opera No support No | Safari No support No | WebView Android No support No | Chrome Android No support No | Firefox Android Full support 4 | Opera Android No support No | Safari iOS No support No | Samsung Internet Android No support No | nodejs No support No |
toString | Chrome Full support 1 | Edge Full support 12 | Firefox Full support 1 | IE Full support 6 | Opera Full support 4 | Safari Full support 1 | WebView Android Full support 1 | Chrome Android Full support 18 | Firefox Android Full support 4 | Opera Android Full support 10.1 | Safari iOS Full support 1 | Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0 | nodejs Full support 0.1.100 |
Legend
- Full support
- Full support
- No support
- No support
- Non-standard. Expect poor cross-browser support.
- Non-standard. Expect poor cross-browser support.
- See implementation notes.
- See implementation notes.