Custom exception type

Question

Can I define custom types for user-defined exceptions in JavaScript? If so, how would I do it?

Answer 1

I often use an approach with prototypal inheritance. Overriding toString() gives you the advantage that tools like Firebug will log the actual information instead of [object Object] to the console for uncaught exceptions.

Use instanceof to determine the type of exception.

main.js

// just an exemplary namespace
var ns = ns || {};

// include JavaScript of the following
// source files here (e.g. by concatenation)

var someId = 42;
throw new ns.DuplicateIdException('Another item with ID ' +
    someId + ' has been created');
// Firebug console:
// uncaught exception: [Duplicate ID] Another item with ID 42 has been created

Exception.js

ns.Exception = function() {
}

/**
 * Form a string of relevant information.
 *
 * When providing this method, tools like Firebug show the returned 
 * string instead of [object Object] for uncaught exceptions.
 *
 * @return {String} information about the exception
 */
ns.Exception.prototype.toString = function() {
    var name = this.name || 'unknown';
    var message = this.message || 'no description';
    return '[' + name + '] ' + message;
};

DuplicateIdException.js

ns.DuplicateIdException = function(message) {
    this.name = 'Duplicate ID';
    this.message = message;
};

ns.DuplicateIdException.prototype = new ns.Exception();