ActionScript® 3.0 Reference for the Adobe® Flash® Platform
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Error  - AS3

PackageTop Level
Classpublic dynamic class Error
InheritanceError Inheritance Object
Subclasses ArgumentError, AugmentedError, AutomationError, CollectionViewError, ComplexCyclicDependencyError, Conflict, ConstraintError, CursorError, DataServiceError, DefinitionError, DRMManagerError, EvalError, ExpressionError, ExpressionEvaluationError, ExpressionValidationError, Fault, FormBridgeError, FunctionSequenceError, IllegalOperationError, InvalidCategoryError, InvalidFilterError, InvalidSWFError, IOError, ItemPendingError, MediaError, MemoryError, MessagingError, MetricError, NoDataAvailableError, PersistenceError, PersistenceError, ProxyServiceError, RangeError, ReferenceError, ScriptTimeoutError, SecurityError, SimpleCyclicDependencyError, SortError, SQLError, StackOverflowError, SyncManagerError, SyntaxError, TypeError, UnresolvedConflictsError, URIError, VerifyError, VideoError, VideoError

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: AIR 1.0, Flash Player 9, Flash Lite 4

The Error class contains information about an error that occurred in a script. In developing ActionScript 3.0 applications, when you run your compiled code in the debugger version of a Flash runtime, a dialog box displays exceptions of type Error, or of a subclass, to help you troubleshoot the code. You create an Error object by using the Error constructor function. Typically, you throw a new Error object from within a try code block that is caught by a catch code block.

You can also create a subclass of the Error class and throw instances of that subclass.

View the examples

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Public Properties
 PropertyDefined By
 Inheritedconstructor : Object
A reference to the class object or constructor function for a given object instance.
Object
  errorID : int
[read-only] Contains the reference number associated with the specific error message.
Error
  message : String
Contains the message associated with the Error object.
Error
  name : String
Contains the name of the Error object.
Error
Public Methods
 MethodDefined By
  
Error(message:String = "", id:int = 0)
Creates a new Error object.
Error
  
Returns the call stack for an error at the time of the error's construction as a string.
Error
 Inherited
Indicates whether an object has a specified property defined.
Object
 Inherited
Indicates whether an instance of the Object class is in the prototype chain of the object specified as the parameter.
Object
 Inherited
Indicates whether the specified property exists and is enumerable.
Object
 Inherited
Sets the availability of a dynamic property for loop operations.
Object
 Inherited
Returns the string representation of this object, formatted according to locale-specific conventions.
Object
  
[override] Returns the string "Error" by default or the value contained in the Error.message property, if defined.
Error
 Inherited
Returns the primitive value of the specified object.
Object
Property Detail

errorID

property
errorID:int  [read-only]

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: AIR 1.0, Flash Player 9, Flash Lite 4

Contains the reference number associated with the specific error message. For a custom Error object, this number is the value from the id parameter supplied in the constructor.



Implementation
    public function get errorID():int

message

property 
public var message:String

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: AIR 1.0, Flash Player 9, Flash Lite 4

Contains the message associated with the Error object. By default, the value of this property is "Error". You can specify a message property when you create an Error object by passing the error string to the Error constructor function.

Related API Elements

name

property 
public var name:String

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: AIR 1.0, Flash Player 9, Flash Lite 4

Contains the name of the Error object. By default, the value of this property is "Error".

Related API Elements

Constructor Detail

Error

()Constructor
public function Error(message:String = "", id:int = 0)

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: AIR 1.0, Flash Player 9, Flash Lite 4

Creates a new Error object. If message is specified, its value is assigned to the object's Error.message property.

Parameters
message:String (default = "") — A string associated with the Error object; this parameter is optional.
 
id:int (default = 0) — A reference number to associate with the specific error message.

Related API Elements


Example  ( How to use this example )

The following example creates a new Error object err and then, using the Error() constructor, assigns the string "New Error Message" to err.

var err:Error = new Error();
trace(err.toString());    // Error

err = new Error("New Error Message");
trace(err.toString());    // Error: New Error Message
Method Detail

getStackTrace

()method
public function getStackTrace():String

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: AIR 1.0, Flash Player 9, Flash Lite 4

Returns the call stack for an error at the time of the error's construction as a string. As shown in the following example, the first line of the return value is the string representation of the exception object, followed by the stack trace elements:

     TypeError: Error #1009: Cannot access a property or method of a null object reference
         at com.xyz::OrderEntry/retrieveData()[/src/com/xyz/OrderEntry.as:995]
         at com.xyz::OrderEntry/init()[/src/com/xyz/OrderEntry.as:200]
         at com.xyz::OrderEntry()[/src/com/xyz/OrderEntry.as:148]
        

The preceding listing shows the value of this method when called in a debugger version of Flash Player or code running in the AIR Debug Launcher (ADL). When code runs in a release version of Flash Player or AIR, the stack trace is provided without the file path and line number information, as in the following example:

     TypeError: Error #1009: Cannot access a property or method of a null object reference
         at com.xyz::OrderEntry/retrieveData()
         at com.xyz::OrderEntry/init()
         at com.xyz::OrderEntry()
        

For Flash Player 11.4 and earlier and AIR 3.4 and earlier, stack traces are only available when code is running in the debugger version of Flash Player or the AIR Debug Launcher (ADL). In non-debugger versions of those runtimes, calling this method returns null.

Returns
String — A string representation of the call stack.

toString

()method 
override public function toString():String

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: AIR 1.0, Flash Player 9, Flash Lite 4

Returns the string "Error" by default or the value contained in the Error.message property, if defined.

Returns
String — The error message.

Related API Elements


Example  ( How to use this example )

The following example creates a new Error object err and then, using the Error() constructor, assigns the string "New Error Message" to err. Finally, the message property is set to "Another New Error Message", which overwrites "New Error Message".

var err:Error = new Error();
trace(err.toString());    // Error

err = new Error("New Error Message");
trace(err.toString());    // Error: New Error Message

err.message = "Another New Error Message";
trace(err.toString());    // Error: Another New Error Message
ErrorExample.as

The following example uses the ErrorExample class to show how a custom error can be generated. This is accomplished with the following steps:
  1. A local variable nullArray of Array type is declared, but notice that a new Array object is never created.
  2. The constructor attempts to load a value into the uninitialized array by using the push() method within an error handling code segment that catches a custom error by using the CustomError class, which extends Error.
  3. When the CustomError is thrown, the constructor catches it and then outputs an error message by using the trace() statement.
package
{
    import flash.display.Sprite;
    public class ErrorExample extends Sprite 
    {
        private var nullArray:Array;
        public function ErrorExample() 
        {
            try 
            {
                nullArray.push("item");
            }
            catch(e:Error) 
            {
                throw new CustomError("nullArray is null");
            }
        }
    }
}

class CustomError extends Error 
{
    public function CustomError(message:String) 
    {
        super(message);
    }
}