Simplest way to throw an error/exception with a custom message in Swift?

I want to do something in Swift that I'm used to doing in multiple other languages: throw a runtime exception with a custom message. For example (in Java):

throw new RuntimeException("A custom message here")

I understand that I can throw enum types that conform to the ErrorType protocol, but I don't want to have to define enums for every type of error I throw. Ideally, I'd like to be able mimic the example above as closely as possible. I looked into creating a custom class that implements the ErrorType protocol, but I can't even figure out that what that protocol requires. Ideas?

The simplest approach is probably to define one custom enum with just one case that has a String attached to it:

enum MyError: ErrorType {
    case runtimeError(String)
}

Or, as of Swift 4:

enum MyError: Error {
    case runtimeError(String)
}

Example usage would be something like:

func someFunction() throws {
    throw MyError.runtimeError("some message")
}
do {
    try someFunction()
} catch MyError.runtimeError(let errorMessage) {
    print(errorMessage)
}

If you wish to use existing Error types, the most general one would be an NSError, and you could make a factory method to create and throw one with a custom message.

The simplest way is to make String conform to Error:

extension String: Error {}

Then you can just throw a string:

throw "Some Error"

To make the string itself be the localizedString of the error you can instead extend LocalizedError:

extension String: LocalizedError {
    public var errorDescription: String? { return self }
}

@nick-keets's solution is most elegant, but it did break down for me in test target with the following compile time error:

Redundant conformance of 'String' to protocol 'Error'

Here's another approach:

struct RuntimeError: Error {
    let message: String

    init(_ message: String) {
        self.message = message
    }

    public var localizedDescription: String {
        return message
    }
}

And to use:

throw RuntimeError("Error message.")

Swift 4:

As per:

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/foundation/nserror

if you don't want to define a custom exception, you could use a standard NSError object as follows:

import Foundation

do {
  throw NSError(domain: "my error domain", code: 42, userInfo: ["ui1":12, "ui2":"val2"] ) 
}
catch let error as NSError {
  print("Caught NSError: \(error.localizedDescription), \(error.domain), \(error.code)")
  let uis = error.userInfo 
  print("\tUser info:")
  for (key,value) in uis {
    print("\t\tkey=\(key), value=\(value)")
  }
}

Prints:

Caught NSError: The operation could not be completed, my error domain, 42
    User info:
        key=ui1, value=12
        key=ui2, value=val2

This allows you to provide a custom string (the error domain), plus a numeric code and a dictionary with all the additional data you need, of any type.

N.B.: this was tested on OS=Linux (Ubuntu 16.04 LTS).

Check this cool version out. The idea is to implement both String and ErrorType protocols and use the error's rawValue.

enum UserValidationError: String, Error {
  case noFirstNameProvided = "Please insert your first name."
  case noLastNameProvided = "Please insert your last name."
  case noAgeProvided = "Please insert your age."
  case noEmailProvided = "Please insert your email."
}

Usage:

do {
  try User.define(firstName,
                  lastName: lastName,
                  age: age,
                  email: email,
                  gender: gender,
                  location: location,
                  phone: phone)
}
catch let error as User.UserValidationError {
  print(error.rawValue)
  return
}

Simplest way to throw an error/exception with a custom message in Swift?

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