Custom exception type

From WebReference:

throw { 
  name:        "System Error", 
  level:       "Show Stopper", 
  message:     "Error detected. Please contact the system administrator.", 
  htmlMessage: "Error detected. Please contact the <a href=\"mailto:[email protected]\">system administrator</a>.",
  toString:    function(){return this.name + ": " + this.message;} 
}; 

You should create a custom exception that prototypically inherits from Error. For example:

function InvalidArgumentException(message) {
    this.message = message;
    // Use V8's native method if available, otherwise fallback
    if ("captureStackTrace" in Error)
        Error.captureStackTrace(this, InvalidArgumentException);
    else
        this.stack = (new Error()).stack;
}

InvalidArgumentException.prototype = Object.create(Error.prototype);
InvalidArgumentException.prototype.name = "InvalidArgumentException";
InvalidArgumentException.prototype.constructor = InvalidArgumentException;

This is basically a simplified version of what disfated posted above with the enhancement that stack traces work on Firefox and other browsers. It satisfies the same tests that he posted:

Usage:

throw new InvalidArgumentException();
var err = new InvalidArgumentException("Not yet...");

And it will behave is expected:

err instanceof InvalidArgumentException          // -> true
err instanceof Error                             // -> true
InvalidArgumentException.prototype.isPrototypeOf(err) // -> true
Error.prototype.isPrototypeOf(err)               // -> true
err.constructor.name                             // -> InvalidArgumentException
err.name                                         // -> InvalidArgumentException
err.message                                      // -> Not yet...
err.toString()                                   // -> InvalidArgumentException: Not yet...
err.stack                                        // -> works fine!

You could implement your own exceptions and their handling for example like here:

// define exceptions "classes" 
function NotNumberException() {}
function NotPositiveNumberException() {}

// try some code
try {
    // some function/code that can throw
    if (isNaN(value))
        throw new NotNumberException();
    else
    if (value < 0)
        throw new NotPositiveNumberException();
}
catch (e) {
    if (e instanceof NotNumberException) {
        alert("not a number");
    }
    else
    if (e instanceof NotPositiveNumberException) {
        alert("not a positive number");
    }
}

There is another syntax for catching a typed exception, although this won't work in every browser (for example not in IE):

// define exceptions "classes" 
function NotNumberException() {}
function NotPositiveNumberException() {}

// try some code
try {
    // some function/code that can throw
    if (isNaN(value))
        throw new NotNumberException();
    else
    if (value < 0)
        throw new NotPositiveNumberException();
}
catch (e if e instanceof NotNumberException) {
    alert("not a number");
}
catch (e if e instanceof NotPositiveNumberException) {
    alert("not a positive number");
}

Yes. You can throw anything you want: integers, strings, objects, whatever. If you want to throw an object, then simply create a new object, just as you would create one under other circumstances, and then throw it. Mozilla's Javascript reference has several examples.

function MyError(message) {
 this.message = message;
}

MyError.prototype = new Error;

This allows for usage like..

try {
  something();
 } catch(e) {
  if(e instanceof MyError)
   doSomethingElse();
  else if(e instanceof Error)
   andNowForSomethingCompletelyDifferent();
}