Exception.Message Property
Gets a message that describes the current exception.
[Visual Basic] Public Overridable ReadOnly Property Message As String [C#] public virtual string Message {get;} [C++] public: __property virtual String* get_Message(); [JScript] public function get Message() : String;
Property Value
The error message that explains the reason for the exception, or an empty string("").
Remarks
The text of Message should completely describe the error and should, when possible, explain how to correct it. The value of the Message property is included in the information returned by ToString.
The Message property is set only when creating an Exception. If no message was supplied to the constructor for the current instance, the system supplies a default message that is formatted using the current system culture.
Notes to Inheritors: The Message property is overridden in classes that require control over message content or format. Application code typically accesses this property when it needs to display information about an exception that has been caught.
The error message should be localized.
Example
[Visual Basic, C#, C++] The following code example throws and then catches an Exception and displays the exception's text message using the Message property.
[Visual Basic] ' Example for the Exception.HelpLink, Exception.Source, ' Exception.StackTrace, and Exception.TargetSite properties. Imports System Imports Microsoft.VisualBasic Namespace NDP_UE_VB ' Derive an exception; the constructor sets the HelpLink and ' Source properties. Class LogTableOverflowException Inherits Exception Private Const overflowMessage As String = _ "The log table has overflowed." Public Sub New( auxMessage As String, inner As Exception ) MyBase.New( String.Format( "{0} - {1}", _ overflowMessage, auxMessage ), inner ) Me.HelpLink = "http://msdn.microsoft.com" Me.Source = "Exception_Class_Samples" End Sub ' New End Class ' LogTableOverflowException Class LogTable Public Sub New(numElements As Integer) logArea = New String(numElements) {} elemInUse = 0 End Sub ' New Protected logArea() As String Protected elemInUse As Integer ' The AddRecord method throws a derived exception if ' the array bounds exception is caught. Public Function AddRecord( newRecord As String ) As Integer Try Dim curElement as Integer = elemInUse logArea( elemInUse ) = newRecord elemInUse += 1 Return curElement Catch ex As Exception Throw New LogTableOverflowException( _ String.Format( "Record ""{0}"" was not logged.", _ newRecord ), ex ) End Try End Function ' AddRecord End Class ' LogTable Module OverflowDemo ' Create a log table and force an overflow. Sub Main( ) Dim log As New LogTable( 4 ) Console.WriteLine( "This example of " & vbCrLf & _ " Exception.Message, " & vbCrLf & _ " Exception.HelpLink, " & vbCrLf & _ " Exception.Source, " & vbCrLf & _ " Exception.StackTrace, and " & vbCrLf & _ " Exception.TargetSite " & vbCrLf & _ "generates the following output." ) Try Dim count As Integer = 0 Do log.AddRecord( _ String.Format( "Log record number {0}", count ) ) count += 1 Loop Catch ex As Exception Console.WriteLine( vbCrLf & _ "Message ---" & vbCrLf & ex.Message ) Console.WriteLine( vbCrLf & _ "HelpLink ---" & vbCrLf & ex.HelpLink ) Console.WriteLine( vbCrLf & _ "Source ---" & vbCrLf & ex.Source ) Console.WriteLine( vbCrLf & _ "StackTrace ---" & vbCrLf & ex.StackTrace ) Console.WriteLine( vbCrLf & "TargetSite ---" & _ vbCrLf & ex.TargetSite.ToString( ) ) End Try End Sub ' Main End Module ' OverflowDemo End Namespace ' NDP_UE_VB ' This example of ' Exception.Message, ' Exception.HelpLink, ' Exception.Source, ' Exception.StackTrace, and ' Exception.TargetSite ' generates the following output. ' ' Message --- ' The log table has overflowed. - Record "Log record number 5" was not logged. ' ' HelpLink --- ' http://msdn.microsoft.com ' ' Source --- ' Exception_Class_Samples ' ' StackTrace --- ' at NDP_UE_VB.LogTable.AddRecord(String newRecord) ' at NDP_UE_VB.OverflowDemo.Main() ' ' TargetSite --- ' Int32 AddRecord(System.String) [C#] // Example for the Exception.HelpLink, Exception.Source, // Exception.StackTrace, and Exception.TargetSite properties. using System; namespace NDP_UE_CS { // Derive an exception; the constructor sets the HelpLink and // Source properties. class LogTableOverflowException : Exception { const string overflowMessage = "The log table has overflowed."; public LogTableOverflowException( string auxMessage, Exception inner ) : base( String.Format( "{0} - {1}", overflowMessage, auxMessage ), inner ) { this.HelpLink = "http://msdn.microsoft.com"; this.Source = "Exception_Class_Samples"; } } class LogTable { public LogTable( int numElements ) { logArea = new string[ numElements ]; elemInUse = 0; } protected string[ ] logArea; protected int elemInUse; // The AddRecord method throws a derived exception if // the array bounds exception is caught. public int AddRecord( string newRecord ) { try { logArea[ elemInUse ] = newRecord; return elemInUse++; } catch( Exception e ) { throw new LogTableOverflowException( String.Format( "Record \"{0}\" was not logged.", newRecord ), e ); } } } class OverflowDemo { // Create a log table and force an overflow. public static void Main() { LogTable log = new LogTable( 4 ); Console.WriteLine( "This example of \n Exception.Message, \n" + " Exception.HelpLink, \n Exception.Source, \n" + " Exception.StackTrace, and \n Exception." + "TargetSite \ngenerates the following output." ); try { for( int count = 1; ; count++ ) { log.AddRecord( String.Format( "Log record number {0}", count ) ); } } catch( Exception ex ) { Console.WriteLine( "\nMessage ---\n{0}", ex.Message ); Console.WriteLine( "\nHelpLink ---\n{0}", ex.HelpLink ); Console.WriteLine( "\nSource ---\n{0}", ex.Source ); Console.WriteLine( "\nStackTrace ---\n{0}", ex.StackTrace ); Console.WriteLine( "\nTargetSite ---\n{0}", ex.TargetSite ); } } } } /* This example of Exception.Message, Exception.HelpLink, Exception.Source, Exception.StackTrace, and Exception.TargetSite generates the following output. Message --- The log table has overflowed. - Record "Log record number 5" was not logged. HelpLink --- http://msdn.microsoft.com Source --- Exception_Class_Samples StackTrace --- at NDP_UE_CS.LogTable.AddRecord(String newRecord) at NDP_UE_CS.OverflowDemo.Main() TargetSite --- Int32 AddRecord(System.String) */ [C++] // Example for the Exception::HelpLink, Exception::Source, // Exception::StackTrace, and Exception::TargetSite properties. #using <mscorlib.dll> using namespace System; namespace NDP_UE_CPP { // Derive an exception; the constructor sets the HelpLink and // Source properties. public __gc class LogTableOverflowException : public Exception { static String* overflowMessage = S"The log table has overflowed."; public: LogTableOverflowException( String* auxMessage, Exception* inner ) : Exception( String::Format( S"{0} - {1}", overflowMessage, auxMessage ), inner ) { this->HelpLink = S"http://msdn.microsoft.com"; this->Source = S"Exception_Class_Samples"; } }; public __gc class LogTable { public: LogTable( int numElements ) { logArea = new String*[ numElements ]; elemInUse = 0; } protected: String* logArea[ ]; int elemInUse; // The AddRecord method throws a derived exception if // the array bounds exception is caught. public: int AddRecord( String* newRecord ) { try { logArea[ elemInUse ] = newRecord; return elemInUse++; } catch( Exception* ex ) { throw new LogTableOverflowException( String::Format( S"Record \"{0}\" was not logged.", newRecord ), ex ); } } }; // Create a log table and force an overflow. void ForceOverflow( ) { LogTable* log = new LogTable( 4 ); try { for( int count = 1; ; count++ ) { log->AddRecord( String::Format( S"Log record number {0}", __box(count) ) ); } } catch( Exception* ex ) { Console::WriteLine( S"\nMessage ---\n{0}", ex->Message ); Console::WriteLine( S"\nHelpLink ---\n{0}", ex->HelpLink ); Console::WriteLine( S"\nSource ---\n{0}", ex->Source ); Console::WriteLine( S"\nStackTrace ---\n{0}", ex->StackTrace ); Console::WriteLine( S"\nTargetSite ---\n{0}", ex->TargetSite->ToString( ) ); } } } void main() { Console::WriteLine( S"This example of \n Exception::Message, \n" S" Exception::HelpLink, \n Exception::Source, \n" S" Exception::StackTrace, and \n Exception::" S"TargetSite \ngenerates the following output." ); NDP_UE_CPP::ForceOverflow( ); } /* This example of Exception::Message, Exception::HelpLink, Exception::Source, Exception::StackTrace, and Exception::TargetSite generates the following output. Message --- The log table has overflowed. - Record "Log record number 5" was not logged. HelpLink --- http://msdn.microsoft.com Source --- Exception_Class_Samples StackTrace --- at NDP_UE_CPP.LogTable.AddRecord(String newRecord) at NDP_UE_CPP.ForceOverflow() TargetSite --- Int32 AddRecord(System.String) */
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Requirements
Platforms: Windows 98, Windows NT 4.0, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 2000, Windows XP Home Edition, Windows XP Professional, Windows Server 2003 family, .NET Compact Framework, Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) Standard