MSDN Library > .NET Framework Classes > System Namespace > System.Exception

System.Exception Class

Represents error conditions that prevent the execution of the current method and all subsequent methods in the call stack.

Syntax


public abstract class Exception : System.Runtime.Serialization.ISerializable
{
    // Constructors
    public Exception();
    public Exception(string message);
    public Exception(string message, Exception innerException);

    // Properties
    public virtual string Message { get; }
    public virtual Exception InnerException { get; }
    public virtual string StackTrace { get; }
    public virtual string HelpLink { get; set; }
    public virtual string Source { get; set; }

    // Methods
    public virtual Exception GetBaseException();
    // Other methods...
}

Remarks

The System.Exception class is the base class for all exception classes in the .NET Framework. It is used to signal errors that occur during program execution. When an error occurs, an exception is thrown, which interrupts the normal flow of the program. You can then handle the exception using a try-catch block.

Key properties of the Exception class include:

Message: A description of the error.
InnerException: The exception that caused the current exception. This is useful for preserving the original exception information when re-throwing an exception.
StackTrace: A string representation of the call stack at the time the exception was thrown.

Note: Always catch specific exception types before catching the general System.Exception class. This allows for more precise error handling.

Inheritance Hierarchy

System.Object > System.Exception

Thread Safety

Public static members of this type are thread-safe. Any instance members are not guaranteed to be thread-safe.

Example Usage

The following example demonstrates how to catch a DivideByZeroException, which derives from System.Exception, and display its properties.


try
{
    int zero = 0;
    int result = 10 / zero; // This will throw a DivideByZeroException
}
catch (DivideByZeroException ex)
{
    // Log the exception or display an error message
    Console.WriteLine($"An error occurred: {ex.Message}");
    Console.WriteLine($"Stack Trace: {ex.StackTrace}");
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
    // Handle other potential exceptions
    Console.WriteLine($"An unexpected error occurred: {ex.Message}");
}

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