ArgumentException
Class
Definition
The exception that is thrown when one of the arguments provided to a method is not valid.
[System.Runtime.InteropServices.ComVisible(true)]
public class ArgumentException : SystemException
- Inheritance
- Derived
- Attributes
Inherited Members
System.Exception
System.Object
Examples
The following example demonstrates how to throw and catch an ArgumentException. It uses the ArgumentException.GetType().Name property to display the name of the exception object, and also uses the Message property to display the text of the exception message.
using namespace System;
static int DivideByTwo(int num)
{
// If num is an odd number, throw an ArgumentException.
if ((num & 1) == 1)
throw gcnew ArgumentException(String::Format("{0} is not an even number", num),
"num");
// num is even, return half of its value.
return num / 2;
}
void main()
{
// Define some integers for a division operation.
array<int>^ values = { 10, 7 };
for each (int value in values) {
try {
Console::WriteLine("{0} divided by 2 is {1}", value, DivideByTwo(value));
}
catch (ArgumentException^ e) {
Console::WriteLine("{0}: {1}", e->GetType()->Name, e->Message);
}
Console::WriteLine();
}
}
// This example displays the following output:
// 10 divided by 2 is 5
//
// ArgumentException: 7 is not an even number
// Parameter name: num
using System;
public class Example
{
static void Main()
{
// Define some integers for a division operation.
int[] values = { 10, 7 };
foreach (var value in values) {
try {
Console.WriteLine("{0} divided by 2 is {1}", value, DivideByTwo(value));
}
catch (ArgumentException e) {
Console.WriteLine("{0}: {1}", e.GetType().Name, e.Message);
}
Console.WriteLine();
}
}
static int DivideByTwo(int num)
{
// If num is an odd number, throw an ArgumentException.
if ((num & 1) == 1)
throw new ArgumentException(String.Format("{0} is not an even number", num),
"num");
// num is even, return half of its value.
return num / 2;
}
}
// This example displays the following output:
// 10 divided by 2 is 5
//
// ArgumentException: 7 is not an even number
// Parameter name: num
Public Class Example
Public Shared Sub Main()
' Define some integers for a division operation.
Dim values() As Integer = { 10, 7 }
For Each value In values
Try
Console.WriteLine("{0} divided by 2 is {1}", value, DivideByTwo(value))
Catch e As ArgumentException
Console.WriteLine("{0}: {1}", e.GetType().Name, e.Message)
End Try
Console.WriteLine()
Next
End Sub
Private Shared Function DivideByTwo(ByVal num As Integer) As Integer
' If num is an odd number, throw an ArgumentException.
If (num And 1) = 1 Then
Throw New ArgumentException(String.Format("{0} is not an even number", num),
"num")
End If
Return num \ 2
End Function
End Class
' The example displays the following output:
' 10 divided by 2 is 5
'
' ArgumentException: 7 is not an even number
' Parameter name: num
Remarks
ArgumentException is thrown when a method is invoked and at least one of the passed arguments does not meet the parameter specification of the called method. The ParamName property identifies the invalid argument.
Most commonly, an ArgumentException is thrown by the common language runtime or another class library and indicates developer error. If you throw an ArgumentException from your code, you should ensure that the exception's Message property includes a meaningful error message that describes the invalid argument and the expected range of values for the argument.
The primary derived classes of ArgumentException are ArgumentNullException and ArgumentOutOfRangeException. These derived classes should be used instead of ArgumentException, except in situations where neither of the derived classes is acceptable. For example, exceptions should be thrown by:
ArgumentNullException whenever
nullis passed to a method that does not accept it as a valid argument.ArgumentOutOfRangeException when the value of an argument is outside the range of acceptable values; for example, when the value "46" is passed as the month argument during the creation of a DateTime.
If the method call does not have any argument or if the failure does not involve the arguments themselves, then InvalidOperationException should be used.
ArgumentException uses the HRESULT COR_E_ARGUMENT, which has the value 0x80070057.
For a list of initial property values for an instance of ArgumentException, see the ArgumentException constructors.
Constructors
| ArgumentException() |
Initializes a new instance of the ArgumentException class. |
| ArgumentException(String) |
Initializes a new instance of the ArgumentException class with a specified error message. |
| ArgumentException(SerializationInfo, StreamingContext) |
Initializes a new instance of the ArgumentException class with serialized data. |
| ArgumentException(String, Exception) |
Initializes a new instance of the ArgumentException class with a specified error message and a reference to the inner exception that is the cause of this exception. |
| ArgumentException(String, String) |
Initializes a new instance of the ArgumentException class with a specified error message and the name of the parameter that causes this exception. |
| ArgumentException(String, String, Exception) |
Initializes a new instance of the ArgumentException class with a specified error message, the parameter name, and a reference to the inner exception that is the cause of this exception. |
Properties
| Message |
Gets the error message and the parameter name, or only the error message if no parameter name is set. |
| ParamName |
Gets the name of the parameter that causes this exception. |
Methods
| GetObjectData(SerializationInfo, StreamingContext) |
Sets the SerializationInfo object with the parameter name and additional exception information. |