Exception.ToString Method

Definition

Namespace:

System

Assembly:

System.Runtime.dll

Source:

Exception.cs

Creates and returns a string representation of the current exception.

public:
 override System::String ^ ToString();

public override string ToString ();

override this.ToString : unit -> string

Public Overrides Function ToString () As String

Returns

String

A string representation of the current exception.

Examples

The following example causes an exception and displays the result of calling ToString on that exception. Note that the Exception.ToString method is called implicitly when the Exception class instance appears in the argument list of the Console.WriteLine method.

using namespace System;

public ref class TestClass{};

int main()
{
   TestClass^ test = gcnew TestClass;
   array<Object^>^ objectsToCompare = { test, test->ToString(), 123,
                                        (123).ToString(), "some text",
                                        "Some Text" };
   String^ s = "some text";
   for each (Object^ objectToCompare in objectsToCompare) {
      try {
         Int32 i = s->CompareTo(objectToCompare);
         Console::WriteLine("Comparing '{0}' with '{1}': {2}",
                            s, objectToCompare, i);
      }
      catch (ArgumentException^ e) {
            Console::WriteLine("Bad argument: {0} (type {1})",
                              objectToCompare,
                              objectToCompare->GetType()->Name);
            Console::WriteLine("Exception information: {0}", e);
      }
      Console::WriteLine();
   }
}
// The example displays the following output:
//     Bad argument: TestClass (type TestClass)
//     Exception information: System.ArgumentException: Object must be of type String.
//        at System.String.CompareTo(Object value)
//        at Example.Main()
//     
//     Comparing 'some text' with 'TestClass': -1
//     
//     Bad argument: 123 (type Int32)
//     Exception information: System.ArgumentException: Object must be of type String.
//        at System.String.CompareTo(Object value)
//        at Example.Main()
//     
//     Comparing 'some text' with '123': 1
//     
//     Comparing 'some text' with 'some text': 0
//     
//     Comparing 'some text' with 'Some Text': -1

using System;

public class TestClass
{}

public class Example
{
   public static void Main()
   {
      var test = new TestClass();
      Object[] objectsToCompare = { test, test.ToString(), 123,
                                    123.ToString(), "some text",
                                    "Some Text" };
      string s = "some text";
      foreach (var objectToCompare in objectsToCompare) {
         try {
            int i = s.CompareTo(objectToCompare);
            Console.WriteLine("Comparing '{0}' with '{1}': {2}",
                              s, objectToCompare, i);
         }
         catch (ArgumentException e) {
            Console.WriteLine("Bad argument: {0} (type {1})",
                              objectToCompare,
                              objectToCompare.GetType().Name);
            Console.WriteLine("Exception information: {0}", e);
         }
         Console.WriteLine();
      }
   }
}
// The example displays the following output:
//     Bad argument: TestClass (type TestClass)
//     Exception information: System.ArgumentException: Object must be of type String.
//        at System.String.CompareTo(Object value)
//        at Example.Main()
//
//     Comparing 'some text' with 'TestClass': -1
//
//     Bad argument: 123 (type Int32)
//     Exception information: System.ArgumentException: Object must be of type String.
//        at System.String.CompareTo(Object value)
//        at Example.Main()
//
//     Comparing 'some text' with '123': 1
//
//     Comparing 'some text' with 'some text': 0
//
//     Comparing 'some text' with 'Some Text': -1

open System

type TestClass() = class end

let test = TestClass()
let objectsToCompare: obj[] =
    [| test; test.ToString(); 123
       string 123; "some text"
       "Some Text" |]

let s = "some text"
for objectToCompare in objectsToCompare do
    try
        let i = s.CompareTo objectToCompare
        printfn $"Comparing '{s}' with '{objectToCompare}': {i}"
    with :? ArgumentException as e ->
        printfn $"Bad argument: {objectToCompare} (type {objectToCompare.GetType().Name})"
        printfn $"Exception information: {e}"
    printfn ""

// The example displays the following output:
//     Bad argument: Example+TestClass (type TestClass)
//     Exception information: System.ArgumentException: Object must be of type String.
//        at System.String.CompareTo(Object value)
//        at <StartupCode$fs>.$Example.main@()
//
//     Comparing 'some text' with 'Example+TestClass': -1
//
//     Bad argument: 123 (type Int32)
//     Exception information: System.ArgumentException: Object must be of type String.
//        at System.String.CompareTo(Object value)
//        at <StartupCode$fs>.$Example.main@()
//
//     Comparing 'some text' with '123': 1
//
//     Comparing 'some text' with 'some text': 0
//
//     Comparing 'some text' with 'Some Text': -1

Public Class TestClass
End Class 

Public Class Example
   Public Shared Sub Main()
      Dim test As New TestClass()
      Dim objectsToCompare() As Object = { test, test.ToString(), 123,
                                           123.ToString(), "some text",
                                           "Some Text" }
      Dim s As String = "some text"
      For Each objectToCompare In objectsToCompare
         Try
            Dim i As Integer = s.CompareTo(objectToCompare)
            Console.WriteLine("Comparing '{0}' with '{1}': {2}",
                              s, objectToCompare, i)
         Catch e As ArgumentException
            Console.WriteLine("Bad argument: {0} (type {1})",
                              objectToCompare,
                              objectToCompare.GetType().Name)
            Console.WriteLine("Exception information: {0}", e)
         End Try
         Console.WriteLine()
      Next
   End Sub 
End Class 
' The example displays the following output:
'     Bad argument: TestClass (type TestClass)
'     Exception information: System.ArgumentException: Object must be of type String.
'        at System.String.CompareTo(Object value)
'        at Example.Main()
'     
'     Comparing 'some text' with 'TestClass': -1
'     
'     Bad argument: 123 (type Int32)
'     Exception information: System.ArgumentException: Object must be of type String.
'        at System.String.CompareTo(Object value)
'        at Example.Main()
'     
'     Comparing 'some text' with '123': 1
'     
'     Comparing 'some text' with 'some text': 0
'     
'     Comparing 'some text' with 'Some Text': -1

Remarks

ToString returns a representation of the current exception that is intended to be understood by humans. Where the exception contains culture-sensitive data, the string representation returned by ToString is required to take into account the current system culture. Although there are no exact requirements for the format of the returned string, it should attempt to reflect the value of the object as perceived by the user.

The default implementation of ToString obtains the name of the class that threw the current exception, the message, the result of calling ToString on the inner exception, and the result of calling Environment.StackTrace. If any of these members is null, its value is not included in the returned string.

If there is no error message or if it is an empty string (""), then no error message is returned. The name of the inner exception and the stack trace are returned only if they are not null.

This method overrides Object.ToString.