SyntaxError

The SyntaxError object represents an error when trying to interpret syntactically invalid code.

Description

A SyntaxError is thrown when the JavaScript engine encounters tokens or token order that does not conform to the syntax of the language when parsing code.

Syntax

JavaScript
new SyntaxError([<var>message</var>[, <var>fileName</var>[, <var>lineNumber</var>]]])

Parameters

message
Optional. Human-readable description of the error
fileName
Optional. The name of the file containing the code that caused the exception
lineNumber
Optional. The line number of the code that caused the exception

Properties

SyntaxError.prototype
Allows the addition of properties to a SyntaxError object.

Methods

The global SyntaxError contains no methods of its own, however, it does inherit some methods through the prototype chain.

SyntaxError instances

Properties

SyntaxError.prototype.constructor
Specifies the function that created an instance's prototype.
SyntaxError.prototype.message
Error message. Although ECMA-262 specifies that SyntaxError should provide its own message property, in SpiderMonkey, it inherits Error.prototype.message.
SyntaxError.prototype.name
Error name. Inherited from Error.
SyntaxError.prototype.fileName
Path to file that raised this error. Inherited from Error.
SyntaxError.prototype.lineNumber
Line number in file that raised this error. Inherited from Error.
SyntaxError.prototype.columnNumber
Column number in line that raised this error. Inherited from Error.
SyntaxError.prototype.stack
Stack trace. Inherited from Error.

Methods

Although the SyntaxError prototype object does not contain any methods of its own, SyntaxError instances do inherit some methods through the prototype chain.

Examples

Catching a SyntaxError

JavaScript
try {
  eval('hoo bar');
} catch (e) {
  console.log(e instanceof SyntaxError); // true
  console.log(e.message);                // "missing ; before statement"
  console.log(e.name);                   // "SyntaxError"
  console.log(e.fileName);               // "Scratchpad/1"
  console.log(e.lineNumber);             // 1
  console.log(e.columnNumber);           // 4
  console.log(e.stack);                  // "@Scratchpad/1:2:3\n"
}

Creating a SyntaxError

JavaScript
try {
  throw new SyntaxError('Hello', 'someFile.js', 10);
} catch (e) {
  console.log(e instanceof SyntaxError); // true
  console.log(e.message);                // "Hello"
  console.log(e.name);                   // "SyntaxError"
  console.log(e.fileName);               // "someFile.js"
  console.log(e.lineNumber);             // 10
  console.log(e.columnNumber);           // 0
  console.log(e.stack);                  // "@Scratchpad/2:11:9\n"
}

Specifications

Specification Status Comment
ECMAScript 3rd Edition (ECMA-262) Standard Initial definition.
ECMAScript 5.1 (ECMA-262)
The definition of 'SyntaxError' in that specification.
Standard  
ECMAScript 2015 (6th Edition, ECMA-262)
The definition of 'SyntaxError' in that specification.
Standard  
ECMAScript 2017 Draft (ECMA-262)
The definition of 'SyntaxError' in that specification.
Draft  

Browser compatibility

Feature Chrome Firefox (Gecko) Internet Explorer Opera Safari
Basic support (Yes) (Yes) (Yes) (Yes) (Yes)
Feature Android Chrome for Android Firefox Mobile (Gecko) IE Mobile Opera Mobile Safari Mobile
Basic support (Yes) (Yes) (Yes) (Yes) (Yes) (Yes)

See also

License

© 2016 Mozilla Contributors
Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License v2.5 or later.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-us/docs/web/javascript/reference/global_objects/syntaxerror

Error JavaScript Object Reference SyntaxError