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
new SyntaxError([message[, fileName[, lineNumber]]])
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 ownmessage
property, in SpiderMonkey, it inheritsError.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
try { eval('hoo bar'); } catch (e) { console.error(e instanceof SyntaxError); console.error(e.message); console.error(e.name); console.error(e.fileName); console.error(e.lineNumber); console.error(e.columnNumber); console.error(e.stack); }
Creating a SyntaxError
try { throw new SyntaxError('Hello', 'someFile.js', 10); } catch (e) { console.error(e instanceof SyntaxError); // true console.error(e.message); // Hello console.error(e.name); // SyntaxError console.error(e.fileName); // someFile.js console.error(e.lineNumber); // 10 console.error(e.columnNumber); // 0 console.error(e.stack); // @debugger eval code:3:9 }
Specifications
Specification | Status | Comment |
---|---|---|
ECMAScript Latest Draft (ECMA-262) The definition of 'SyntaxError' in that specification. |
Draft | |
ECMAScript 2015 (6th Edition, ECMA-262) The definition of 'SyntaxError' in that specification. |
Standard | |
ECMAScript 5.1 (ECMA-262) The definition of 'SyntaxError' in that specification. |
Standard | |
ECMAScript 3rd Edition (ECMA-262) | Standard | Initial definition. |
Browser compatibility
The compatibility table on this page is generated from structured data. If you'd like to contribute to the data, please check out https://github.com/mdn/browser-compat-data and send us a pull request.
Update compatibility data on GitHub
Desktop | Mobile | Server | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SyntaxError | Chrome Full support 1 | Edge Full support 12 | Firefox Full support 1 | IE Full support 5.5 | Opera Full support Yes | Safari Full support Yes | WebView Android Full support 1 | Chrome Android Full support 18 | Firefox Android Full support 4 | Opera Android Full support Yes | Safari iOS Full support Yes | Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0 | nodejs Full support Yes |
Legend
- Full support
- Full support