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
messageOptional- Human-readable description of the error
fileNameOptional- The name of the file containing the code that caused the exception
lineNumberOptional- The line number of the code that caused the exception
Properties
SyntaxError.prototype- Allows the addition of properties to a
SyntaxErrorobject.
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
SyntaxErrorshould provide its ownmessageproperty, 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); // true
console.error(e.message); // "missing ; before statement"
console.error(e.name); // "SyntaxError"
console.error(e.fileName); // "Scratchpad/1"
console.error(e.lineNumber); // 1
console.error(e.columnNumber); // 4
console.error(e.stack); // "@Scratchpad/1:2:3\n"
}
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); // "@Scratchpad/2:11:9\n"
}
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