#### 12.1.1 Raising Errors ¶

The most common use of errors is for checking input arguments to functions. The following example calls the `error` function if the function `f` is called without any input arguments.

    function f (arg1)
      if (nargin == 0)
        error ("not enough input arguments");
      endif
    endfunction

When the `error` function is called, it prints the given message and returns to the Octave prompt. This means that no code following a call to `error` will be executed.

It is also possible to assign an identification string to an error. If an error has such an ID the user can catch this error as will be described in the next section. To assign an ID to an error, simply call `error` with two string arguments, where the first is the identification string, and the second is the actual error. Note that error IDs are in the format `"NAMESPACE:ERROR-NAME"`. The namespace `"Octave"` is used for Octave’s own errors. Any other string is available as a namespace for user’s own errors.

error `(msg)` ¶
error `(template, …)` ¶
error `(id, template, …)` ¶
error `(errstruct)` ¶

  Display an error message and stop m-file execution.

  The input msg is a simple string to which the text ‘`error:` ’ is prepended. The resulting message is printed on the `stderr` stream. Alternatively, the first input may be a template string template which uses the same rules as the `printf` family of functions (see Formatted Output). Formatting is only done for single-quoted character vectors if there are additional arguments following the template string. If there are no additional arguments, the template string is used literally (i.e., without interpreting any escape sequences in single-quoted character vectors).

  The optional id argument allows programmers to tag an error with a specific identifier so that users can later retrieve it (using `lasterr` or `lasterror`) and know the origin of the error. The identifier must contain at least one colon character (`':'`) and must not contain any whitespace characters. It should be a string of the form `"NAMESPACE:ERROR-NAME"`. Octave’s own errors use the `"Octave"` namespace (see `error_ids`). For example:

      error ("MyNameSpace:wrong-type-argument",
             "fcn_name: argument should be numeric");

  Calling `error` also sets Octave’s internal error state such that control will return to the top level without evaluating any further commands. This is useful for aborting from functions or scripts.

  If the error message does not end with a newline character, Octave will print a traceback of all the function calls leading to the error. For example, given the following function definitions:

      function f () g (); end
      function g () h (); end
      function h () nargin == 1 || error ("nargin != 1"); end

  calling the function `f` will result in a list of messages that can help you to quickly find the exact location of the error:

      f ()
      error: nargin != 1
      error: called from:
      error:   h at line 1, column 27
      error:   g at line 1, column 15
      error:   f at line 1, column 15

  If the error message ends in a newline character, Octave will print the message but will not display any traceback messages as it returns control to the top level. For example, modifying the error message in the previous example to end in a newline causes Octave to only print a single message:

      function h () nargin == 1 || error ("nargin != 1\n"); end
      f ()
      error: nargin != 1

  A null string ("") input to `error` will be ignored and the code will continue running as if the statement were a NOP. This is for compatibility with MATLAB. It also makes it possible to write code such as

      err_msg = "";
      if (CONDITION 1)
        err_msg = "CONDITION 1 found";
      elseif (CONDITION2)
        err_msg = "CONDITION 2 found";
      ...
      endif
      error (err_msg);

  which will only stop execution if an error has been found.

  The function may also be called with an error structure such as that returned from `lasterror`. The errstruct argument must contain fields `message`, `identifier`, and `stack`. The first two fields are strings with the meanings discussed above. The `stack` field must be a structure or structure array with fields `file`, `name`, and `line`.

  Implementation Note: For compatibility with MATLAB, escape sequences in template (e.g., `"\n"` => newline) are processed regardless of whether template has been defined with single quotes, as long as there are two or more input arguments. To disable escape sequence expansion use a second backslash before the sequence (e.g., `"\\n"`) or use the `regexptranslate` function.

  See also: warning, lasterror.

Since it is common to use errors when there is something wrong with the input to a function, Octave supports functions to simplify such code. When the `print_usage` function is called, it reads the help text of the function calling `print_usage`, and presents a useful error. If the help text is written in Texinfo it is possible to present an error message that only contains the function prototypes as described by the `@deftypefn` parts of the help text. When the help text isn’t written in Texinfo, the error message contains the entire help message.

Consider the following function.

    ## -*- texinfo -*-
    ## @deftypefn {} f (@var{arg1})
    ## Function help text goes here...
    ## @end deftypefn
    function f (arg1)
      if (nargin == 0)
        print_usage ();
      endif
    endfunction

When it is called with no input arguments it produces the following error.

    f ()

    -|  error: Invalid call to f.  Correct usage is:
    -|
    -|   -- f (ARG1)
    -|
    -|
    -|  Additional help for built-in functions and operators is
    -|  available in the online version of the manual.  Use the command
    -|  'doc <topic>' to search the manual index.
    -|
    -|  Help and information about Octave is also available on the WWW
    -|  at https://www.octave.org and via the help@octave.org
    -|  mailing list.

print_usage `()` ¶
print_usage `(name)` ¶

  Print the usage message for the function name.

  When called with no input arguments the `print_usage` function displays the usage message of the currently executing function.

  See also: help.

beep `()` ¶

  Produce a beep from the speaker (or visual bell).

  This function sends the alarm character `"\a"` to the terminal. Depending on the user’s configuration this may produce an audible beep, a visual bell, or nothing at all.

  See also: puts, fputs, printf, fprintf.

`val =` beep_on_error `()` ¶
`old_val =` beep_on_error `(new_val)` ¶
`old_val =` beep_on_error `(new_val, "local")` ¶

  Query or set the internal variable that controls whether Octave will try to ring the terminal bell before printing an error message.

  When called from inside a function with the `"local"` option, the variable is changed locally for the function and any subroutines it calls. The original variable value is restored when exiting the function.