#897 – Rules for Creating a Custom Exception Type

The basic guidelines for defining your own custom exception types are as follows:

• Derive from one of the following:
  • System.Exception
  • One of the common predefined system exception types in .NET (e.g. ArgumentException, FormatException)
• End the name of your type with “Exception”  (e.g. InvalidDogBarkException)
• Mark your exception type as Serializable
• Define the following constructors:
  • public MyException()
  • public MyException(string message) : base(message)
  • public MyException(string message, Exception inner) : base(message, inner)
  • public MyException(SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext context) : base(info, context)
• Consider adding custom data:
  • Add one or more custom properties
  • Add one or more constructor that accept values for the custom properties

Click here for a full example.