Throw a format exception C#

Kerry G picture Kerry G · Sep 23, 2012 · Viewed 69.3k times · Source

I'm trying to throw a format exception in the instance someone tries to enter a non-integer character when prompted for their age.

        Console.WriteLine("Your age:");
        age = Int32.Parse(Console.ReadLine());

I'm unfamiliar with C# language and could use help in writing a try catch block for this instance.

Thanks very much.

Answer

Jon Skeet picture Jon Skeet · Sep 23, 2012

That code will already throw an FormatException. If you mean you want to catch it, you could write:

Console.WriteLine("Your age:");
string line = Console.ReadLine();
try
{
    age = Int32.Parse(line);
}
catch (FormatException)
{
    Console.WriteLine("{0} is not an integer", line);
    // Return? Loop round? Whatever.
}

However, it would be better to use int.TryParse:

Console.WriteLine("Your age:");
string line = Console.ReadLine();
if (!int.TryParse(line, out age))
{
    Console.WriteLine("{0} is not an integer", line);
    // Whatever
}

This avoids an exception for the fairly unexceptional case of user error.