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Appendix F Standard Errors

Here is the complete list of the error symbols in standard Emacs, grouped by concept. The list includes each symbol's message (on the error-message property of the symbol) and a cross reference to a description of how the error can occur.

Each error symbol has an error-conditions property that is a list of symbols. Normally this list includes the error symbol itself and the symbol error. Occasionally it includes additional symbols, which are intermediate classifications, narrower than error but broader than a single error symbol. For example, all the errors in accessing files have the condition file-error. If we do not say here that a certain error symbol has additional error conditions, that means it has none.

As a special exception, the error symbol quit does not have the condition error, because quitting is not considered an error.

See Errors, for an explanation of how errors are generated and handled.

symbol
string; reference.
error
"error"
See Errors.
quit
"Quit"
See Quitting.
args-out-of-range
"Args out of range"
See Sequences Arrays Vectors.
arith-error
"Arithmetic error"
See / and % in Numbers.
beginning-of-buffer
"Beginning of buffer"
See Motion.
buffer-read-only
"Buffer is read-only"
See Read Only Buffers.
coding-system-error
"Invalid coding system"
See Coding Systems.
cyclic-function-indirection
"Symbol's chain of function indirections\
contains a loop"
See Function Indirection.
end-of-buffer
"End of buffer"
See Motion.
end-of-file
"End of file during parsing"
Note that this is not a subcategory of file-error, because it pertains to the Lisp reader, not to file I/O. See Input Functions.
file-already-exists
This is a subcategory of file-error.
See Writing to Files.
file-date-error
This is a subcategory of file-error. It occurs when copy-file tries and fails to set the last-modification time of the output file. See Changing Files.
file-error
This error and its subcategories do not have error-strings, because the error message is constructed from the data items alone when the error condition file-error is present.
See Files.
file-locked
This is a subcategory of file-error.
See File Locks.
file-supersession
This is a subcategory of file-error.
See Modification Time.
ftp-error
This is a subcategory of file-error, which results from problems in accessing a remote file using ftp.
See Remote Files.
invalid-function
"Invalid function"
See Classifying Lists.
invalid-read-syntax
"Invalid read syntax"
See Input Functions.
invalid-regexp
"Invalid regexp"
See Regular Expressions.
mark-inactive
"Mark inactive"
See The Mark.
no-catch
"No catch for tag"
See Catch and Throw.
scan-error
"Scan error"
This happens when certain syntax-parsing functions find invalid syntax or mismatched parentheses.
See List Motion, and Parsing Expressions.
search-failed
"Search failed"
See Searching and Matching.
setting-constant
"Attempt to set a constant symbol"
The values of the symbols nil and t, and any symbols that start with ‘:’, may not be changed.
See Variables that Never Change.
text-read-only
"Text is read-only"
See Special Properties.
undefined-color
"Undefined color"
See Color Names.
void-function
"Symbol's function definition is void"
See Function Cells.
void-variable
"Symbol's value as variable is void"
See Accessing Variables.
wrong-number-of-arguments
"Wrong number of arguments"
See Classifying Lists.
wrong-type-argument
"Wrong type argument"
See Type Predicates.

These kinds of error, which are classified as special cases of arith-error, can occur on certain systems for invalid use of mathematical functions.

domain-error
"Arithmetic domain error"
See Math Functions.
overflow-error
"Arithmetic overflow error"
See Math Functions.
range-error
"Arithmetic range error"
See Math Functions.
singularity-error
"Arithmetic singularity error"
See Math Functions.
underflow-error
"Arithmetic underflow error"
See Math Functions.