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doc: improve documentation for util.types.isNativeError()
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Makes clear what a native error is by linking the spec. Explains that
`instanceof Error` and util.types.isNativeError() are not equivalent.
Give examples for objects that are `instance of Error` but not native
errors and vice versa. Recommends checking for both if one wants to find
out if something is an error.

PR-URL: nodejs#46840
Reviewed-By: Antoine du Hamel <duhamelantoine1995@gmail.com>
Reviewed-By: Luigi Pinca <luigipinca@gmail.com>
Reviewed-By: Ruben Bridgewater <ruben@bridgewater.de>
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brodo authored Mar 18, 2023
1 parent 9ce2f4f commit 35dd938
Showing 1 changed file with 37 additions and 4 deletions.
41 changes: 37 additions & 4 deletions doc/api/util.md
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -2515,12 +2515,43 @@ added: v10.0.0
* `value` {any}
* Returns: {boolean}
Returns `true` if the value is an instance of a built-in [`Error`][] type.
Returns `true` if the value was returned by the constructor of a
[built-in `Error` type][].
```js
util.types.isNativeError(new Error()); // Returns true
util.types.isNativeError(new TypeError()); // Returns true
util.types.isNativeError(new RangeError()); // Returns true
console.log(util.types.isNativeError(new Error())); // true
console.log(util.types.isNativeError(new TypeError())); // true
console.log(util.types.isNativeError(new RangeError())); // true
```
Subclasses of the native error types are also native errors:
```js
class MyError extends Error {}
console.log(util.types.isNativeError(new MyError())); // true
```
A value being `instanceof` a native error class is not equivalent to `isNativeError()`
returning `true` for that value. `isNativeError()` returns `true` for errors
which come from a different [realm][] while `instanceof Error` returns `false`
for these errors:
```js
const vm = require('node:vm');
const context = vm.createContext({});
const myError = vm.runInContext('new Error', context);
console.log(util.types.isNativeError(myError)); // true
console.log(myError instanceof Error); // false
```
Conversely, `isNativeError()` returns `false` for all objects which were not
returned by the constructor of a native error. That includes values
which are `instanceof` native errors:
```js
const myError = { __proto__: Error.prototype };
console.log(util.types.isNativeError(myError)); // false
console.log(myError instanceof Error); // true
```
### `util.types.isNumberObject(value)`
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -3335,10 +3366,12 @@ util.log('Timestamped message.');
[`util.types.isNativeError()`]: #utiltypesisnativeerrorvalue
[`util.types.isSharedArrayBuffer()`]: #utiltypesissharedarraybuffervalue
[async function]: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Statements/async_function
[built-in `Error` type]: https://tc39.es/ecma262/#sec-error-objects
[compare function]: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Array/sort#Parameters
[constructor]: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Object/constructor
[default sort]: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Array/sort
[global symbol registry]: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Symbol/for
[list of deprecated APIS]: deprecations.md#list-of-deprecated-apis
[realm]: https://tc39.es/ecma262/#realm
[semantically incompatible]: https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues/4179
[util.inspect.custom]: #utilinspectcustom

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