Err

Keyword	Abbreviation	Token (hex)	Version(s)	Classification
ERR$	E{Shift+R}	D3	3.5, 7.0	Function
COPY	CO{Shift+P}	D3	4.x	Command and Statement
ERR$	E{Shift+R}	E7	4.7	Function
COLOR	varies	E7	3.5, 7.0	Command and Statement

Syntax

ERR$ ( errorNumber )

Parameters	Type	Legal Value(s)	Note(s)
errorNumber	Integer	varies

Returns	Type	Value(s)	Note(s)
errorMessage	String	varies

Purpose

Return the error message corresponding to an error number.

Remarks

The ERR$ function returns a string description of a corresponding errorNumber. Because the errorMessages are fixed in ROM, this is more like an array than a function. Anyway, it is useful for debugging or error trapping. The last errorNumber is available from reserved variable ER.

If errorNumber is omitted, or is an invalid expression, SYNTAX ERROR occurs. If errorNumber is not numeric, TYPE MISMATCH ERROR occurs. A floating-point value will (effectively) be converted with INT. If errorNumber is less than min or greater than max (see below) then ILLEGAL QUANTITY ERROR is generated, except in BASIC 4.7 where errorNumber = x + 128 is also valid if x is valid (if that's not a bug, I don't know what is). Also in BASIC v4.7, some "errors" are infromational messages or questions, decide for yourself if that is a bug.

Many, but not all of the error messages are compatible between versions. First a list of the common/compatible values.

*errorNumber*	*errorMessage*	Version(s)	Note(s)
1	TOO MANY FILES	3.5+	the min value for v3.5 and v7.0
2	FILE OPEN	3.5+
3	FILE NOT OPEN	3.5+
4	FILE NOT FOUND	3.5+
5	DEVICE NOT PRESENT	3.5+
6	NOT INPUT FILE	3.5+
7	NOT OUTPUT FILE	3.5+
8	MISSING FILE NAME	3.5+
9	ILLEGAL DEVICE NUMBER	3.5+

Now a list of error messages for versions 3.5 and 7.0:

*errorNumber*	*errorMessage*	Version(s)	Note(s)
10	NEXT WITHOUT FOR	3.5, 7.0
11	SYNTAX	3.5, 7.0
12	RETURN WITHOUT GOSUB	3.5, 7.0
13	OUT OF DATA	3.5, 7.0
14	ILLEGAL QUANTITY	3.5, 7.0
15	OVERFLOW	3.5, 7.0
16	OUT OF MEMORY	3.5, 7.0
17	UNDEF'D STATEMENT	3.5, 7.0
18	BAD SUBSCRIPT	3.5, 7.0
19	REDIM'D ARRAY	3.5, 7.0
20	DIVISION BY ZERO	3.5, 7.0
21	ILLEGAL DIRECT	3.5, 7.0
22	TYPE MISMATCH	3.5, 7.0
23	STRING TOO LONG	3.5, 7.0
24	FILE DATA	3.5, 7.0
25	FORMULA TOO COMPLEX	3.5, 7.0
26	CAN'T CONTINUE	3.5, 7.0
27	UNDEF'D FUNCTION	3.5, 7.0
28	VERIFY	3.5, 7.0
29	LOAD	3.5, 7.0
30	BREAK	3.5, 7.0
31	CAN'T RESUME	3.5, 7.0
32	LOOP NOT FOUND	3.5, 7.0
33	LOOP WITHOUT DO	3.5, 7.0
34	DIRECT MODE ONLY	3.5, 7.0
35	NO GRAPHICS AREA	3.5, 7.0
36	BAD DISK	3.5, 7.0	the max for version 3.5
37	BEND NOT FOUND	7.0
38	LINE NUMBER TOO LARGE	7.0
39	UNRESOLVED REFERENCE	7.0
40	UNIMPLEMENTED COMMAND	7.0
41	FILE READ	7.0	the max for version 7.0

Finally a list of error messages specific to version 4.x:

*errorNumber*	*errorMessage*	Version(s)	Note(s)
0	STOP KEY DETECTED	4.x	the min for 4.x
10	ARE YOU SURE ?	4.x	not trappable
11	BAD DISK	4.x
12	READY.	4.x	not trappable
13	IN	4.x	not trappable
14	BREAK	4.x
15	EXTRA IGNORED	4.x	not trappable
16	REDO FROM START	4.x	not trappable
17	17	4.x	?
18	MORE	4.x	not trappable
19	♥* COMMODORE BASIC 128, V4.0 *	4.x	not trappable
20	NEXT WITHOUT FOR	4.x
21	SYNTAX	4.x
22	RETURN WITHOUT GOSUB	4.x
23	OUT OF DATA	4.x
24	ILLEGAL QUANTITY	4.x
25	OVERFLOW	4.x
26	OUT OF MEMORY	4.x
27	UNDEF'D STATEMENT	4.x
28	BAD SUBSCRIPT	4.x
29	REDIM'D ARRAY	4.x
30	DIVISION BY ZERO	4.x
31	ILLEGAL DIRECT	4.x
32	TYPE MISMATCH	4.x
33	STRING TOO LONG	4.x
34	FILE DATA	4.x
35	FORMULA TOO COMPLEX	4.x
36	CANNOT CONTINUE	4.x
37	UNDEF'D FUNCTION	4.x
38	?LOAD ERROR	4.x
39	?VERIFY ERROR	4.x
40	OUT OF STACK	4.x	not trappable
41	UNABLE TO RESUME	4.x	may not trappable
42	UNABLE TO DISPOSE	4.x	the max for version 4.x

An interesting note is that the word "ERROR" appears only in errorMessages of 38 and 39 of v4.x (does not appear at all in other versions).

Here is an alphabetical listing (errors only), in case you would like to compare errorNumbers among versions:

*errorMessage*	v3.5 errorNumber	v4.x errorNumber	v7.0 errorNumber	Note(s)
BAD DISK	11	36	11
BAD SUBSCRIPT	18	28	18
BEND NOT FOUND			37
BREAK	30	14	30
CAN'T CONTINUE	26	36	26	in 4.x: CANNOT CONTINUE
CAN'T RESUME	31	41	31	in 4.x: UNABLE TO RESUME
DEVICE NOT PRESENT	5	5	5
DIRECT MODE ONLY	34		34
DIVISION BY ZERO	20	30	20
EXTRA IGNORED		15		this error is possible in all versions; TRAP-able in none
FILE DATA	24	34	24
FILE NOT FOUND	4	4	4
FILE NOT OPEN	3	3	3
FILE OPEN	2	2	2
FILE READ			41
FORMULA TOO COMPLEX	25	35	25
ILLEGAL DEVICE NUMBER	9	9	9
ILLEGAL DIRECT	21	31	21
ILLEGAL QUANTITY	14	24	14
LINE NUMBER TOO LARGE			38
LOAD	29	38	29	in 4.x: ?LOAD ERROR
LOOP NOT FOUND	32		32
LOOP WITHOUT DO	33		33
MISSING FILE NAME	8	8	8
NEXT WITHOUT FOR	10	20	10
NO GRAPHICS AREA	35		35
NOT INPUT FILE	6	6	6
NOT OUTPUT FILE	7	7	7
OUT OF DATA	13	23	13
OUT OF MEMORY	16	26	16
OUT OF STACK		40		corresponds with OUT OF MEMORY (16) in other versions
OVERFLOW	15	25	15
REDIM'D ARRAY	19	29	19
REDO FROM START		16		this error is possible in all versions; TRAP-able in none
RETURN WITHOUT GOSUB	12	22	12
STOP KEY DETECTED		0		corresponds with BREAK (30) in other versions
STRING TOO LONG	23	33	23
SYNTAX	11	21	11
TOO MANY FILES	1	1	1
TYPE MISMATCH	22	32	22
UNABLE TO DISPOSE		42
UNABLE TO RESUME	31	41	31	in 3.5,7.0: CAN'T RESUME
UNDEF'D FUNCTION	27	37	27
UNDEF'D STATEMENT	17	27	17
UNIMPLEMENTED COMMAND			40
UNRESOLVED REFERENCE			39
VERIFY	28	39	28	in 4.x: ?VERIFY ERROR

An interesting observation is that many of the BASIC 4.x errorNumbers are 10+ the corresponding value of BASIC 3.5 (and 7.0) except for LOAD ERROR and VERIFY ERROR which are reversed.

Examples:

PRINT ERR$(1)
TOO MANY FILES

READY.
PRINT ERR$(128+1) : REM  cause an error is most versions
TOO MANY FILES

READY.

Compare With

DS, DS$, CHR$, HEX$, ST, STR$

Compare With

ASC, DEC, INSTR, LEN, VAL

See Also

EL, ER, HELP, RESUME, TRAP