RAISERROR vs THROW

	RAISERROR	THROW
Use	RAISERROR generates an error message and initiates error processing for the session. RAISERROR can either reference a user-defined message stored in the SYS.messages catalog view or build a message dynamically. The message is returned as a server error message to the calling application or to an associated CATCH block of a TRY…CATCH construct.	THROW raises an exception and transfers execution to a CATCH block of a TRY…CATCH construct in SQL Server 2012 and above versions.
Version Support	RAISERROR introduced in SQL Server 7.0. It supports up to SQL Server 2012. RAISERROR can’t be used in the SQL Server 2014’s Natively compiled Stored Procedures.	THROW introduced in SQL Server version 2012. THROW can be used in the SQL Server 2014 and above versions. Microsoft suggests using THROW instead of using RAISERROR.
Syntax	RAISERROR ( { msg_id | msg_str | @local_variable }      { ,severity ,state }      [ ,argument [ ,...n ] ] )      [ WITH option [ ,...n ] ]  NOTE: RAISERROR WITH NOWAIT statement can also be used to flushes all the buffered PRINT/SELECT Statement Messages within a batch.	THROW [ { error_number | @local_variable },         { message | @local_variable },         { state | @local_variable } ] [ ; ] NOTE: The SQL statement before the THROW statement must be followed by the semicolon (;) statement terminator but the RAISERROR statement may or may not have end with (;).
Can catch original Exception details?	NO. RAISERROR always generates new exception and results in the loss of the original exception details specify with appropriate parameters. EXAMPLE: DECLARE @result INT BEGIN TRY    SET @result = 1/0 -- divide-by-zero error END TRY BEGIN CATCH  DECLARE   @ErrorNumber INT,   @ErrorSeverity INT,   @ErrorState INT,   @ErrorProcedure NVARCHAR(2048),   @ErrorMessage NVARCHAR(2048)    SELECT  --get the error details   @ErrorNumber = ERROR_NUMBER(),   @ErrorSeverity = ERROR_SEVERITY(),   @ErrorState = ERROR_STATE(),   @ErrorProcedure=ERROR_PROCEDURE(),   @ErrorMessage = ERROR_MESSAGE()  PRINT 'BEFORE RAISERROR';  RAISERROR (@ErrorMessage,     @ErrorSeverity, @ErrorState) --WITH NOWAIT          PRINT 'AFTER RAISERROR';              END CATCH PRINT 'AFTER CATCH'; OUTPUT: BEFORE RAISERROR Msg 50000, Level 16, State 1, Line 22 Divide by zero error encountered. AFTER RAISERROR AFTER CATCH NOTE: The actual line number of the code which generated Divided By Zero error here is 3, but the exception message returned by RAISERROR is showing it as 22. Also the error number corresponding to Divide by zero error is 8134 in the SYS.Messages table, but the one returned by RAISERROR is 50000.	YES. THROW the original exception caught in the TRY block; we can just specify the THROW statement without any parameters in the CATCH block. EXAMPLE: BEGIN TRY   DECLARE @RESULT INT = 55/0    END TRY BEGIN CATCH   PRINT 'BEFORE THROW';   THROW;   PRINT 'AFTER THROW' END CATCH   PRINT 'AFTER CATCH' OUTPUT: BEFORE THROW Msg 8134, Level 16, State 1, Line 2 Divide by zero error encountered. NOTE: THROW returns correct error number and line number and also the PRINT statement before the THROW statement must be followed by the semicolon (;).
Execution Termination	In the above example output you can see the PRINT statement executed after the RAISERROR statement.	In the above example output you can see the PRINT statement not executed after the THROW statement.
Setting SEVERITY LEVEL	The severity parameter must set to RAISERROR the severity of the exception.	There is no severity parameter set to THROW. The exception severity is always set to 16. (unless re-throwing in a CATCH block)
RAISE SYSTEM ERROR MESSAGE	With RAISERROR we can raise the system error messages which stored in SYS.Messages table. SELECT * FROM sys.messages WHERE message_id <=50000 - System Messages message_id >50000 - User Defined Messages EXAMPLE: RAISERROR (17051,16,1) OUTPUT: Msg 17051, Level 16, State 1, Line 1 SQL Server evaluation period has expired.	With THROW we can’t raise the System Exception. EXAMPLE: THROW 17051, 'SQL Server evaluation period has expired.', 1; OUTPUT: Msg 35100, Level 16, State 10, Line 7 Error number 17051 in the THROW statement is outside the valid range. Specify an error number in the valid range of 50000 to 2147483647.
sp_add message	sp_addmessage is used for adding user defined message to SYS.Messages table. EXAMPLE: -- Create a user-defined message in U.S. English  EXEC sp_addmessage       @msgnum = 60000,      @severity = 16,      @msgtext = N'The item named %s already exists in %s.',       @lang = 'us_english'; -- Create a user-defined message in French    EXEC sp_addmessage       @msgnum = 60000,      @severity = 16,      @msgtext = N'L''élément nommé %1! existe déjà dans %2!',      @lang = 'French';  GO  SELECT @@LANGUAGE  -- Get to know the system language    SET LANGUAGE 'us_english' –- Change language to us_english    SET LANGUAGE 'French'   -– Change language to French    SET LANGUAGE 'us_english'–- Change language back to us_english
sp_drop message	sp_dropmessage is used for deleting user defined messages from SYS.Messages table. EXAMPLE: -- This statement will fail as long as the localized version  -- of the message exists.  EXEC sp_dropmessage 60000;  OUTPUT: Msg 15280, Level 16, State 1, Procedure sp_dropmessage, Line 64 All localized versions of this message must be dropped before the us_english version can be dropped. -- This statement will drop the message.  EXEC sp_dropmessage      @msgnum = 60000,      @lang = 'all';  OUTPUT: Command(s) completed successfully. -- This statement will remove only the localized version of the   -- message.  EXEC sp_dropmessage      @msgnum = 60000,      @lang = 'French';  OUTPUT: Command(s) completed successfully.
RAISE USER DEFINED  ERROR MESSAGE	With RAISERROR we can raise the user defined error messages which stored in SYS.Messages table. SELECT * FROM sys.messages WHERE message_id <=50000 - System Messages message_id >50000 - User Defined Messages EXAMPLE: RAISERROR (60000,16,1, 'salary', 'emp table') OUTPUT: Msg 60000, Level 16, State 1, Line 4 The item named salary already exists in emp table. NOTE: The msg_str parameter can contain printf formatting styles.	With THROW we can raise the user defined error messages which stored in SYS.Messages table. EXAMPLE: DECLARE @msg NVARCHAR(2048) = FORMATMESSAGE(60000, N'salary', N'emp table'); THROW 60000, @msg, 1; OUTPUT: Msg 60000, Level 16, State 1, Line 15 The item named salary already exists in emp table. NOTE: The message parameter can’t support printf formatting styles. Alternative way is that manipulates the message string using FORMATMESSAGE as shown above example and pass this message string to THROW statement as a parameter.
Summary	If a msg_id is passed to RAISERROR, the ID must be defined in sys.messages. The msg_str parameter can contain printf formatting styles. The severity parameter specifies the severity of the exception.	The error_number parameter does not have to be defined in sys.messages. The message parameter does not accept printf style formatting. There is no severity parameter. The exception severity is always set to 16.

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