std::exception::what

virtual const char* what() const;

Returns the explanatory string.

[edit] Parameters

(none)

[edit] Return value

Pointer to a null-terminated string with explanatory information. The pointer is guaranteed to be valid at least until the exception object from which it is obtained is destroyed, or until a non-const member function on the exception object is called.

[edit] Exceptions

(none)	(until C++11)
`noexcept` specification: noexcept	(since C++11)

Language
Standard library headers
Concepts
Utilities library
Strings library
Containers library
Algorithms library
Iterators library
Numerics library
Input/output library
Localizations library
Regular expressions library (C++11)
Atomic operations library (C++11)
Thread support library (C++11)
Technical Specifications

Type support (basic types, RTTI, type traits)
Dynamic memory management
Error handling
Program utilities
Variadic functions
Date and time
Function objects
initializer_list (C++11)
bitset
hash (C++11)
Relational operators
rel_ops::operator!=rel_ops::operator>rel_ops::operator<=rel_ops::operator>=
Pairs and tuples
pair
tuple (C++11)
piecewise_construct_t (C++11)
piecewise_construct (C++11)
integer_sequence (C++14)
Swap, forward and move
swap
exchange (C++14)
forward (C++11)
move (C++11)
move_if_noexcept (C++11)
declval (C++11)

Exception handling
exception
uncaught_exceptionuncaught_exceptions (C++17)
exception_ptr (C++11)
make_exception_ptr (C++11)
current_exception (C++11)
rethrow_exception (C++11)
nested_exception (C++11)
throw_with_nested (C++11)
rethrow_if_nested (C++11)
Exception handling failures
terminate
terminate_handler
get_terminate (C++11)
set_terminate
unexpected (deprecated)
bad_exception
unexpected_handler (deprecated)
get_unexpected (C++11)(deprecated)
set_unexpected (deprecated)
Exception categories
logic_error
invalid_argument
domain_error
length_error
out_of_range
runtime_error
range_error
overflow_error
underflow_error
Error codes
Error codes
errno
Assertions
assert
system_error facility
error_category (C++11)
generic_category (C++11)
system_category (C++11)
error_condition (C++11)
errc (C++11)
error_code (C++11)
system_error (C++11)

Member functions
exception::exception
exception::~exception
exception::operator=
exception::what