#!/usr/bin/env python class MyException( Exception): def __init__( self, *argin): self.value = argin def __str__( self): return repr( self.value) try: raise MyException( "this", "is", "an", "exception") except MyException as e: # referencing value member explicitly print( "caught exception ", e.value) # using __str__ function member print( "caught exception ", e)