ValueError in HDFStore column append throws a TypeError

[cpcloud]

just needs to be stringified

[jtratner]

why it's important to test specific Exception messages/types :P

[cpcloud]

@jtratner should we start assembling something in the wiki like:

Exhibit A: PR #4956 A classic example of why ....

😃

[jreback]

maybe wiki entries on when to use each type of exceptions?

[jtratner]

yeah, I think that's better. though the codebase is still riddled with Exception raising:

›› grin "raise.*Exception" | wc -l
     262

Though many of them should actually just be AssertionErrors...

[jtratner]

We started one a while ago, but then I realized that there were almost no places where it was justified to use a custom Exception type anyways, so I didn't bother with it. - https://github.com/pydata/pandas/wiki/Choosing-Exceptions-to-Raise

[jtratner]

I updated it.