Returning an error to programmer in nuget package

Question

I have a nuget package which is my first published code on nuget I am just a bit concerned on how I am returning the error to the programmer I am using a string variable to store a code.

    public List<ClsAddress> addressList = new List<ClsAddress>();
    public string mStatus { get; set; }
    public string mApiKey { get; set; }
    public string url;
    public void GetRapidAddressByPostCode(string mPostCode)
    {

        mApiKey = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["CraftyClicksApiKey"];
        string urlToApi = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["CraftyClicksApiUrl"];


        if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(urlToApi))
        {
             url = String.Format(urlToApi + "?postcode={0}&response=data_formatted&key={1}",
              mPostCode, mApiKey);

        }
        else
        {
             url = String.Format("http://pcls1.craftyclicks.co.uk/json/rapidaddress?postcode={0}&response=data_formatted&key={1}",
          mPostCode, mApiKey);
        }



        //Complete XML HTTP Request
        WebRequest request = WebRequest.Create(url);
        //Complete XML HTTP Response
        WebResponse response = request.GetResponse();

        //Declare and set a stream reader to read the returned XML
        StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(response.GetResponseStream());



        string json = reader.ReadToEnd();
        // Get the requests json object and convert it to in memory dynamic
        // Note: that you are able to convert to a specific object if required.
        var jsonResponseObject = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<dynamic>(json);
        if (jsonResponseObject != null)
        {
            if (jsonResponseObject.delivery_points != null)
            {
                //If the node list contains address nodes then move on.
                int i = 0;

                foreach (var node in jsonResponseObject.delivery_points)
                {
                    ClsAddress address = new ClsAddress()
                    {
                        AddressID = i,
                        AddressLine1 = node.line_1,
                        AddressLine2 = node.line_2,

                        County = jsonResponseObject.postal_county,
                        PostCode = jsonResponseObject.postcode,
                        Town = jsonResponseObject.town
                    };

                    addressList.Add(address);
                    i++;
                }
            }
            else
            {
                foreach (var node in jsonResponseObject)
                {
                    // Get the details of the error message and return it the user.
                    switch ((string)node.Value)
                    {
                        case "0001":
                            mStatus = "Post Code not found";
                            break;
                        case "0002":
                            mStatus = "Invalid Post Code format";
                            break;
                        case "7001":
                            mStatus = "Demo limit exceeded";
                            break;
                        case "8001":
                            mStatus = "Invalid or no access token";
                            break;
                        case "8003":
                            mStatus = "Account credit allowance exceeded";
                            break;
                        case "8004":
                            mStatus = "Access denied due to access rules";
                            break;
                        case "8005":
                            mStatus = "Access denied, account suspended";
                            break;
                        case "9001":
                            mStatus = "Internal server error";
                            break;
                        default:
                            mStatus = (string)node.Value;
                            break;
                    }
                }
            }





    }
    }

My question is surround the codes

 case "0001":
    mStatus = "Post Code not found";
 break;

Is this the best way of doing this, or would I be better using a custom exception class. And if so what would be my best way of doing this.

The above is based on the interpretation of the documentation for the third party api.

https://craftyclicks.co.uk/docs/postcode-lookup/#testing

Answer 1

You could create an enum with your error codes and map the node.Value to enum to get the error description.