Java(TM) Boutique - Using Chained Exceptions in JDK 1.4

Tutorials : Using Chained Exceptions in JDK 1.4 :

Chaining the Exceptions

This is where exception chaining comes in handy. In JDK 1.4 we can attach an "old" exception to a "new" one, and by doing so keep them both. It's simply done by adding the old exception to the exception constructor. We can modify the "throws" statement to this:

throw new RuntimeException("w contains [" + toString(w) + "]", r);

This time we'll get this "double" traceback:

java.lang.RuntimeException: w contains []
  at hansen.playground.GetMean2.mean(GetMean2.java:15)
  at hansen.playground.GetMean2.main(GetMean2.java:7)
Caused by: java.lang.RuntimeException: Division by zero
  at hansen.playground.GetMean2.divide(GetMean2.java:26)
  at hansen.playground.GetMean2.mean(GetMean2.java:13)
  ... 1 more
Exception in thread "main"

Now the tracebacks contain data for both the exceptions that we have thrown. This makes it possible for every method in the calling chain to supply whatever information which could be of value for debugging. The phrase "� 1 more" simply means that the next line in the traceback is the same as the last in the traceback above (line 7 in main).

In JDK 1.4 SUN has added chained exceptions by adding the "cause" property which can hold an instance of a Throwable. The idea is that if you decide to throw an exception after having caught another exception then simply save this exception--the "cause"-- as part of the new exception. It's easiest to add the cause with a constructor:

Pre jdk 1.4	New in jdk 1.4
Throwable()	Throwable(Throwable cause)
Throwable(String message)	Throwable(String message, Throwable cause)

You may also add the cause with this method call: initCause (Throwable cause). There is a corresponding method call: getCause() which returns the previous throwable.

Getting Data from the Stack Trace

As you can see from the example above, the tracebacks from the exceptions will often contain duplicate information. To get rid of the superfluous information you can decide to produce your own traceback. The Throwable class in JDK 1.4 also contains a new method--getStackTrace--that returns an array of StackTraceElement's. Each element contains information from one line of the traceback: for example the names of the class and method and also the line number where the error occurred.

As an exercise we'll print the whole array to see what it contains. We therefore insert another try-catch block in "main", and let the catch-part call our own traceback method:

. . . (in main) . . .
try {
  f = new GetMean3().mean(v);
} catch (RuntimeException r) {
  printExceptionChain(r);
  System.exit(1);
} 
. . .

The print method could be programmed like this:

private static void printExceptionChain(Throwable thr) {
  StackTraceElement[] s;
  Throwable t = thr;
  System.out.println("Exception chain (top to bottom):");
  while (t != null) {
    System.out.println("-------------------------------");
    System.out.println(t.toString());
    s = t.getStackTrace();
    for (int i = 0; i < s.length; i++) {
      StackTraceElement si = s[i];
      System.out.println(i + ": " + si.toString());
    }  
    t = t.getCause();
  }  
}

See the whole program here. When running the program we'll get this printed out:

Exception chain (top to bottom):
-------------------------------
java.lang.RuntimeException: w contains []
0: hansen.playground.GetMean3.mean(GetMean3.java:39)
1: hansen.playground.GetMean3.main(GetMean3.java:9)
-------------------------------
java.lang.RuntimeException: Division by zero
0: hansen.playground.GetMean3.divide(GetMean3.java:50)
1: hansen.playground.GetMean3.mean(GetMean3.java:37)
2: hansen.playground.GetMean3.main(GetMean3.java:9)

Note that for every exception thrown there'll be a traceback, and that there is some redundancy in the information printed. Also note that the first line ("0:") gives the line number of the throw-statement; the line numbers following point to the failing methods.

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