Chapter 1

Exception Handling and Text IO

1
Exception Handling

2
 Motivations
When a program runs into a runtime error, the
program terminates abnormally. How can you
handle the runtime error so that the program can
continue to run or terminate gracefully?

3
 Objectives
 To get an overview of exceptions and exception handling
 To explore the advantages of using exception handling
 To distinguish exception types: Error (fatal) vs. Exception (nonfatal) and
checked vs. unchecked
 To declare exceptions in a method header
 To throw exceptions in a method
 To write a try-catch block to handle exceptions
 To explain how an exception is propagated
 To obtain information from an exception object
 To develop applications with exception handling
 To use the finally clause in a try-catch block
 To use exceptions only for unexpected errors
 To rethrow exceptions in a catch block
 To create chained exceptions
 To define custom exception classes
4
Exception-Handling Overview –
Show runtime error

5
Exception-Handling Overview –
Fix it using if statement

6
Exception-Handling Overview –
with a method

7
Exception Advantages

Now you see the

advantages of using
exception handling. It
enables a method to throw
an exception to its caller.
Without this capability, a
method must handle the
exception or terminate the
program.
8
Handling InputMismatchException

By handling
InputMismatchException,
your program will
continuously read an input
until it is correct.

9
 Exception Types
ClassNotFoundException

ArithmeticException
IOException

Exception NullPointerException
RuntimeException
IndexOutOfBoundsException
Many more classes
Object Throwable IllegalArgumentException

Many more classes

LinkageError

Error VirtualMachineError

Many more classes

10
 System Errors
ClassNotFoundException

ArithmeticException
IOException

Exception NullPointerException
RuntimeException
IndexOutOfBoundsException
Many more classes
Object Throwable IllegalArgumentException

Many more classes

LinkageError

Error VirtualMachineError

Many more classes

System errors are thrown by JVM and represented in the Error

class. The Error class describes internal system errors. Such errors
rarely occur. If one does, there is little you can do beyond notifying
the user and trying to terminate the program gracefully. 11
 Exceptions
ClassNotFoundException

ArithmeticException
IOException

Exception NullPointerException
RuntimeException
IndexOutOfBoundsException
Many more classes
Object Throwable IllegalArgumentException

Many more classes

LinkageError
Exception describes errors
Error VirtualMachineError
caused by your program
and external
Many more classes circumstances. These
errors can be caught and
handled by your program.
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 Runtime Exceptions
ClassNotFoundException

ArithmeticException
IOException

Exception NullPointerException
RuntimeException
IndexOutOfBoundsException
Many more classes
Object Throwable IllegalArgumentException

Many more classes

LinkageError
RuntimeException is
Error VirtualMachineError caused by programming
errors, such as bad
Many more classes
casting, accessing an
out-of-bounds array, and
numeric errors.
13
 Checked Exceptions vs.
Unchecked Exceptions

RuntimeException, Error and their subclasses are

known as unchecked exceptions. All other
exceptions are known as checked exceptions,
meaning that the compiler forces the programmer
to check and deal with the exceptions.

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 Unchecked Exceptions
In most cases, unchecked exceptions reflect programming
logic errors that are not recoverable. For example, a
NullPointerException is thrown if you access an object
through a reference variable before an object is assigned to
it; an IndexOutOfBoundsException is thrown if you access
an element in an array outside the bounds of the array.
These are the logic errors that should be corrected in the
program. Unchecked exceptions can occur anywhere in the
program. To avoid cumbersome overuse of try-catch
blocks, Java does not mandate you to write code to catch
unchecked exceptions.

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 Unchecked Exceptions
ClassNotFoundException

ArithmeticException
IOException

Exception NullPointerException
RuntimeException
IndexOutOfBoundsException
Many more classes
Object Throwable IllegalArgumentException

Many more classes

LinkageError

Error VirtualMachineError Unchecked

exception.

Many more classes

16
 Declaring, Throwing, and
Catching Exceptions

method1() { declare exception

method2() throws Exception {
try {
invoke method2; if (an error occurs) {
}
catch exception catch (Exception ex) { throw new Exception(); throw exception
Process exception; }
} }
}

17
 Declaring Exceptions
Every method must state the types of checked
exceptions it might throw. This is known as
declaring exceptions.

public void myMethod()

throws IOException

public void myMethod()

throws IOException, OtherException

18
 Throwing Exceptions
When the program detects an error, the program
can create an instance of an appropriate exception
type and throw it. This is known as throwing an
exception. Here is an example,

throw new TheException();

TheException ex = new TheException();

throw ex;

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 Throwing Exceptions Example
/** Set a new radius */
public void setRadius(double newRadius)
throws IllegalArgumentException {
if (newRadius >= 0)
radius = newRadius;
else
throw new IllegalArgumentException(
"Radius cannot be negative");
}

20
 Catching Exceptions
try {
statements; // Statements that may throw exceptions
}
catch (Exception1 exVar1) {
handler for exception1;
}
catch (Exception2 exVar2) {
handler for exception2;
}
...
catch (ExceptionN exVar3) {
handler for exceptionN;
}

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 Catching Exceptions
main method { method1 { method2 { An exception
... ... ... is thrown in
try { try { try { method3
... ... ...
invoke method1; invoke method2; invoke method3;
statement1; statement3; statement5;
} } }
catch (Exception1 ex1) { catch (Exception2 ex2) { catch (Exception3 ex3) {
Process ex1; Process ex2; Process ex3;
} } }
statement2; statement4; statement6;
} } }

Call Stack
method3

method2 method2

method1 method1 method1

main method main method main method main method

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 Catch or Declare Checked Exceptions
Suppose p2 is defined as follows:

void p2() throws IOException {

if (a file does not exist) {
throw new IOException("File does not exist");
}

...
}

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 Catch or Declare Checked Exceptions
Java forces you to deal with checked exceptions. If a method declares a
checked exception (i.e., an exception other than Error or
RuntimeException), you must invoke it in a try-catch block or declare to
throw the exception in the calling method. For example, suppose that
method p1 invokes method p2 and p2 may throw a checked exception (e.g.,
IOException), you have to write the code as shown in (a) or (b).

void p1() { void p1() throws IOException {

try {
p2(); p2();
}
catch (IOException ex) { }
...
}
}

(a) (b)

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 Example: Declaring, Throwing, and
Catching Exceptions
 Objective: This example demonstrates
declaring, throwing, and catching exceptions
by modifying the setRadius method in the
Circle class. The new setRadius method
throws an exception if radius is negative.

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Example: Declaring, Throwing, and
Catching Exceptions
Example: Declaring, Throwing, and
Catching Exceptions
 Rethrowing Exceptions
try {
statements;
}
catch(TheException ex) {
perform operations before exits;
throw ex;
}

28
 The finally Clause
try {
statements;
}
catch(TheException ex) {
handling ex;
}
finally {
finalStatements;
}

29
animation

Trace a Program Execution

Suppose no
exceptions in the
statements
try {
statements;
}
catch(TheException ex) {
handling ex;
}
finally {
finalStatements;
}

Next statement;

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animation

Trace a Program Execution

The final block is
try { always executed
statements;
}
catch(TheException ex) {
handling ex;
}
finally {
finalStatements;
}

Next statement;

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animation

Trace a Program Execution

Next statement in the
try { method is executed
statements;
}
catch(TheException ex) {
handling ex;
}
finally {
finalStatements;
}

Next statement;

32
animation

Trace a Program Execution

try { Suppose an exception
statement1; of type Exception1 is
statement2; thrown in statement2
statement3;
}
catch(Exception1 ex) {
handling ex;
}
finally {
finalStatements;
}

Next statement;

33
animation

Trace a Program Execution

try { The exception is
statement1; handled.
statement2;
statement3;
}
catch(Exception1 ex) {
handling ex;
}
finally {
finalStatements;
}

Next statement;

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animation

Trace a Program Execution

try { The final block is
statement1; always executed.
statement2;
statement3;
}
catch(Exception1 ex) {
handling ex;
}
finally {
finalStatements;
}

Next statement;

35
animation

Trace a Program Execution

try { The next statement in
statement1; the method is now
statement2; executed.
statement3;
}
catch(Exception1 ex) {
handling ex;
}
finally {
finalStatements;
}

Next statement;

36
animation

Trace a Program Execution

try {
statement1; statement2 throws an
statement2; exception of type
statement3; Exception2.
}
catch(Exception1 ex) {
handling ex;
}
catch(Exception2 ex) {
handling ex;
throw ex;
}
finally {
finalStatements;
}

Next statement;

37
animation

Trace a Program Execution

try {
statement1; Handling exception
statement2;
statement3;
}
catch(Exception1 ex) {
handling ex;
}
catch(Exception2 ex) {
handling ex;
throw ex;
}
finally {
finalStatements;
}

Next statement;

38
animation

Trace a Program Execution

try {
statement1; Execute the final block
statement2;
statement3;
}
catch(Exception1 ex) {
handling ex;
}
catch(Exception2 ex) {
handling ex;
throw ex;
}
finally {
finalStatements;
}

Next statement;

39
animation

Trace a Program Execution

try {
statement1; Rethrow the exception
statement2; and control is
statement3; transferred to the caller
}
catch(Exception1 ex) {
handling ex;
}
catch(Exception2 ex) {
handling ex;
throw ex;
}
finally {
finalStatements;
}

Next statement;

40
 Cautions When Using Exceptions
 Exception handling separates error-handling
code from normal programming tasks, thus
making programs easier to read and to modify.
Be aware, however, that exception handling
usually requires more time and resources
because it requires instantiating a new exception
object, rolling back the call stack, and
propagating the errors to the calling methods.

41
 When to Throw Exceptions
 An exception occurs in a method. If you want
the exception to be processed by its caller, you
should create an exception object and throw it.
If you can handle the exception in the method
where it occurs, there is no need to throw it.

42
 When to Use Exceptions
When should you use the try-catch block in the code?
You should use it to deal with unexpected error
conditions. Do not use it to deal with simple, expected
situations. For example, the following code
try {
System.out.println(refVar.toString());
}
catch (NullPointerException ex) {
System.out.println("refVar is null");
}
43
 When to Use Exceptions
is better to be replaced by
if (refVar != null)
System.out.println(refVar.toString());
else
System.out.println("refVar is null");

44
 Defining Custom Exception Classes
 Use the exception classes in the API whenever possible.
 Define custom exception classes if the predefined
classes are not sufficient.
 Define custom exception classes by extending
Exception or a subclass of Exception.

45
 Custom Exception Class Example
The setRadius method throws an exception if the radius is negative.
Suppose you wish to pass the radius to the handler, you have to
create a custom exception class.
Custom Exception Class Example
Custom Exception Class Example
 How to create own exception
 You can create your own exceptions in Java.
 All exceptions must be a child of Throwable.

 Checked exception: If you want to write a checked exception that is

automatically enforced by the Handle or Declare Rule, you need to
extend the Exception class.

 Unchecked exception: If you want to write a runtime exception, you

need to extend the RuntimeException class.

 Example: https://www.baeldung.com/java-new-custom-exception

49
 The Need for Custom Exceptions
 Java exceptions cover almost all general exceptions that are bound to
happen in programming.
 However, we sometimes need to supplement these standard exceptions
with our own.
 The main reasons for introducing custom exceptions are:
– Business logic exceptions – Exceptions that are specific to the
business logic and workflow. These help the application users or
the developers understand what the exact problem is
– To catch and provide specific treatment to a subset of existing Java
exceptions
– Java exceptions can be checked and unchecked. In the next
sections, we’ll cover both of these cases.

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51
52
Blocks & Keywords used for exception handling
 try: The try block contains set of statements where an exception can
occur.

 catch : Catch block is used to handle the uncertain condition of try

block. A try block is always followed by a catch block, which handles
the exception that occurs in associated try block.

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Blocks & Keywords used for exception handling
 throw: Throw keyword is used to transfer control from try
block to catch block.

 throws: Throws keyword is used for exception handling

without try & catch block. It specifies the exceptions that a
method can throw to the caller and does not handle itself.

 finally: It is executed after catch block. We basically use it

to put some common code when there are multiple catch
blocks.

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Text Input / Output

55
 The File Class
The File class is intended to provide an abstraction that
deals with most of the machine-dependent complexities
of files and path names in a machine-independent
fashion. The filename is a string. The File class is a
wrapper class for the file name and its directory path.

56
Obtaining file properties and manipulating file

57
 Problem: Explore File Properties
Objective: Write a program that demonstrates how to
create files in a platform-independent way and use the
methods in the File class to obtain their properties.

58
 Objectives
 To discover file/directory properties, to delete and rename
files/directories, and to create directories using the File class
 To write data to a file using the PrintWriter class
 To use try-with-resources to ensure that the resources are closed
automatically
 To read data from a file using the Scanner class
 To understand how data is read using a Scanner
 To develop a program that replaces text in a file
 To read data from the Web

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 Text I/O
A File object encapsulates the properties of a file or a path,
but does not contain the methods for reading/writing data
from/to a file. In order to perform I/O, you need to create
objects using appropriate Java I/O classes. The objects
contain the methods for reading/writing data from/to a file.
This section introduces how to read/write strings and
numeric values from/to a text file using the Scanner and
PrintWriter classes.

60
 Writing Data Using PrintWriter
java.io.PrintWriter
+PrintWriter(filename: String) Creates a PrintWriter for the specified file.
+print(s: String): void Writes a string.
+print(c: char): void Writes a character.
+print(cArray: char[]): void Writes an array of character.
+print(i: int): void Writes an int value.
+print(l: long): void Writes a long value.
+print(f: float): void Writes a float value.
+print(d: double): void Writes a double value.
+print(b: boolean): void Writes a boolean value.
Also contains the overloaded A println method acts like a print method; additionally it
println methods. prints a line separator. The line separator string is defined
Also contains the overloaded by the system. It is \r\n on Windows and \n on Unix.
printf methods. The printf method was introduced in §3.6, “Formatting
Console Output and Strings.”
.
Writing Data Using PrintWriter
 Try-with-resources
Programmers often forget to close the file. JDK 7 provides the followings new try-
with-resources syntax that automatically closes the files.
try (declare and create resources) {
Use the resource to process the file;
}
 Reading Data Using Scanner
java.util.Scanner
+Scanner(source: File) Creates a Scanner object to read data from the specified file.
+Scanner(source: String) Creates a Scanner object to read data from the specified string.
+close() Closes this scanner.
+hasNext(): boolean Returns true if this scanner has another token in its input.
+next(): String Returns next token as a string.
+nextByte(): byte Returns next token as a byte.
+nextShort(): short Returns next token as a short.
+nextInt(): int Returns next token as an int.
+nextLong(): long Returns next token as a long.
+nextFloat(): float Returns next token as a float.
+nextDouble(): double Returns next token as a double.
+useDelimiter(pattern: String): Sets this scanner’s delimiting pattern.
Scanner
Reading Data Using Scanner
 Problem: Replacing Text
Write a class named ReplaceText that replaces a string in a text
file with a new string. The filename and strings are passed as
command-line arguments as follows:
java ReplaceText sourceFile targetFile oldString newString
For example, invoking
java ReplaceText FormatString.java t.txt StringBuilder StringBuffer
replaces all the occurrences of StringBuilder by StringBuffer in
FormatString.java and saves the new file in t.txt.

66
Problem: Replacing Text
Problem: Replacing Text
 Reading Data from the Web
Just like you can read data from a file on your
computer, you can read data from a file on the
Web.

69
 Reading Data from the Web
URL url = new URL("www.google.com/index.html");

After a URL object is created, you can use the

openStream() method defined in the URL class to open an
input stream and use this stream to create a Scanner object
as follows:

Scanner input = new Scanner(url.openStream());

70
Reading Data from the Web