value of the exception. The ExceptionDemo class defines a method named compute( ) that
throws a MyException object. The exception is thrown when compute( )'s integer parameter
is greater than 10. The main( ) method sets up an exception handler for MyException, then
calls compute( ) with a legal value (less than 10) and an illegal one to show both paths through
the code. Here is the result:
Called
compute(1)
Normal
exit
Called
compute(20)
Caught
MyException[20]
Chained Exceptions
Beginning with JDK 1.4, a new feature has been incorporated into the exception subsystem:
chained exceptions. The chained exception feature allows you to associate another exception
with an exception. This second exception describes the cause of the first exception. For example,
imagine a situation in which a method throws an ArithmeticException because of an attempt
to divide by zero. However, the actual cause of the problem was that an I/O error occurred,
which caused the divisor to be set improperly. Although the method must certainly throw
an ArithmeticException, since that is the error that occurred, you might also want to let the
calling code know that the underlying cause was an I/O error. Chained exceptions let you
handle this, and any other situation in which layers of exceptions exist.
To allow chained exceptions, two constructors and two methods were added to Throwable.
The constructors are shown here:
Throwable(Throwable causeExc)
Throwable(String msg, Throwable causeExc)
In the first form, causeExc is the exception that causes the current exception. That is, causeExc
is the underlying reason that an exception occurred. The second form allows you to specify
a description at the same time that you specify a cause exception. These two constructors
have also been added to the Error, Exception, and RuntimeException classes.
The chained exception methods added to Throwable are getCause( ) and initCause( ).
These methods are shown in Table 10-3 and are repeated here for the sake of discussion.
Throwable getCause( )
Throwable initCause(Throwable causeExc)
The getCause( ) method returns the exception that underlies the current exception. If there
is no underlying exception, null is returned. The initCause( ) method associates causeExc with
the invoking exception and returns a reference to the exception. Thus, you can associate a
cause with an exception after the exception has been created. However, the cause exception
can be set only once. Thus, you can call initCause( ) only once for each exception object.
Furthermore, if the cause exception was set by a constructor, then you can't set it again
using initCause( ). In general, initCause( ) is used to set a cause for legacy exception classes
that don't support the two additional constructors described earlier.
Here is an example that illustrates the mechanics of handling chained exceptions:
// Demonstrate exception chaining.
class ChainExcDemo {
static void demoproc() {
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