com.sonalb
Interface IEnhancedException

All Known Implementing Classes:

EnhancedException, EnhancedIOException, EnhancedRuntimeException, MalformedCookieException

public interface IEnhancedException

Allows implementing classes to contain an application-specific error code, the class and method of origin, a data Object, and any underlying (causal) Exception.

These enhancements are described below :-

• Error Code: A unique code is assigned to each application-specific error condition. This code may be useful for troubleshooting, or it may be used as a reference to allow the user to obtain more detailed information about the particular error condition.
  
  
• Class of origin:
• Method of origin: These two allow the convenient determination of the class and the method where this IEnhancedException instance was created.
  
  
• Data Object: This Object allows this IEnhancedException instance to pass some information up the stack.
  
  
• Causal Exception: This is the underlying exception which is the "root cause" of this IEnhancedException. "Exception chaining" is possible if the causal exception is also an instance of IEnhancedException.
  
  

Following are some guidelines for implementations :-

• In order to be useful, any implementing class should extend Exception (or one of its subclasses).
• It is up to the implementing class to determine how it internally stores and represents the contained data (error code, data object, origin etc). These fields may be populated at construction time (via appropriate constructor arguments), or using "setter" methods, or both.
• In keeping with the purpose of the above enhancements, implementations are expected to take suitable measures to ensure that the fields are populated only once, at or near the time that this instance is created. The data Object can be removed at any time, even higher up in the call stack.

NOTE: Direct implementing classes DO NOT follow the same hierarchy as followed by the Exceptions in the core Java packages. For example, EnhancedIOException is NOT a direct subclass of EnhancedException, even though IOException is a direct subclass of Exception. In other words, (EnhancedIOException instanceof EnhancedException) returns false even though (IOException instanceof Exception) returns true.

Author:

Sonal Bansal

See Also:

Exception, EnhancedException, EnhancedIOException

Method Summary

java.lang.Exception	getCausalException() Returns the underlying Exception (if any) for this instance.
java.lang.String	getCode() Returns the application-specific error code associated with this instance.
java.lang.Object	getDataObject() Returns the data object (if any) set by the originator.
java.lang.String	getOriginClass() Returns the fully-qualified name of the class which constructed this instance.
java.lang.String	getOriginMethod() Returns the name of the method in which this instance was constructed.
void	removeDataObject() Removes the data object (if any) contained in this instance.

Method Detail

getOriginClass

java.lang.String getOriginClass()

Returns the fully-qualified name of the class which constructed this instance.

Returns:

the String representing the class of origin ; "UNKNOWN" if it was not set.

getOriginMethod

java.lang.String getOriginMethod()

Returns the name of the method in which this instance was constructed.

Returns:

the String representing the method of origin ; "UNKNOWN" if it was not set.

getCode

java.lang.String getCode()

Returns the application-specific error code associated with this instance.

Returns:

the String representing the error code ; "UNSPECIFIED" if it was not set.

getCausalException

java.lang.Exception getCausalException()

Returns the underlying Exception (if any) for this instance.

Returns:

the underlying (causal) Exception ; null if there is none.

getDataObject

java.lang.Object getDataObject()

Returns the data object (if any) set by the originator.

Returns:

the Object ; null if there is none.

removeDataObject

void removeDataObject()

Removes the data object (if any) contained in this instance.