Do I return an object within or outside a try block?

Question

I am getting some strange errors/compile messages within a block of code that I introduced a try and catch. Before I used it, everything worked fine, example - this works:
public OracleConnection connect() throws Exception{
Connection con = ...create it here...
// I do not catch anything
return con;
Then I tried this:
public OracleConnection connect() throws Exception {
try{ Connection con = ...create it here...
} catch { (Exception e)};
return con;
here the compiler tells me: variable con not found in class. -but it is I just defined it in the try statement!
Then I tried:
public OracleConnection connect() throws Exception {
try{
Connection con = ...create it here...
return con;
} catch { (Exception e)};
and I get a compiler error saying the method doesn't return anything...
Whats the deal?
null

Answer 1

The Connection is only in scope inside the try because you declare it within the block.
As Fred says, declare the object outside the block, then set the value within the block. This way that value is available after the block.
Also, in the interests of good code, it is considered bad form to catch Exception when you know the exact exeption you are catching, so your code idealy would be:
public Connection connect() {
Connection con = null;
try{
con = DriverManager.getConnection(jdbcUrl);
// etc
// etc
catch (SQLException sqle) {
// Cope an SQL related problem
return con;
This way if the code that follows the connection creation causes an exception of a different type you do not treat it the same way as an SQL related problem.
I'll get off my high horse now ;-)
Regards,
Chris