Reflection using super?

Question

This is pseudocode for what I want to do. Is there a way to do it?
class MyException extends Exception
  MyException(Throwable cause)
     if (islessthan_jdk1.4())
        super(cause.toString());
     else
        super(cause); //this needs to somehow be done with reflection in order to compile under 1.3
}

Answer 1

I personally like the idea of compiling under 1.4 and running under 1.3 knowing that the worst I'll get is a MethodNotImplementedException (which I can avoid by doing things properly).
The only problem is the hassle of the compile/debug sequence if I use this solution to often: compile under 1.4, switch jdk, debug, switch jdk, compile ...
Following is what I'm doing now (just avoiding using super all together), here's my specific code (Version.is14() does what you think it does):
public class MutexAssumptionException extends RuntimeException
    String message = "";
    public MutexAssumptionException()
        fillInStackTrace();
    public MutexAssumptionException(Throwable cause)
        fillInStackTrace();
        if (Version.is14())
            try
                getClass().getMethod("initCause", new Class[]{Throwable.class}).invoke(this, new Object[]{cause});
            } catch (Exception e) {}
        else
            message = cause.getMessage();
    public MutexAssumptionException(String message)
        this.message = message;
        fillInStackTrace();
    public MutexAssumptionException(String message, Throwable cause)
        this.message = message;
        fillInStackTrace();
        if (Version.is14())
            try
                getClass().getMethod("initCause", new Class[]{Throwable.class}).invoke(this, new Object[]{cause});
            } catch (Exception e) {}
    public String getMessage()
        return super.getMessage();
}I'll probably move this pattern into a superclass as I'll be using it a couple times, and just extend that class.