Thrown Exceptions

Question

I tangled accross a code today that did the following:
try
Vector result = someclass.retrieveList();
System.out.println(result.size());
catch (Exception e)
System.err.println(e);
the retrieveList function calls another function, which
eventually throws an exception. this exception is caught inside
retrieveList() and is re-thrown to the above code.
The exception does not reach the catch statement. it prints the
result.size() value, which is zero because nothing was retrieved.
why isn't the exception caught ?
is there something I am missing in my understanding ?
Appreciate the help,
Thank you in advance.

Answer 1

warnerja,
First of all thank you for the effort.
Yes, you are right. I do have a finally block - I didn't think that
was the cause... now that you mention it, I have to re-think.
So what good is the exception if the finally eats it up ?
I thought the finally was ment for a clean exit...
The retrieveList() by decleration has to return a Vector value,
and also throws an Exception.
catch(Exception e)
System.out.println(e);
throw e;
finally
return result; // result is of type Vector
If I don't do this, the compiler screams that I must return a value.
Is there an elegant way of throwing and returning a result when all
is fine ?
the solution I implemented checked if the return value is not null
or if the Vector is empty - but thats not elegant !
Appreciate the comments.
Thanks in advance.