IOException caught client-side on http error code returns

Question

I have a java stand-alone application that exposes two methods through an interface: get - to make GET requests to a URL, and post - to make POST requests to a URL. I am using pure Java for implementing the methods (no Apache HTTP client).

My problem is that on HTTP error returns from the server, I get an IOException client-side (for all codes >= 400). It's little point in arguing whether this is a correct behavior (IMHO it's not). Anyway, I would need to check whether the IOException was caused by a connection problem, or by an HTTP error, as I have to implement different behaviors for these two situations. Does anyone know a decent solution to check this? (by decent I mean not ahving to check for the exception message "Server returned HTTP response code")

Any ideas are really appreciated.

Thanks.

artbristol · Accepted Answer · 2012-02-29 10:01:13Z

3

There's not much you can do other than parse the exception string. If you look in the source of HttpURLConnection:

            if (respCode >= 400) {
                if (respCode == 404 || respCode == 410) {
                    throw new FileNotFoundException(url.toString());
                } else {
                    throw new java.io.IOException("Server returned HTTP" +
                          " response code: " + respCode + " for URL: " +
                          url.toString());
                }
            }

you'll see it's not very helpful.

answered Feb 29, 2012 at 10:01

artbristol

32.5k5 gold badges73 silver badges104 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

IOException caught client-side on http error code returns

1 Answer 1

Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related