How to throw a checked exception from a java thread?

Question

Hey, I\'m writing a network application, in which I read packets of some custom binary format. And I\'m starting a background thread to wait for incoming data. The problem i

Answer 1

What I do is to catch the exception in the thread and store it as a member variable of the Runnable. This exception is then exposed via a getter on the Runnable. I then scan all the threads from the parent to see if any had exceptions, and take the appropriate action.

Answer 2

Caveat: this may not meet your needs if you have to use the exception mechanism.

If I understand you correctly, you don't actually need the exception to be checked (you've accepted the answer suggesting an unchecked exception) so would a simple listener pattern be more appropriate?

The listener could live in the parent thread, and when you've caught the checked exception in the child thread, you could simply notify the listener.

This means that you have a way of exposing that this will happen (through public methods), and will be able to pass more information than an exception will allow. But it does mean there will be a coupling (albeit a loose one) between the parent and the child thread. It would depend in your specific situation whether this would have a benefit over wrapping the checked exception with an unchecked one.

Here's a simple example (some code borrowed from another answer):

public class ThingRunnable implements Runnable {
    private SomeListenerType listener;
    // assign listener somewhere

    public void run() {
        try {
            while(iHaveMorePackets()) { 
                doStuffWithPacket();
            }
        } catch(Exception e) {
            listener.notifyThatDarnedExceptionHappened(...);
        }
    }
 }

The coupling comes from an object in the parent thread having to be of type SomeListenerType.

Answer 3

Wrapping your exception inside a RuntimeException seems to do the trick.

someMethod() throws IOException
{
    try
    {
        new Thread(() ->
        {
            try
            {
                throw new IOException("a checked exception thrown from within a running thread");
            }
            catch(IOException ex)
            {
                throw new RuntimeException("a wrapper exception", ex); // wrap the checked exception inside an unchecked exception and throw it
            }
        }).start();
    }
    catch(RuntimeException ex) // catch the wrapped exception sent from within the thread
    {
        if(ex.getCause() instanceof IOException)
            throw ex.getCause; // unwrap the checked exception using getCause method and use it however you need
        else
            throw ex;
    }
}

Answer 4

On the assumption that your code is in some kind of loop, you'd write:

public class ThingRunnable implements Runnable {
  public void run() {
    try {
      while(iHaveMorePackets()) { 
        doStuffWithPacket()
      }
    } catch(Exception e) {
      System.out.println("Runnable terminating with exception" + e );
    }
  }
}

The exception will automatically break you out of your loop, and at the end of the run() method, the thread will stop.

Answer 5

If you really cannot do anything useful when the exception is raised you can wrap the checked exception in a RuntimeException.

try {
    // stuff
} catch (CheckedException yourCheckedException) {
    throw new RuntimeException("Something to explain what is happening", yourCheckedException);
}

Answer 6

the thread can't throw the exception to any other thread (nor to the main thread). and you cannot make the inherited run() method throw any checked exceptions since you can only throw less than the inherited code, not more.