Thread: ArrayIndex problem

Hi. I have a problem with an exception error, using an array. The problem is when I pass an object out of the array into my petAnimal method, it doesn't catch the ArrayIndex Exception... ? If I put the try blocks in my main method, it does. Why doesn't it catch it inside the method?

Here goes

public static void main(String[] args)
{
Animal zoo[] = { new Animal("Cow", 2),
 		     new Animal("Fish", 3),
		   };
 
System.out.println("Beginning the program.");
 
Zookeeper.petAnimal(zoo[25]);
 
}
 
---------
 
Other class Zookeeper
 
public class Zookeeper
{
 public static void petAnimal(animal x)
 { 
  try {
	System.out.println("Petting the" + x.getAnimalType());
 }
  catch(ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException e
{
System.out.println("That's not an animal silly...");
}
finally
{
System.out.println("End of zookeeper method");
}

when I pass an object out of the array into my petAnimal method, it doesn't catch the ArrayIndex Exception... ? If I put the try blocks in my main method, it does. Why doesn't it catch it inside the method?

The petAnimal() method will never catch the exception because it is never called. The exception happens before the method is ever called.

Zookeeper.petAnimal(zoo[25]);

This line is interpreted as (1) Get the Animal number 25 from the zoo then (2) Send it to petAnimal() method. In Java the arguments are expressions which are always evaluated *before* the method call. That makes sense, if you think about it, because if anything goes wrong with evaluating zoo[25] then what Animal should be passed to the method?

Bottom line: the exception will occur in main() and must be caught in main() or it will be passed "up" to whoever called main() to deal with. Exceptions go "upwards" in this sense: from the method where the occur to whoever called that method, to whoever called that one, etc. In this case if main() was executed from the command line, no-one will catch the exception and it will be printed at the console.

So my only real option then is to handle it within the main? Gotcha. I was hoping to avoid cluttering my main with Try/Catches, but alas. Thanks!

You're welcome.