Enterprise JavaBeans, Third Edition

Exceptions and Transactions

Exceptions have a large impact on the outcome of transactions and must be discussed in detail so that bean developers understand the relationship between them.

Application Exceptions Versus System Exceptions

An application exception is any exception that does not extend java.lang.RuntimeException or java.rmi.RemoteException. System exceptions are java.lang.RuntimeException and its subtypes, including EJBException.

Warning

An application exception must never extend either the RuntimeException, the RemoteException, or one of their subtypes.

Transactions are automatically rolled back if a system exception is thrown from an enterprise bean method. Transactions are not automatically rolled back if an application exception is thrown. If you remember these two rules, you will be well prepared to deal with exceptions and transactions in EJB.

The bookPassage() method is a good illustration of an application exception and how it is used. The following sections show the code for the bookPassage() method.

EJB 2.0: bookPassage( ) method

public TicketDO bookPassage(CreditCardDO card, double price) throws IncompleteConversationalState { if (customer == null || cruise == null || cabin == null) { throw new IncompleteConversationalState(); } try { ReservationHomeLocal resHome = (ReservationHomeLocal) jndiContext.lookup("java:comp/env/ejb/ReservationHomeLocal"); ReservationLocal reservation = resHome.create(customer, cruise, cabin, price); Object ref = jndiContext.lookup("java:comp/env/ejb/ProcessPaymentHomeRemote"); ...