Getting IO exception for a missing resource

Question

I am testing my code with a negative test case i.e I have removed one of the keys from the property file. In this case the code is suppose to give a missing resource message(Looger msg given in the catch block of Missing Resource excpetion),but instead it is giving a message from IO exception's catch block and the message is "IO Exception : java.lang.NullPointerException".The code flow is like this: Main class has the method which is trying to get the key from a constants file constants file inturn gets the value from a property file using resource bundle. I am creating an instance of the constants file in my main class.This instance is coming null,when I remove the key from the property file.

Answer 1

Accessing a key that no longer exists already exists in Java as an IOException, so that will get thrown regardless. If you then want to throw a MissingResourceException you will have to do it within the IOException catch block.

Alternatively, you can check the key for null, and if it is, throw a MissingResourceException.

Answer 2

The Properties class returns null when the key is missing, so you likely have code that does something like this:

} catch (Exception e) {
   throw new IOException(e);
}

And that exception is a null pointer exception when you try to use the result. Instead you have to check for null and throw the missing resource exception if that is what the class returns.