Spring Ldap: Lookup dn without throwing exception if it isn't there

Question

Using LdapTemplate in Spring LDAP, I have this code:

Object object=null;
try{
    String dn = "cn=readers,ou=groups,dc=mycompany, dc=com";
    object = this.ldapTemplate.lookup(dn);
} catch(final NameNotFoundException e){
    // create Object
}

But since I've read my Joshua Bloch I know that exceptions should not be used for control flow. Is there a way to look up a dn to see if it exists without throwing an exception if it doesn't? There must be, but I can't find it. I'm looking for code that works like this (or similar):

String dn = "cn=readers,ou=groups,dc=mycompany, dc=com";
Object object=this.ldapTemplate.someMethod(dn);
if(object==null){
    // create Object
}

Can anybody help?

BTW: just looking at the JavaDoc won't help. None of the methods that throw NameNotFoundException say so in the JavaDocs.

Answer 1

Actually, Spring force you here to use exceptions for flow control (i.e. it's not your fault, it's their decision).

I worked with LdapTemplate few months ago and I couldn't find anything better then catch that exception and evaluate that situation as "User not found".